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The Polymarket Exchange provides gRPC streaming services for real-time market data and order execution updates. This enables low-latency, efficient data delivery for applications that need continuous updates.

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Why Use gRPC Streaming?

gRPC streaming offers several advantages:
  • Bidirectional Communication: Server can push updates without client polling
  • Type Safety: Strongly-typed messages defined in Protocol Buffers
  • Real-time Updates: Receive market data and order updates as they happen

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REST + gRPC Hybrid Approach

Most participants use REST for requests and gRPC for streaming. This hybrid approach combines the simplicity of REST with the efficiency of gRPC streaming.

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Typical Integration Pattern

  1. REST API - Used for:
    • Placing orders (/v1/trading/orders)
    • Canceling orders (/v1/trading/orders/cancel)
    • Querying account information
    • One-time data requests
  2. gRPC Streaming - Used for:
    • Real-time market data updates
    • Live order execution reports
    • Continuous position monitoring
    • Order book changes

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Available Streaming Services

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Market Data Streaming

Subscribe to real-time market data updates including:
  • Order book (bids and offers)
  • Instrument state changes
  • Trade statistics (last price, OHLC, volume)
  • Open interest
Service: MarketDataSubscriptionAPI.CreateMarketDataSubscription Learn more about Market Data Streaming →

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Order Execution Streaming

Subscribe to real-time order and execution updates:
  • New order confirmations
  • Partial and complete fills
  • Order cancellations and rejections
  • Execution reports with trade details
Service: OrderEntryAPI.CreateOrderSubscription Learn more about Order Streaming →

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RFQ Events Streaming

Upcoming - beta access required. RFQ events are part of the upcoming RFQ API beta. Reach out to institutional@polymarket.us to join the beta test.
Subscribe to live combo RFQ and quote lifecycle events:
  • RFQ creation and closure
  • Quote creation, deletion, acceptance, confirmation, and execution
Service: RFQAPI.StreamRFQEvents Learn more about RFQ Events Streaming →

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Server Endpoints

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Pre-Production Environment

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Production Environment

Both endpoints use TLS/SSL for secure communication. All connections must be encrypted.

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Protocol Buffer Definitions

The exchange uses Protocol Buffers (proto3) to define message structures. Download the canonical polymarket-protos.zip bundle. Do not make client startup depend on gRPC reflection. Reflection availability can differ by environment.

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Package Structure

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Quick Start

Ready to get started? Follow our Getting Started Guide to:
  1. Install Python gRPC libraries
  2. Obtain and compile proto files
  3. Authenticate and connect
  4. Subscribe to your first data stream

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Architecture Overview

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Authentication Flow

  1. Obtain JWT Token: Request M2M token using client credentials
  2. Attach Token: Include token in gRPC metadata as authorization header
  3. Stream Data: Receive continuous updates over persistent connection
Learn more about Authentication →

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Rate Limits

Ingress Rate LimitClient-to-server messages are limited to 100 messages per second across all streams per firm, averaged over a 1-minute window. Short bursts above this rate are allowed. This applies to requests you send, not to server-pushed updates like market data. Exceeding the average limit will result in throttled or rejected messages.

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Key Concepts

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Heartbeats

Periodic keep-alive messages ensure connection health. If heartbeats stop, the connection may be stale.

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Snapshots

Initial state of data (e.g., all open orders) sent when subscription starts.

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Updates

Incremental changes streamed continuously after the snapshot.

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Session IDs

Unique identifiers for each streaming session, useful for logging and debugging.

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Next Steps

Getting Started

Set up your first gRPC stream

Authentication

Learn how to authenticate gRPC connections

Market Data

Stream real-time market data

Order Updates

Subscribe to order execution updates

RFQ Events

Subscribe to combo RFQ and quote events