GDEX: Perpetual Futures Trading (HyperLiquid)

Trade perpetual futures on HyperLiquid through GDEX managed-custody. Supports long/short positions, configurable leverage, take-profit/stop-loss, and market/limit orders.

When to Use

Opening or closing perp positions
Setting leverage for an asset
Placing HL orders (market/limit) with TP/SL
Querying positions, mark prices, or account state
Canceling orders

Prerequisites

@gemachdao/gdex-skill installed
Authenticated via loginWithApiKey() — see gdex-authentication
USDC deposited to HyperLiquid — see gdex-perp-funding

Open a Position (managed custody)

Perp orders go through hlCreateOrder after a managed sign-in. There is no openPerpPosition/closePerpPosition/setPerpLeverage — those don't exist. The real flow:

import { GdexSkill, GDEX_API_KEY_PRIMARY } from '@gemachdao/gdex-skill';
// ... do the managed sign-in (see gdex-authentication) to get sessionPrivateKey ...
const creds = { apiKey, walletAddress: controlAddress, sessionPrivateKey };

const res = await skill.hlCreateOrder({
  coin: 'ETH',           // 'BTC'|'ETH'|'SOL'… or a builder market 'xyz:NVDA' (lowercase dex prefix)
  isLong: true,
  price: String(mark),   // mark price; for market orders this is the slippage bound
  size: '0.05',          // size in CONTRACTS (coin units), not USD
  isMarket: true,
  tpPrice: String(tp),   // '' to skip
  slPrice: String(sl),   // '' to skip
  leverage: 3,           // 1–50; see below
  ...creds,
});

Leverage is supported and is sent as a top-level field in the order request (the SDK forwards it for you). Verified: setting leverage: 3 opens at 3× (liquidation at the matching buffer) instead of HL's 20× default.

The standalone /hl/update_leverage endpoint (hlUpdateLeverage) is 404 — do not use it. Leverage is set as part of the order via the leverage field above.

Close a Position

Close with a reduce-only order (the opposite side, full size), or close everything:

await skill.hlCreateOrder({ coin: 'ETH', isLong: false, price: String(mark),
  size: String(positionSize), reduceOnly: true, isMarket: true, tpPrice: '', slPrice: '', ...creds });

await skill.hlCloseAll({ ...creds }); // close all positions

Note HL's $11 minimum order value applies to closes too — you can't reduce a sub-$11 remainder; add to it first or let the stop close it.

Builder / HIP-3 markets (stocks, commodities)

Builder-dex assets are named dex:ASSET with a lowercase dex prefix (xyz:NVDA, xyz:SPCX, flx:OIL). Pass the coin in that exact form (the SDK normalizes casing). They trade through the same hlCreateOrder flow as default markets and honor the leverage you pass (live-confirmed: xyz stock perps open at 3× isolated, not 20×).

Collateral depends on the dex. The xyz stock/commodity perps are USDC-collateralized and 24-hour — no collateral swap needed; trade them with your existing HL USDC. Only dexes that settle in a different token (e.g. HYNA → USDE) need hlSwapCollateral first. The account must be a unified account (hlEnableTrading) to share margin across dexes.

Reading builder positions is dex-scoped. A xyz:NVDA position lives under the xyz dex's isolated account, not the default clearinghouse — query getHlClearinghouseState({ userAddress, dex: 'xyz' }). The default query (and getHlClearinghouseStateAll, which omits xyz) returns it empty, which looks like "the order never filled" when it actually did.

Query Positions & Account State

// Get open positions
const positions = await skill.getPerpPositions({
  walletAddress: '0xYourAddress',
  coin: 'BTC',   // optional filter
});
// Each: { coin, side, size, entryPrice, markPrice, leverage, unrealizedPnl, liquidationPrice }

// Full account state
const state = await skill.getHlAccountState({ walletAddress: '0xYourAddress' });
// { accountValue, totalNtlPos, totalRawUsd, totalMarginUsed, withdrawable, positions[] }

// Mark price for an asset
const price = await skill.getHlMarkPrice({ coin: 'BTC' });

Place Orders (HL Managed-Custody)

Market Order with TP/SL

await skill.hlCreateOrder({
  coin: 'ETH',
  isLong: true,
  price: '0',       // '0' for market orders
  size: '0.5',      // position size
  reduceOnly: false,
  isMarket: true,
  tpPrice: '4000',  // take-profit (optional)
  slPrice: '3200',  // stop-loss (optional)
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

Simple Order (no TP/SL)

await skill.hlPlaceOrder({
  coin: 'SOL',
  isLong: false,     // short
  price: '180',      // limit price
  size: '10',
  reduceOnly: false,
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

Cancel Orders

// Cancel specific order
await skill.hlCancelOrder({
  coin: 'BTC',
  orderId: '12345',
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

// Cancel all orders
await skill.hlCancelAllOrders({
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

Close All Positions

WARNING: The hlCloseAll / /v1/hl/close_all_positions endpoint is unreliable — it frequently returns TIMEOUT or JSON parse errors from the backend. Use a reduce-only order instead (see below).

