Symbols

Auto supports a broad symbol universe for tracking (conditions, alerts, webhooks, Telegram, LLM steps), while execution is narrower and tied to tradable perp markets.

Tracking vs execution

Tracking: DEX/on-chain (effectively unbounded — long-tail tokens, pre-CEX-listing assets, niche memes), crypto majors across CEXes and perp venues, plus HIP-3 markets on Hyperliquid for tokenised equities, commodities, FX, and indices; assume the majority of commonly requested symbols are already available.
Execution (market_order, limit_order, or llm callbacks that place trades): only symbols tradable as perps on the target venue are executable. Tradability is per-venue — a symbol may be tradable on hyperliquid, gmx, both, or neither. The action's exchange param selects the venue.

If you are building a monitoring-only query, you usually do not need a pre-check. If you are placing trades, you can optionally pre-check tradability before submitting order actions.

Symbol formats

Crypto symbols

Use plain uppercase ticker symbols:

BTC
ETH
SOL
HYPE

HIP-3 symbols

HIP-3 markets can come from multiple providers (for example xyz, flx, vntl, and others).

In Auto query symbol fields, use the provider-prefixed canonical symbol form:

xyz:WTIOIL
xyz:TSLA
xyz:NVDA
flx:OIL
flx:GOLD
vntl:OPENAI
vntl:MAG7

General pattern:

<provider>:<base_symbol> for provider-scoped HIP-3 symbols
<ticker> for standard crypto symbols

Asset classes (examples)

Class	Examples	Notes
Onchain	`RAVE`, `TAO`, long-tail tokens	Broad tracking coverage.
Crypto majors	`BTC`, `ETH`, `SOL`, `HYPE`	Use plain ticker format.
Tokenised equities (HIP-3)	`xyz:TSLA`, `xyz:NVDA`, `flx:CRCL`, `vntl:SPACEX`	Use provider prefix form: `<provider>:<base_symbol>`.
Commodities (HIP-3)	`xyz:WTIOIL`, `flx:OIL`, `flx:GOLD`, `xyz:SILVER`	Provider prefix depends on listing venue.
FX / indices (HIP-3)	`xyz:EURUSD`, `xyz:USDJPY`, `xyz:XYZ100`, `flx:USA500`	Same prefix rule as other HIP-3 symbols.

These are examples, not an exhaustive list.

Symbol translation cheat sheet

Use this when you see pair-style market names and need the Auto query symbol value:

Seen in market listings	Use in Auto query `symbol`
`TSLA-USDC` on provider `xyz`	`xyz:TSLA`
`WTIOIL-USDC` on provider `xyz`	`xyz:WTIOIL`
`EURUSD-USDC` on provider `xyz`	`xyz:EURUSD`
`OIL-USDH` on provider `flx`	`flx:OIL`
`OPENAI-USDH` on provider `vntl`	`vntl:OPENAI`
`BTC` (standard crypto ticker)	`BTC`

Fast path to first trade

Pick the canonical query symbol (BTC for majors, or <provider>:<base_symbol> for HIP-3).
Optionally pre-check the symbol with GET /v2/auto/validate-symbol/{exchange}/{symbol} (exchange = hyperliquid or gmx).
Submit a query with market_order or limit_order action in API key mode, with an active exchange connection (see Trading Execution).

Validate symbols

If you want a pre-flight check before submitting a query, use GET /v2/auto/validate-symbol/{exchange}/{symbol} to verify a symbol is supported on a given venue (exchange = hyperliquid or gmx). This applies to both trade execution (market_order / limit_order) and price / ta data sources.

curl https://api.elfa.ai/v2/auto/validate-symbol/hyperliquid/xyz:TSLA \
  -H "x-elfa-api-key: $ELFA_API_KEY"

{ "supported": "true" }

Reference: Validate Symbol.

If a trade symbol is not tradable

Order actions (market_order, limit_order, or llm callbacks to those) are rejected by trade-symbol validation for non-tradable symbols.
The same symbol can still be useful for tracking conditions and non-trade actions.
Typical fallback: keep the condition symbol, switch action to notify/webhook/telegram_bot, and route execution externally if needed.

Templates

Tracking-only starter (alert/webhook path):

{
  "title": "TSLA breakout tracker",
  "description": "Track TSLA breakout and notify my runner.",
  "query": {
    "conditions": {
      "AND": [
        {
          "source": "price",
          "method": "current",
          "args": { "symbol": "xyz:TSLA" },
          "operator": ">",
          "value": 300
        }
      ]
    },
    "actions": [
      {
      "stepId": "step_1",
      "type": "telegram_bot",
      "params": { "botToken": "<TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN>", "chatId": "<TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID>" }
    }
    ],
    "expiresIn": "24h"
  }
}

Trade-executing starter (direct execution path):

{
  "title": "BTC > 80k market buy",
  "description": "Buy 10 USDC notional of BTC once BTC trades above 80k.",
  "query": {
    "conditions": {
      "AND": [
        {
          "source": "price",
          "method": "current",
          "args": { "symbol": "BTC" },
          "operator": ">",
          "value": 80000
        }
      ]
    },
    "actions": [
      {
        "stepId": "step_1",
        "type": "market_order",
        "params": {
          "exchange": "hyperliquid",
          "symbol": "BTC",
          "side": "buy",
          "amount": "10"
        }
      }
    ],
    "expiresIn": "24h"
  }
}

Agent rule of thumb

For tracking-only workflows: proceed directly with the symbol you want.
For trade-executing workflows: submit create/convert directly when you already know the symbol is tradable; use validate-symbol when you want pre-flight certainty.

Tracking vs execution​

Symbol formats​

Crypto symbols​

HIP-3 symbols​

Asset classes (examples)​

Symbol translation cheat sheet​

Fast path to first trade​

Validate symbols​

If a trade symbol is not tradable​

Templates​

Agent rule of thumb​