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Mechanism library · English

What an Algo-ID is, and why your order carries one

The exchange-issued identifier every algorithmic order carries — where it comes from, what it records, and what happens to an order without one.

What it is

An Algo-ID is an identifier issued by an exchange to a broker for a specific registered algorithm. It is the link between an order and the algorithm that generated it. The broker applies for it, the exchange records it, and every order from that algorithm thereafter carries it.

An order without a registered Algo-ID is blocked, never defaulted.

FieldWhat happens
Algo-ID present and registeredThe order may proceed down the broker path
Algo-ID missing or emptyThe order is blocked — it is not rewritten to a human-order id
Material change to the strategyA new registration, not a tweak of the old id

What it records

The ID itself is just a key. What matters is the registration behind it: which strategy, whose account, what the logic does, and which version is currently approved. When an order is audited — and every algorithmic order can be audited — the ID is how the auditor goes from "this order behaved oddly" to "this is the algorithm, this is what it was registered to do, and this is what changed since."

An order without one

An algorithmic order without a registered Algo-ID is blocked before it reaches the exchange. It is not assigned a placeholder, not marked for later, and not sent anyway with a note. The absence is treated as what it is: an unregistered algorithm trying to trade. A manual order — one a human clicked and confirmed — is tagged as manual, which is a different thing and is recorded as such.

When the logic changes

A material change to the algorithm's logic is a new strategy in the eyes of the framework, so it needs a new registration. The old ID does not stretch to cover the new logic. This is why platforms that run algorithms insist on a paper-trading period before any live order: the registration process takes real time, and a strategy that has not been registered has not been approved to trade.

Related

This page describes how the market’s machinery works. It does not recommend buying or selling any security, and it does not say where any price is going. Nothing here is personalised investment advice.