API Overview

Understanding the Deriv API ecosystem and its core capabilities.

Introduction

Deriv API provides programmatic access to trading services, account management, and market data for the Options trading platform. The API enables developers to integrate Deriv's robust trading infrastructure into their applications using REST endpoints for account setup and WebSocket connections for real-time trading.

Key features

Options account creation and management (REST)
Real-time market data streaming (WebSocket)
Contract trading (buy, sell, update) (WebSocket)
Portfolio and account monitoring (WebSocket)
Historical data access (WebSocket)
Subscription-based real-time updates (WebSocket)
Secured access via OAuth 2.0 or Personal Access Token (PAT)

API Architecture

The Deriv API consists of two complementary components designed to work together seamlessly:

REST APIs

Account creation and management
OTP generation for WebSocket authentication
System health monitoring
Standard HTTP methods (GET, POST)
Stateless requests
Authentication via Deriv-App-ID header + Authorization: Bearer token (OAuth 2.0 or PAT)

WebSocket APIs

Real-time trading operations (buy, sell, proposals)
Live market data streaming (ticks, symbols)
Account data subscriptions (balance, portfolio)
Persistent bidirectional connection
Real-time push notifications
Three endpoint types: public (no auth), demo, and real (both authenticated via OTP)

When to use REST vs WebSocket

Feature	REST API	WebSocket API
Use Case	Account setup and management	Real-time trading and market data
Connection Type	Stateless HTTP requests	Persistent connection
Authentication	Deriv-App-ID header + Bearer token (OAuth 2.0 or PAT)	OTP-based (obtained via REST API); public endpoint requires no auth
Real-time Updates	No (request-response only)	Yes (subscriptions)
Examples	`POST /trading/v1/options/accounts`, `POST .../{accountId}/otp`, `GET /v1/health`	Buy contract, stream ticks, get balance

Typical workflow

REST: Get an authenticated WebSocket URL via the OTP endpoint (requires your Bearer token)
WebSocket: Connect using the authenticated URL returned in the OTP response
WebSocket: Perform real-time trading operations

Note: Users receive a default demo account upon signup — you do not need to create one via the API before trading.

API Endpoints

REST base URL:

1https://api.derivws.com

WebSocket endpoints:

1# Public (no authentication required)
2wss://api.derivws.com/trading/v1/options/ws/public
3
4# Demo account (authenticated via OTP)
5wss://api.derivws.com/trading/v1/options/ws/demo?otp=YOUR_OTP
6
7# Real account (authenticated via OTP)
8wss://api.derivws.com/trading/v1/options/ws/real?otp=YOUR_OTP

The OTP is obtained by calling POST /trading/v1/options/accounts/{accountId}/otp — the response contains a ready-to-use WebSocket URL with the OTP already embedded.

Connection requirements:

WebSocket-capable client (browser or server-side)
Stable internet connection
Valid Deriv-App-ID and Bearer token for REST calls and OTP generation

Download API schemas

All API schemas are published with every production release as schemas.zip. The archive contains all WebSocket JSON Schema files and the REST API OpenAPI 3.1.0 spec — ready for offline use, SDK generators, or client tooling.

Download schemas.zip →

https://github.com/deriv-com/deriv-api-schemas/releases/latest/download/schemas.zip

Need a specific version? Each release has a versioned URL in the format …/releases/download/{tag}/schemas.zip. Browse all releases at github.com/deriv-com/deriv-api-schemas/releases.

Next steps

Continue with these guides to start building with the Deriv API:

Introduction Authentication

Any other questions? Get in touch