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The Open Standard for
Agentic Trading

APEX defines how AI agents communicate with brokers, dealers, and market makers. One protocol. Any broker. Every asset class.

FIX Protocol connected electronic trading. APEX connects agentic trading.

Read the Docs View on GitHub

One protocol, universal connectivity

APEX is an open, MCP-based specification. Brokers implement it once. Every compliant agent can connect. No bespoke integrations. No intermediary.

Protocol Specification

A canonical vocabulary of trading capabilities — session management, account operations, order placement, market data, and risk checks — organized into a mandatory core and modular asset-class profiles.

Read the spec

Instrument Taxonomy

A universal instrument identifier system. APEX:FX:EURUSD means the same thing at every broker. No more per-broker symbol mapping. One ID scheme for every tradeable instrument.

See the ID format

Conformance Tests

An open-source test suite that validates broker implementations against the spec. Run it against any implementation to verify compliance.

View the test suite

Agent to broker. Direct.

Agents connect to brokers directly via MCP. The APEX Standard defines the shared protocol. No intermediary. No middleware.

AI Agent
APEX Protocol (MCP)
Broker MCP Server

The APEX Standard defines the protocol. The broker implements it. The agent speaks it. No hub. No routing. No middleman.

For Brokers

Implement once. Every agent connects.

Build an APEX-compliant MCP server and instantly become accessible to the entire ecosystem of AI trading agents — without bespoke integrations for each one.

  • Reference implementations in TypeScript, Rust, Go, and Java
  • Automated conformance test suite
  • Canonical instrument IDs across all asset classes
  • Modular profiles: add FX, crypto, CFDs independently
Broker integration guide
For Agent Developers

Write once. Trade on any broker.

Use canonical instrument IDs and a unified tool vocabulary. Your agent code is identical regardless of which broker it connects to. Switch brokers without changing a line.

  • Canonical instrument IDs: APEX:FX:EURUSD
  • Unified order model across all asset classes
  • Consistent error handling and risk checks
  • Open spec, free to implement: CC-BY 4.0
Agent quickstart

Layered by design

A mandatory core that every broker implements. Modular profiles that extend it per asset class.

Core

Layer 1 — Mandatory Baseline

Session, account, orders, market data, risk

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Profile

FX

Spot FX, CFD FX, rollovers, currency exposure

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Profile

CFD

Equities, indices, commodities, corporate actions

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Profile

Crypto

Spot, perpetuals, funding rates, margin modes

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Profile

Derivatives

Listed options, futures, greeks

planned
Profile

Fixed Income

Bonds, yield, duration

planned

A canonical tool vocabulary

Five domains. Consistent naming. Every tool annotated with MCP metadata.

apex.session.* Authentication, capabilities, heartbeat
apex.account.* Balances, positions, orders, history
apex.order.* Place, modify, cancel, status
apex.market.* Quotes, snapshots, search, instrument details
apex.risk.* Pre-trade checks, account limits

Open standard. Vendor-neutral. Community-governed.

The APEX Protocol specification is licensed CC-BY 4.0. Reference implementations are Apache 2.0. Governance is through the Technical Advisory Committee with an open RFC process. Agent developers never pay to use the protocol.

Read the governance charter Contribute on GitHub