Alpaca Instruments Universe

Alpaca Instruments: Fields, Shortability & How to Use with AlgoWay

This article accompanies a large reference file we generated from the Alpaca Paper API: an active instruments universe with key flags for trading automation. It is designed to be used together with AlgoWay Connector when you need fast filtering (tradable, shortable, marginable, fractionable) before routing alerts or orders.

Dataset date: 2025-09-01. Source: Alpaca Paper API (active & tradable assets).

What’s inside the file?

The table contains one row per instrument (symbol) with the following key fields:

  • Symbol — the Alpaca symbol (e.g., AAPL).
  • Exchange — primary venue tag (NASDAQ, NYSE, OTC, etc.).
  • Name — the security name provided by Alpaca.
  • Status — lifecycle status (usually active).
  • Tradable — can you submit orders through Alpaca for this symbol?
  • Shortable — is the symbol eligible for short selling on Alpaca?
  • Marginable — is margin trading allowed?
  • Fractionable — supports fractional shares.
  • Min Size — minimal order size for the venue/symbol.
Typical uses with AlgoWay
  • Build a whitelist for alerts: restrict TradingView/connector alerts to tradable symbols only.
  • Short-selling safety: allow “sell/short” strategies only when shortable = True.
  • Risk filters: prefer marginable symbols for leverage-based strategies; use fractionable for micro-sizing.
  • Routing rules: map exchanges (NASDAQ/NYSE/OTC) to different handlers or risk limits.
FAQ

Is “Shortable = True” a guarantee I can short right now?
No. It indicates eligibility. Real-time borrow availability and fees can still vary intraday.

Why are some ETFs not tradable?
Vendor restrictions and venue-specific limitations may flag certain tickers as non-tradable on Paper/Live.

How to keep this file useful
  • Refresh the dataset periodically (daily/weekly) to capture changes in tradable/shortable flags.
  • Cache the table in your backend and filter before sending orders.
  • Log every rejection from Alpaca and enrich your table with reasons (symbol status mismatches, etc.).
About the generator

The file was rendered from the Alpaca endpoint and formatted into an HTML table suited for fast on-page search and copy. If you need a CSV/JSON export for your internal jobs, generate it from the same fetch job to keep parity.

Last updated: 2025-09-01 • Author: AlgoWay