Symbol Aliases
Reference for symbol aliases in Tradeways — how broker-specific symbol names are mapped to canonical symbols during import and live sync.
What Are Symbol Aliases?
Symbol aliases map broker-specific symbol names to the canonical symbols used inside Tradeways. Brokers often use different naming conventions for the same instrument — for example, one broker might send ESZ5 while another sends ES.FUT. Symbol aliases ensure that both resolve to the canonical symbol ES.
Aliases are created automatically during import and API ingestion. They are scoped per user, per broker, and per broker account.
How Aliases Are Created
When Tradeways processes an incoming execution, it runs through a resolution chain to determine the canonical symbol:
| Step | Source | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hinted symbol | If the broker provides a normalized symbol alongside the raw symbol, it is checked first. |
| 2 | Existing alias | Tradeways checks whether this symbol has been seen before from this broker and account. |
| 3 | Normalized candidates | The raw symbol is cleaned (stripped of broker prefixes, suffixes, futures month codes) and each candidate is checked against user instruments and built-in presets. |
| 4 | Auto-provisioning | For API-connected brokers, if the cleaned symbol matches a known forex or crypto pair, an instrument record is created automatically. |
Once a raw symbol is successfully resolved, an alias record is saved so that future imports of the same raw symbol skip the resolution chain entirely.
Alias Record Structure
Each alias stores the original broker symbol alongside the Tradeways symbol it maps to. Aliases are scoped to your broker and account, so the same broker symbol can map differently across accounts.
Symbol Normalization
Tradeways automatically strips common broker prefixes, suffixes, and futures contract codes when looking for a match. For example, ESZ25 and ES@CME both resolve to ES.
Manual vs. Automatic Aliases
- Automatic — created during file import or API ingestion when a raw symbol is first encountered.
- Manual — users can create, update, or delete aliases through the settings UI. This is useful when a broker sends a symbol that cannot be automatically resolved.
When a manual alias exists for a raw symbol, it takes precedence over automatic resolution.
Where Aliases Are Used
- File imports — CSV and other file-based imports use aliases to resolve symbols automatically. Aliases are persisted so subsequent imports of the same format resolve instantly.
- API ingestion — live execution feeds from connected brokers resolve symbols through the same alias chain. The alias is saved after the first successful resolution.
- Execution records — the original broker symbol is preserved on each execution, allowing you to trace back to your broker's naming.
See Also
- Instrument Configuration — how canonical symbols link to instrument settings
- Asset Classes — how auto-detection assigns an asset class during resolution