Glossary
This page defines the terms that the docs use. Each term links to its own page where one exists.
Stable. New terms are added with each protocol expansion.
A
ADL (auto-deleverage). A loss-mutualization mechanism. When the insurance pool cannot cover a T3 liquidation shortfall, it takes back unrealized PnL from profitable counter-parties. See ADL.
Agent wallet. A signing key that a master account approves to act for it. It has no withdrawal authority. See agent wallets.
ALO (add-limit-only). A TIF that rejects the whole order if any portion would cross the book. The order is always a maker. See order types.
Asset ID. The canonical integer identifier of a market. On the wire, the field is signing_id, on markets_meta. It has that name because it is the value that a signed action puts in market (perp) or pair (spot). There is no asset_id field. Ids are different on each network, so read them at start-up.
Action. A state-mutating call to POST /exchange. It is a tagged variant union with about 30 types. See exchange.md.
B
Backstop (T3). The liquidation tier in which the protocol moves the position of an account below the threshold into the insurance pool. See tiered liquidation.
Band, mark-price. A per-block clamp on how far the mark price can move. It protects against manipulation of the oracle or the mid. See mark prices.
Batch ID. The identifier of an auction batch on an FBA market. See FBA.
bps (basis point). 0.01% (= 1e-4). Fee rates are in bps: 5 bps = 0.05%.
Broker credit. An extra fee on top of the taker fee. It goes to the address that originated the order (a front end, an aggregator or an automation service). See fees and broker codes.
C
CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol). The cross-chain transfer protocol of Circle. MetaFlux does not use CCTP. USDC moves through MetaBridge, a custody bridge that validators sign.
chainId. The EIP-712 domain field that selects the network: 31337 for a node you run yourself, 114514 for testnet, 8964 for mainnet. See networks.
Cloid (client order ID). A 16-byte identifier that the client sets. It enables cancel_by_cloid and order idempotency. See exchange.md submit_order.
Clearing price (FBA). The single uniform price at which an FBA batch settles. See FBA.
Cross margin. A margin mode in which all positions share the collateral of the account. It is capital-efficient and not isolated. See margin modes.
D
Delegation (staking). MTF stake that a delegator assigns to the pool of a validator. It earns rewards and is exposed to slashing. See staking.
Domain separator. A 32-byte EIP-712 constant per network. It is one of the inputs to the signed hash. See signing.
E
EIP-712. The Ethereum standard for typed structured signed data. MetaFlux signing uses the EIP-712 envelope (0x1901 || domain || hash). See signing.
EMA (exponential moving average). The smoothing of the mid price in the mark computation. See mark prices.
F
FBA (frequent batch auction). A discrete-time alternative to matching on a continuous CLOB. See FBA.
FIFO (first in, first out). The matching priority at one price level on the continuous CLOB.
Funding rate. A discrete payment between users, per asset, that keeps the perp price near the underlying oracle. The default period is 1h. Governance can configure it per asset. See funding rates.
G
Grouping. An Order parameter that links legs into an OCO family (NormalTpsl) or into braces attached to a position (PositionTpsl). See order types.
GTC (good till cancelled). The default TIF. The order rests on the book until it fills or is cancelled. See order types.
H
Health ratio. account_value / cross_maintenance_margin_used. It drives the tiered liquidation ladder. The default account_state body gives the computed health but not cross_maintenance_margin_used. To get that denominator, ask for detail: "margin".
High-water mark. The highest historical share price of a vault. Performance fees accrue only above it. See vaults.
I
IOC (immediate or cancel). A TIF that matches what is available and cancels any unfilled remainder. See order types.
Idempotency. The property that a retried request has the same observable effect. See idempotency.
Insurance pool. The part of the Metaliquidity vault that is reserved for T3 backstop coverage. See vaults.
Isolated margin. A margin mode in which a per-asset bucket caps the loss on that asset. See margin modes.
L
L2 book. The order book at a given depth (top N levels per side). See l2_book info.
Liquidation tier. A stage in the tiered ladder: T0 yellow card, T1 partial, T2 full, T3 backstop, T4 ADL.
Lock-up (staking / vault). The time between an unstake or withdraw request and the moment the funds are available. See staking and vaults.
