vulcan-tpsl-management

vulcan-tpsl-management

Use this skill for:

• Setting TP/SL when opening a position
• Attaching TP/SL to an existing position
• Modifying or cancelling TP/SL
• Understanding TP/SL constraints and gotchas

Direction Rules

Long positions (buy)

• Take-profit price MUST be above entry price.
• Stop-loss price MUST be below entry price.

Short positions (sell)

• Take-profit price MUST be below entry price.
• Stop-loss price MUST be above entry price.

Setting TP/SL at Order Time

Attach to market orders:

vulcan_trade → {
  symbol: "SOL",
  side: "buy",
  order_type: "market",
  size: 50,
  tp: 160.0, sl: 140.0,
  acknowledged: true
}

Same-call TP/SL is also supported for cross-margin limit orders. Do not rely on same-call TP/SL for isolated limit orders; use vulcan_trade_set_tpsl or vulcan_position_tp_sl after the position exists.

Critical constraint: TP/SL at order time only works when opening or extending a position. If the order reduces an existing position, the entire transaction rolls back (the order does not execute either).

Setting TP/SL on Existing Position

Method 1: Trade tool

vulcan_trade_set_tpsl → { symbol: "SOL", tp: 160.0, sl: 140.0, acknowledged: true }

Method 2: Position tool

vulcan_position_tp_sl → { symbol: "SOL", tp: 160.0, sl: 140.0, acknowledged: true }

Both auto-detect position side. You can set just TP, just SL, or both.

Multi-level TP/SL (laddered exits)

Pass tp_levels / sl_levels instead of tp / sl to attach multiple trigger orders at different prices, each closing a portion of the position. Sum of level sizes per side must not exceed the current position.

vulcan_trade_set_tpsl → {
  symbol: "SOL",
  tp_levels: [
    { price: 160.0, size: 0.5 },   # close 0.5 SOL at $160
    { price: 170.0, size: 0.5 }    # close 0.5 SOL at $170
  ],
  sl_levels: [{ price: 140.0 }],   # full position at $140 (only valid as single level)
  acknowledged: true
}

Each level accepts size (base-asset tokens) or size_lots (base lots), mutually exclusive. Omit both only when there is exactly one level on that side — it then defaults to the full position.

CLI equivalent:

vulcan trade set-tpsl SOL \
  --tp-level 160:0.5 --tp-level 170:0.5 \
  --sl-level 140 \
  --yes

Modifying TP/SL

set_tpsl appends new trigger orders — it does not replace existing ones. To change an existing TP/SL, cancel first, then set:

vulcan_trade_cancel   → { symbol: "SOL", scope: "tpsl", tp: true, acknowledged: true }
vulcan_trade_set_tpsl → { symbol: "SOL", tp: 165.0, acknowledged: true }

Cancelling TP/SL

vulcan_trade_cancel → { symbol: "SOL", scope: "tpsl", tp: true, sl: true, acknowledged: true }

Set tp: true to cancel take-profit, sl: true to cancel stop-loss, or both.

Viewing TP/SL

TP/SL are trigger orders. vulcan_position_show is the authoritative source for the position's TP/SL.

vulcan_position_show → { symbol: "SOL" }
# Look for: take_profit_price, stop_loss_price

Conditional trigger legs may also appear in portfolio or order views as reduce-only trigger orders (for example, cond: order IDs). Do not treat those as normal resting limits.

Common Mistakes

1. Wrong direction: TP must be on the profitable side. For longs, TP > entry. For shorts, TP < entry.
2. Setting on a reduce order: TP/SL fails if the order reduces a position. Use vulcan_trade_set_tpsl on the existing position instead.
3. Treating trigger legs as normal limits: If conditional TP/SL legs appear in order views, they are reduce-only trigger orders. Check vulcan_position_show for the position-level TP/SL state.

Paper Mode

Paper mode supports the same TP/SL surface as live, so agents can rehearse the full flow without spending gas or risking funds. Tool names and CLI commands are parallel — swap vulcan_trade_* for vulcan_paper_* and vulcan trade ... for vulcan paper ....

Order-time TP/SL

vulcan_paper_trade → {
  symbol: "SOL", side: "buy", order_type: "market",
  tokens: 1, tp: 160.0, sl: 140.0
}

Same constraint as live: order-time TP/SL only works when the order opens or extends a position. If it would reduce/flip an existing position, the request errors with TPSL_ORDER_REDUCES. CLI: vulcan paper buy SOL --tokens 1 --tp 160 --sl 140.

For a non-crossing limit order, the attached triggers are stored as pending (parent_order_id = the resting limit). When the limit fills (via paper reconcile), they re-parent to the position and become active. If the limit is cancelled before fill, its pending triggers cascade-cancel.

Setting TP/SL on an existing paper position

vulcan_paper_set_tpsl → { symbol: "SOL", tp: 160.0, sl: 140.0 }

Multi-level laddered exits use the same tp_levels / sl_levels schema as live:

vulcan_paper_set_tpsl → {
  symbol: "SOL",
  tp_levels: [{ price: 160.0, size: 0.5 }, { price: 170.0, size: 0.5 }],
  sl_levels: [{ price: 140.0 }]
}

CLI: vulcan paper set-tpsl SOL --tp-level 160:0.5 --tp-level 170:0.5 --sl-level 140.

Paper does NOT require acknowledged: true or --yes (no real funds at stake).

Cancelling and listing

vulcan_paper_cancel_tpsl → { symbol: "SOL", tp: true, sl: true }
vulcan_paper_triggers    → { symbol: "SOL" }   # symbol is optional

vulcan_paper_cancel also accepts a trigger ID directly (in addition to an order ID).

When triggers fire in paper

Live keepers fire triggers automatically when the mark crosses. Paper has no keeper — triggers are evaluated only when paper sees fresh market data:

• After a vulcan_paper_trade (the post-fill mark refresh evaluates triggers).
• After vulcan_paper_reconcile (refreshes marks per symbol then evaluates).

vulcan_paper_status, vulcan_paper_positions, and vulcan_paper_triggers are read-only and do not fire triggers. To force evaluation against current marks, call vulcan_paper_reconcile (optionally with a symbol filter).

Viewing TP/SL in paper

vulcan_paper_positions projects active TP/SL onto each position as tp_levels and sl_levels (mirroring the live vulcan_position_show shape), so agents can read TP/SL state from the position payload directly. The dedicated vulcan_paper_triggers tool surfaces both active triggers and pending-on-resting-limit ones for the full picture.

Fills produced by triggers appear in vulcan_paper_fills with the trigger ID in order_id so they're easy to attribute.