> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.usewire.xyz/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.usewire.xyz/trading/perpetuals.md). # Perpetuals Perpetual futures trade on Hyperliquid, margined in USDC. This page covers the order ticket. ## Direction and order type **Long / Short** sets the direction. **Market / Limit** sets how it executes: * **Market** fills immediately against the book at whatever price it reaches. * **Limit** rests at a price you choose and fills only at that price or better. Selecting Limit prefills the price with the current mid, which you can overwrite. ## Size Enter size in either the base asset or USD — the field toggles between the two. Quick-size buttons size the order as a fraction of your available buying power. Buying power reflects your USDC margin and the leverage you have selected. The ticket blocks an order that exceeds it rather than letting the venue reject it. ## Leverage and margin mode **Leverage** scales the position you can open against a given amount of margin. Each market has its own maximum, set by Hyperliquid. **Margin mode** decides which funds back the position: * **Cross** — the position draws on your whole perps balance. More resilient to a drawdown, but a liquidation can consume the rest of the account. * **Isolated** — only the margin assigned to that position backs it. A liquidation is capped at that amount and cannot touch the rest. Some markets are **isolated-only**, in which case the choice is made for you. Both settings are per-market, and the ticket re-seeds them from any position you already have open, so you are not fighting the form to add to a position. ### Estimated liquidation price The ticket shows an estimated liquidation price for the position you are about to open. This is **exact for isolated margin** and a **conservative estimate for cross**, where the rest of your balance also backs the position and the true level is further away. It assumes the position as entered, with nothing added and nothing else moving. It is not a guarantee, and funding, fees and later fills all shift it. ## Slippage tolerance Market orders carry a configurable slippage tolerance. The ticket estimates slippage against the live order book and **warns you when the estimate exceeds your tolerance** — which, on a thin book, it will. This is the one number worth setting deliberately before your first trade. The median Hyperliquid perpetual is far thinner than its headline volume suggests, and a market order sized against buying power rather than against the book is the usual way to get a fill nobody wanted. ## Reduce-only **Reduce-only** guarantees an order can only shrink an existing position, never open or extend one. When it is set, the maximum size is your current position rather than your buying power. Use it to close out without any risk of accidentally flipping direction. ## Take profit and stop loss You can attach a **take profit** and a **stop loss** when opening a position. Both are optional, and both are placed as separate orders at the venue once the position exists — they are not held by Wire, and they survive Wire being unreachable. They are unavailable on reduce-only orders, which are already closing a position. ## Estimated fees The ticket shows **Est. Fees** for the specific order in front of you, in USD and percent, combining Hyperliquid's fee and Wire's builder fee. Hover it for the breakdown. The estimate uses your live personal Hyperliquid rate, so it already reflects your volume tier and any discounts. See [Fees](/trading/fees.md). ## Wire does not impose risk controls Wire deliberately adds **no position limits, no leverage caps and no suitability gates** of its own beyond what Hyperliquid itself enforces. The constraints you meet in the ticket are the venue's constraints, surfaced early. That is a design choice, and the responsibility that comes with it is yours. Perpetual futures are leveraged instruments and a liquidation can take the entire margin backing a position. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.usewire.xyz/trading/perpetuals.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.