Quickstart

Confirm your Vertex credentials work in two checks: one REST call and one WebSocket connection.

Prerequisites

• A bearer token issued during onboarding. If you don't have one, contact your integration manager.
• curl (for the shell example) or Node.js 18+ / Python 3.9+ (for the language examples).

Set the token in your environment so it never lands in your shell history:

export VERTEX_TOKEN="<your-token>"

All examples below reference $VERTEX_TOKEN. Never paste the literal value into source code.

1. Test the REST API

A single authenticated GET /sports proves your token is valid and the API is reachable.

curl

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERTEX_TOKEN" \
  "https://trading.vertex-api.com/api/v2/sports"

JavaScript

const res = await fetch('https://trading.vertex-api.com/api/v2/sports', {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VERTEX_TOKEN}` },
});
console.log(res.status, (await res.json()).data.length, 'sports');

Python

import os, requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://trading.vertex-api.com/api/v2/sports",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['VERTEX_TOKEN']}"},
)
print(res.status_code, len(res.json()["data"]), "sports")

Expected response: HTTP 200 with a wrapped array of sports.

{
  "data": [
    { "id": 1, "name": "Soccer", "code": "soc" },
    { "id": 6, "name": "Ice Hockey", "code": "ih" }
  ]
}

If you get 401, your token is missing or invalid. Re-check the VERTEX_TOKEN env var.

2. Test the WebSocket

The same $VERTEX_TOKEN from step 1 is used to authenticate against the WebSocket feed. Pass it as a token query parameter on the connection upgrade.

wss://trading-ws.vertex-api.com/ws?token=<your-token>

2.1 Connect

Open the socket and confirm the handshake succeeds.

JavaScript

import WebSocket from 'ws'; // npm install ws

const ws = new WebSocket(
  `wss://trading-ws.vertex-api.com/ws?token=${process.env.VERTEX_TOKEN}`
);

ws.on('open', () => console.log('Connected'));
ws.on('error', (e) => console.error('Connection error:', e.message));

Python

# pip install websocket-client
import os, websocket

URL = f"wss://trading-ws.vertex-api.com/ws?token={os.environ['VERTEX_TOKEN']}"

def on_open(ws):    print("Connected")
def on_error(ws, err): print(f"Connection error: {err}")

ws = websocket.WebSocketApp(URL, on_open=on_open, on_error=on_error)
ws.run_forever()

A successful handshake fires the open event. If you see 401, the token is missing or invalid. Re-check $VERTEX_TOKEN.

2.2 Subscribe to price updates

A connection alone receives nothing. You must subscribe. Send a subscribe frame to register interest in a channel. The market channel emits market_updates (markets and their selections, with current prices), which is the most useful single stream to verify against.

Omit event_ids to receive every update on the channel. Pass an array of event IDs to filter (see below).

JavaScript

ws.on('open', () => {
  ws.send(JSON.stringify({ type: 'subscribe', channel: 'market' }));
  // To filter:
  // ws.send(JSON.stringify({ type: 'subscribe', channel: 'market', event_ids: [12345] }));
});

ws.on('message', (raw) => {
  const msg = JSON.parse(raw.toString());
  if (msg.type === 'subscribe') {
    console.log('Subscribed:', msg);
  } else if (msg.type === 'market_updates') {
    console.log('Market update:', msg.markets);
  }
});

Python

import json

def on_open(ws):
    ws.send(json.dumps({"type": "subscribe", "channel": "market"}))
    # To filter:
    # ws.send(json.dumps({"type": "subscribe", "channel": "market", "event_ids": [12345]}))

def on_message(ws, raw):
    msg = json.loads(raw)
    if msg.get("type") == "subscribe":
        print("Subscribed:", msg)
    elif msg.get("type") == "market_updates":
        print("Market update:", msg["markets"])

ws = websocket.WebSocketApp(URL, on_open=on_open, on_message=on_message, on_error=on_error)
ws.run_forever()

Expected output: a subscribe ack with status: "ok", followed by a stream of market_updates payloads as prices move.

{ "type": "subscribe", "status": "ok", "channel": "market", "effective": { "event_ids": [] } }
{ "type": "market_updates", "published_at": "2026-05-30T14:00:05.123Z", "markets": [{ "id": 8842, "event_id": 12345, "selections": [{ "id": 35928, "price": { "price": 2.6747, "status": "active" } }], ... }] }

Resubscribing replaces, not adds

Sending a second subscribe on the same channel replaces the previous filter, so always pass the full desired filter set. Use unsubscribe to stop a single channel or unsubscribe_all to clear everything.

Next steps

• Place a Bet walkthrough: full bet-placement flow, end to end.
• REST API reference: every endpoint with request/response schemas and try-it-now.
• WebSocket Feed: message envelopes, subscriptions, heartbeats, and reconnect.
• Concepts: pricing, reference prices, stages.