// ❌ Unreliable — may timeout
await skill.hlCloseAll({
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,   // MUST be control address, not managed address
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

// ✅ Reliable — close via reduce-only sell order
// To close a LONG position, place a SHORT reduce-only order for the exact size:
const btcPrice = await skill.getHlMarkPrice('BTC');
await skill.hlCreateOrder({
  coin: 'BTC',
  isLong: false,                               // opposite of your position
  price: Math.round(btcPrice * 0.97).toString(), // 3% below mid for market sell
  size: '0.001',                                 // exact position size
  reduceOnly: true,                              // close only, don't open new position
  isMarket: true,
  tpPrice: '0',
  slPrice: '0',
  apiKey,
  walletAddress,   // MUST be control address
  sessionPrivateKey,
});

HL ABI Schemas (Critical)

HL operations use a different crypto pipeline than spot trades. Getting any detail wrong produces 400 Unauthorized (code 103).

| Action | ABI Types | Fields | |--------|-----------|--------| | hl_deposit | ['uint64', 'address', 'uint256', 'string'] | [chainId, tokenAddress, amount, nonce] | | hl_withdraw | ['string', 'string'] | [amount, nonce] | | hl_create_order | ['string', 'bool', 'string', 'string', 'bool', 'string', 'string', 'string', 'bool'] | [coin, isLong, price, size, reduceOnly, nonce, tpPrice, slPrice, isMarket] | | hl_place_order | ['string', 'bool', 'string', 'string', 'bool', 'string'] | [coin, isLong, price, size, reduceOnly, nonce] | | hl_close_all | ['string'] | [nonce] | | hl_cancel_order | ['string', 'string', 'string'] | [nonce, coin, orderId] | | hl_cancel_all_orders | ['string'] | [nonce] | | hl_update_leverage | ['string', 'uint32', 'bool', 'string'] | [coin, leverage, isCross, nonce] |

CRITICAL: hl_deposit chainId is uint64, NOT uint256. This is the #1 cause of Unauthorized errors. The backend re-encodes with uint64 for signature verification — if you encode with uint256, the hex differs and you get code 103.

HL Managed-Custody Credentials

All HL write operations require HlManagedCredentials:

interface HlManagedCredentials {
  apiKey: string;            // GDEX API key for AES encryption
  walletAddress: string;     // CONTROL wallet address (from sign-in), NOT managed address
  sessionPrivateKey: string; // Session key from sign-in flow
}

Default HL Assets

BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE, AVAX, APE, APT, ARB, ATOM, BCH, BLUR, BNB, COMP, CRV, DOT, EOS, FIL, FTM, HBAR, ICP, IMX, INJ, JUP, KPEPE, LDO, LINK, LTC, MATIC, MKR, NEAR, OP, ORDI, PEPE, PYTH, RNDR, RUNE, SEI, SHIB, SNX, STX, SUI, TIA, TON, TRX, UNI, WIF, WLD, XRP

Critical: walletAddress Must Be Control Address

The #1 cause of 400 Unauthorized (code 103) on HL operations is passing the wrong walletAddress.

During sign-in, the session key is registered against your control wallet address (e.g., 0x53D0...2eD).
The backend returns a managed address (e.g., 0x9967...0f) that holds the actual funds.
All HL write operations sign the message as {action}-{walletAddress}-{data}, and the backend verifies the signature against the session key registered for that address.
If you pass the managed address, the signature verification fails → code 103.

// ❌ WRONG — causes 400 Unauthorized (code 103)
const creds = { apiKey, walletAddress: managedAddress, sessionPrivateKey };

// ✅ CORRECT — use the control wallet address from sign-in
const creds = { apiKey, walletAddress: controlAddress, sessionPrivateKey };

Related Skills

gdex-authentication — Auth setup required for all HL operations
gdex-perp-funding — Deposit/withdraw USDC to HyperLiquid
gdex-portfolio — View positions and P&L

Autonomous Agent Notes (Live-Tested)

Endpoints That Don't Work

| Endpoint | Status | What to Do | |----------|--------|------------| | hlCloseAll / /v1/hl/close_all_positions | Returns TIMEOUT or 400 | Place a reduce-only hlCreateOrder for the exact position size | | hlUpdateLeverage / /v1/hl/update_leverage | Returns 404 | The backend sets leverage automatically per order. Control effective leverage via position sizing. | | getGbotUsdcBalance | Returns 404 | Use getHlAccountState() or clearinghouse state to check balance |

Close Position Reliably (Live-Tested)

// Get current positions
const state = await skill.getHlAccountState({ walletAddress: controlAddress });
const positions = state?.assetPositions || [];

for (const p of positions) {
  const pos = p.position;
  if (Number(pos.szi) !== 0) {
    const markPrice = Number(pos.entryPx); // or fetch via getHlMarkPrice
    await skill.hlCreateOrder({
      coin: pos.coin,
      isLong: Number(pos.szi) < 0,    // opposite direction
      price: '0',                       // market
      size: Math.abs(Number(pos.szi)).toString(),
      reduceOnly: true,
      isMarket: true,
      tpPrice: '0',
      slPrice: '0',
      apiKey,
      walletAddress: controlAddress,   // MUST be control address
      sessionPrivateKey,
    });
  }
}

HL Deposit Minimum

Minimum deposit: 10 USDC (10000000 in smallest unit)
Managed wallet must hold amount × 1.01 (1% fee buffer)
Delivery takes ~10 minutes after Arbitrum tx confirms

Position Sizing Notes

Since leverage cannot be set via API:

Effective leverage = position notional value / account equity
To get 5x leverage on $100 account: open a $500 position
The backend may auto-set leverage to 50x cross — your risk is determined by position size relative to margin

Critical Checks Before Opening a Position

Verify USDC is deposited on HL (use getHlAccountState())
Use control wallet address (not managed) for all write operations
Generate a fresh nonce for every order
For market orders: set price: '0' and isMarket: true
tpPrice and slPrice can be '0' to skip TP/SL