Overview
Market makers need fast, reliable data to price markets and manage inventory. Polymarket provides several data feeds at different latency and detail levels.| Feed | Latency | Use Case | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| WebSocket | ~100ms | Standard MM operations | Public |
| Gamma API | ~1s | Market metadata, indexing | Public |
| Onchain | Block time | Settlement, resolution | Public |
WebSocket Feeds
The WebSocket API provides real-time market data with low latency. This is sufficient for most market making strategies.Connecting
Available Channels
| Channel | Message Types | Documentation |
|---|---|---|
market | book, price_change, last_trade_price | Market Channel |
user | Order fills, cancellations | User Channel |
User Channel (Authenticated)
Monitor your order activity in real-time:Best Practices
- Reconnection logic - Implement automatic reconnection with exponential backoff
- Heartbeats - Respond to ping messages to maintain connection
- Local orderbook - Maintain a local copy and apply incremental updates
- Sequence numbers - Track sequence to detect missed messages
Gamma API
The Gamma API provides market metadata and indexing. Use it for:- Market titles, slugs, categories
- Event/condition mapping
- Volume and liquidity data
- Outcome token metadata
Get Markets
Get Events
Key Fields for MMs
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
conditionId | Unique market identifier |
clobTokenIds | Outcome token IDs |
outcomes | Outcome names |
outcomePrices | Current outcome prices |
volume | Trading volume |
liquidity | Current liquidity |
rfqEnabled | Whether RFQ is enabled for this market |
Onchain Data
For settlement, resolution, and position tracking, market makers may query onchain data directly.Data Sources
| Data | Source | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Token balances | ERC1155 balanceOf | Position tracking |
| Resolution | UMA Oracle events | Pre-resolution risk modeling |
| Condition resolution | CTF contract | Post-resolution redemption |
RPC Providers
Common providers for Polygon:- Alchemy
- QuickNode
- Infura