Test safely

There is no sandbox at launch: test against production with small real amounts, the smallest size each venue takes, and checks that run before any money moves.

There is no sandbox at launch. You build and test against the production API, https://api.tetrafi.io, and every order you place moves real assets. A sandbox with test assets is planned for after launch: it will be announced in the Changelog.

Testing with real money is safe when you keep orders small, read each quote before you order it, and retry without ordering twice.

Use the smallest size a venue takes

Quotes cost nothing; only an order moves money. So test the whole flow with real quotes, and place your first orders at the smallest size the venue accepts.

Each venue sets its own minimum, and minimums change. Find them by asking: this script, samples/http/test-safely.sh, asks for quotes at 1, 5, 10 and 25 USDC, one request every 3 seconds, and prints the smallest amount each venue answered at. It orders nothing.

cURL

# Find the smallest size each venue takes before you order: ask at a few small amounts, one
# quote request every 3 seconds (the per-key limit), and keep the first amount each venue answers.
# A venue that needs more reads unsupported or unavailable with a reason such as sizeNotEligible
# or amountBelowMinimum. Venues change their limits, so read them again before you test.
results='{}'
for amount in $amounts; do
  answer=$(tetrafi POST /api/v1/quotes "$(jq -cn --arg sell "$sell" --arg buy "$buy" --arg amount "$amount" \
    '{sell: {asset: $sell}, buy: {asset: $buy}, sellAmount: $amount}')")
  results=$(jq -cn --arg amount "$amount" --argjson answer "$answer" --argjson seen "$results" 'reduce ($answer.sources[]
    | select(.status != "filteredOut")) as $s ($seen;
      if .[$s.venue.id].smallest then . else
        .[$s.venue.id] = (if $s.status == "answered" then {smallest: $amount} else {smallest: null, triedUpTo: $amount, status: $s.status, reason: $s.reason} end)
      end)')
  sleep 3
done
jq -c 'to_entries[] | {venue: .key} + .value' <<<"$results" >&2

Output on test networks, 2026-10-30 (shortened)

{"venue":"binance-orderbook","smallest":"5"}
{"venue":"bebop","smallest":null,"triedUpTo":"25","status":"unavailable","reason":"apiKeyOrganisationWalletScopeRequired"}
{"venue":"keyrock-rfq","smallest":null,"triedUpTo":"25","status":"unsupported","reason":"pairNotServed"}

On that run, the Binance order book quoted USDC to USDT from 5 USDC and refused 1 USDC with sizeNotEligible. A venue that needs a larger amount reads unsupported or unavailable with a reason such as sizeNotEligible or amountBelowMinimum. Run the script with your own key and pair before you test: it shows what your workspace can reach today.

The Quickstart orders 10 USDC by default. Set TETRAFI_AMOUNT to trade less.

Check the quote before you order

Nothing moves until you place an order, so read the quote first:

• buy and fees say what you get and what it costs;
• firm and expiresAt say whether the price is firm, and minReceiveRequired says when you must send minReceive, the least you accept, so the order cannot fill below it (Placing an order);
• expiresAt says how long you can order it;
• tradingSource says which account or wallet pays (Wallets and accounts).

Never order twice by accident

A retry that places a second order is the costly mistake. Send an Idempotency-Key with every order, and on a timeout send the same body with the same key (Idempotency). When you cannot tell whether an order was placed, find it by its quote before you do anything else (Operating guide).

Use a key with only what it needs

Give a test key only the permissions it needs: Read quotes alone to try searches, then Submit orders and Read orders for your first orders. Revoke it when you are done (Authentication).