M
Maintenance margin. The minimum collateral to keep a position open. Health = account_value / cross_maintenance_margin_used. The account-level field covers the cross bucket only. An isolated leg has its own maint_margin on its position row. Read cross_maintenance_margin_used from account_state with detail: "margin". The default body omits it. See margin modes.
Maker / Taker. A maker provides liquidity with a resting order. A taker removes it with a crossing order. They have different fee rates. See fees.
Mark price. The authoritative price of the protocol for margin and liquidation. It is a median of the mid, the oracle and the EMA. See mark prices.
Master account. The account whose state an action changes. The account itself or an approved agent can sign. See agent wallets.
Metaliquidity vault. The insurance and market-making pool that the protocol operates (vault kind: "Metaliquidity"). See vaults.
MIP (Market Improvement Proposal). A numbered protocol improvement. It is similar to the improvement-proposal schemes of established on-chain perp protocols. See MIP.
Action JSON. An action goes on the wire as JSON. The signature covers the EIP-712 typed-data digest of the action, not the JSON bytes. The JSON bytes are hashed separately for the action_hash correlation key. See signing.
MTF. The MetaFlux protocol token. It is used for gas, staking, governance and the fee buyback.
Multi-sig. An M-of-N signature requirement for an account. See multi-sig.
N
Nonce. A strictly monotonic uint64 per sender, included in every action for replay protection. See idempotency.
O
Oid (order ID). A uint64 that the server assigns. The Order response returns it, and so do the order_updates, fills and open_orders WS channels. See exchange.md.
Oracle. An external price feed built from CEX prices with a TWA. It is an input to the mark price and funding. See mark prices.
P
PnL. Profit and loss. Unrealized PnL is mark-to-market on an open position. Realized PnL is fixed at the exit fill.
Portfolio margin (PM). A cross-asset margin model based on scenarios. It is capital-efficient for hedged books. See portfolio margin.
Premium index. The EMA of mid - oracle. It is an input to funding. See funding rates.
R
Reduce-only. An order flag. Admission rejects the order if it would increase the position size. See order types.
RFQ (request for quote). The trade path for options. A taker asks makers for a premium on one option series and accepts one quote. RFQ refuses every market that is not an active option series. See RFQ.
S
Sender. The address whose state a POST /exchange request changes. The address itself or an approved agent can sign.
Share (vault). The unit of vault participation. It is minted at deposit and burned at withdrawal, at the current share_price. See vaults.
Slashing. A penalty on a validator for double-signing or downtime. It reduces validator and delegator stake. See staking.
STP (self-trade prevention). An order parameter that selects what happens when your new order would match your own resting order. See order types.
Strict-Iso. A margin mode like Isolated. In addition, the position is excluded from any portfolio-margin netting. See margin modes.
Sub-account. A derived account under a master. It has isolated positions and orders. It moves deposits and withdrawals only to and from its master. See sub-accounts.
T
Taker. The side of a fill that crosses the book and removes liquidity.
Tick size. The minimum price increment of a market. Order prices must align to it.
TIF (time in force). An order parameter: GTC, IOC or ALO. There is no FOK (fill-or-kill) or all-or-none value. See order types.
TPSL (take-profit / stop-loss). A trigger-order grouping for protective braces. See order types.
TVL (total value locked). The sum of vault NAV across all depositors.
TWAP (time-weighted average price). An order primitive that splits a large order over time. See order types.
U
Universe. The active list of markets (perp and spot) on the protocol. Read markets for the dynamic figures, or markets_meta for the static grids and ids. There is no meta read. It answers UNKNOWN_TYPE.
Unrealized PnL. Mark-to-market profit or loss on open positions, before a close realizes it.
USDC. The quote currency for MetaFlux markets. It moves in and out through MetaBridge.
V
Validator. A consensus participant. It proposes blocks and votes. It earns commission on delegator rewards and is subject to slashing.
Vault. A pool of USDC under the signing authority of a manager, with shares that are minted and burned. See vaults.
W
Withdrawable. The free balance that can leave the account. It excludes margin held against open positions, isolated buckets and vault lock-ups.
Y
Yellow card (T0). The first liquidation tier. The engine cancels ALO orders and notifies the client. Positions do not change. See tiered liquidation.