Order Entry — Close Position - QFEX API Documentation

Closing a position is performed over WebSocket.
This command instructs the engine to place a LIMIT IOC order on the opposite side of your current position, pegged near the mark price to maximise the chance of a complete close-out.
The engine automatically sizes the order to match your open position, so you always close in full.

Endpoint: wss://trade.qfex.com?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY
Authenticate within 1 minute of connecting.

1) Authenticate

Send this immediately after you connect:

{ "type": "auth", "params": { "hmac": { "public_key": "qfex_pub_xxxxx", "nonce": "c0ffee...", "unix_ts": 1760545414, "signature": "5f2e..." } } }

2) Close a Position

{
  "type": "close_position",
  "params": {
    "symbol": "AAPL-USD"
  }
}

Parameters

Field	Type	Required	Description
`symbol`	string	✅	Market symbol whose position you want to close (e.g. `AAPL-USD`).

⚠️ Notes:

The generated order is always LIMIT + IOC, reduce-only, and inherits the appropriate closing side.

Subscribe to fills to receive executions.

Subscribe to order_responses to receive final status updates.

Sample Code

# Python (websocket-client)
# pip install websocket-client
import json
import websocket

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"


def send(ws, obj):
    ws.send(json.dumps(obj))


def on_open(ws):
    # 1) Authenticate
    # https://docs.qfex.com/websocket/channels/trade/authenticate#how-it-works
    send(ws, {"type": "auth", "params": { "hmac": { "public_key": "qfex_pub_xxxxx", "nonce": "c0ffee...", "unix_ts": 1760545414, "signature": "5f2e..." }}})

    # 2) Close position
    send(ws, {
        "type": "close_position",
        "params": {
            "symbol": "AAPL-USD",
        },
    })


ws = websocket.WebSocketApp(
    "wss://trade.qfex.com?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY",
    on_open=on_open,
    on_message=lambda _, m: print(m),
    on_error=lambda _, e: print("Error:", e),
    on_close=lambda *_: print("Closed"),
)
ws.run_forever()

// Node.js (ws)
// npm i ws
const WebSocket = require("ws");

const API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY";
const ws = new WebSocket("wss://trade.qfex.com?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");

ws.on("open", () => {
  // 1) Authenticate
  ws.send(JSON.stringify({ type: "auth", params: { api_key: API_KEY } }));

  // 2) Close position
  ws.send(
    JSON.stringify({
      type: "close_position",
      params: {
        symbol: "AAPL-USD",
      },
    })
  );
});

ws.on("message", (m) => console.log(m.toString()));
ws.on("error", (e) => console.error("WS error:", e));
ws.on("close", (code, reason) =>
  console.log("Closed:", code, reason?.toString())
);

// Go (gorilla/websocket)
// go get github.com/gorilla/websocket
package main

import (
	"log"

	"github.com/gorilla/websocket"
)

func mustWriteJSON(c *websocket.Conn, v any) {
	if err := c.WriteJSON(v); err != nil {
		log.Fatal("write:", err)
	}
}

func main() {
	c, _, err := websocket.DefaultDialer.Dial("wss://trade.qfex.com?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY", nil)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatal("dial:", err)
	}
	defer c.Close()

	// 1) Authenticate
	mustWriteJSON(c, map[string]any{
		"type": "auth",
		"params": map[string]any{"hmac": map[string]any{"public_key": "qfex_pub_xxxxx", "nonce": "c0ffee...", "unix_ts": 1760545414, "signature": "5f2e..."}}
	})

	// 2) Close position
	mustWriteJSON(c, map[string]any{
		"type": "close_position",
		"params": map[string]any{
			"symbol": "AAPL-USD",
		},
	})
}

// Java (OkHttp WebSocket)
// Gradle: implementation("com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp:4.12.0")
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
import okhttp3.*;

public class ClosePositionWs {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient.Builder()
        .pingInterval(20, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
        .build();

    Request req = new Request.Builder()
        .url("wss://trade.qfex.com?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY")
        .build();

    WebSocketListener li = new WebSocketListener() {
      @Override public void onOpen(WebSocket ws, Response r) {
        // 1) Authenticate
        ws.send("{\"type\": \"auth\", \"params\": { \"hmac\": { \"public_key\": \"qfex_pub_xxxxx\", \"nonce\": \"c0ffee...\..\", \"unix_ts\": 1760545414, \"signature\": \"5f2e...\" }}}");

        // 2) Close position
        ws.send("{\"type\":\"close_position\",\"params\":{\"symbol\":\"AAPL-USD\"}}");
      }

      @Override public void onMessage(WebSocket ws, String text) {
        System.out.println(text);
      }

      @Override public void onFailure(WebSocket ws, Throwable t, Response r) {
        System.err.println("WS error: " + t.getMessage());
      }
    };

    client.newWebSocket(req, li);

    try { Thread.sleep(Long.MAX_VALUE); } catch (InterruptedException ignored) {}
  }
}

Example Responses

You will receive an order_response acknowledgement immediately, followed by fill updates (if any).

{
  "order_response": {
    "order_id": "5b309929-206f-40ec-804d-cbe46e81afc1",
    "symbol": "AAPL-USD",
    "status": "ACK",
    "quantity": 2.0,
    "price": 199.8,
    "take_profit": 0.0,
    "stop_loss": 0.0,
    "side": "SELL",
    "type": "LIMIT",
    "time_in_force": "IOC",
    "user_id": "0020ce8e-eaee-480e-8d7f-b9241d756ee5",
    "client_order_id": "",
    "quantity_remaining": 2.0
  }
}

{
  "order_response": {
    "order_id": "5b309929-206f-40ec-804d-cbe46e81afc1",
    "symbol": "AAPL-USD",
    "status": "FILLED",
    "quantity": 2.0,
    "price": 199.75,
    "take_profit": 0.0,
    "stop_loss": 0.0,
    "side": "SELL",
    "type": "LIMIT",
    "time_in_force": "IOC",
    "user_id": "0020ce8e-eaee-480e-8d7f-b9241d756ee5",
    "client_order_id": "",
    "quantity_remaining": 0.0
  }
}

Any unfilled remainder is cancelled automatically because the engine always uses IOC. If you have no open position for the symbol, the command is rejected.

​1) Authenticate

​2) Close a Position

​Parameters

​Sample Code

​Example Responses

1) Authenticate

2) Close a Position

Parameters

Sample Code

Example Responses