Perps Trading

What Are Perpetual Futures

Perpetual futures (perps) are leveraged derivatives that track an asset's price without an expiration date:

You can go long (profit when price rises) or short (profit when price falls)
Leverage amplifies both gains and losses — a 10x leveraged position loses 10% of its collateral for every 1% price drop
Unlike traditional futures, perps have no expiration; they stay open until you close them or get liquidated
Seashail supports two perps venues: Hyperliquid (EVM address) and Jupiter Perps (Solana address)

Venue Differences

Hyperliquid

Uses your wallet's EVM address (Arbitrum-bridged, but Hyperliquid runs its own L1)
Supports both mainnet and testnet
Wide range of markets: BTC, ETH, SOL, and many alt-perps
Default venue when provider parameter is omitted
Supports both market and limit orders
Supports partial position closures

Jupiter Perps

Uses your wallet's Solana address
Mainnet only (no testnet support)
SOL-focused markets
Set provider: "jupiter_perps" explicitly
Market orders only
Full position closure only

Opening A Position

Use open_perp_position to enter a leveraged position:

Required parameters: market (e.g., "BTC"), side ("long" or "short"), size, leverage
Policy evaluation applies: max_leverage and max_usd_per_position are enforced
Leverage is subject to your policy limit — the tool will reject if requested leverage exceeds max_leverage
If your policy requires confirmation for the transaction value, you'll get an MCP elicitation prompt

Typical workflow:

Check available markets: get_market_data
Open position: open_perp_position
Confirm via MCP elicitation if policy requires it
Verify position opened: get_positions

Example (Hyperliquid, long BTC at 3x leverage):

{
  "provider": "hyperliquid",
  "market": "BTC",
  "side": "long",
  "size": "100",
  "size_units": "usd",
  "leverage": 3,
  "order_type": "market"
}

See Policy and Approvals for how tiered approval works.

Managing Positions

Viewing Positions

Use get_positions to see all open positions:

Returns market, side (long/short), size, entry price, current mark price
Shows unrealized PnL (profit and loss)
Works on both Hyperliquid and Jupiter Perps

Closing Positions

Use close_perp_position to exit a position:

Hyperliquid: supports full close (omit size) or partial close (provide size)
Jupiter Perps: supports full close only
Policy evaluation applies (same as opening)

Example (close entire BTC position on Hyperliquid):

{
  "provider": "hyperliquid",
  "market": "BTC"
}

Limit Orders

Use place_limit_order to place orders that execute when price hits a target:

Hyperliquid only (Jupiter Perps does not support limit orders)
Specify market, side, size, leverage, and limit_px
Useful for entering positions at specific price levels

Modifying Orders

Use modify_perp_order to change existing limit orders:

Hyperliquid only
Implemented as cancel + new order
Change price, size, or leverage

Risk Considerations

Liquidation

If your position's losses approach your collateral, the venue will liquidate it:

Higher leverage = liquidation price is closer to entry price
A 10x long position gets liquidated if price drops ~10%
A 10x short position gets liquidated if price rises ~10%
Liquidation may result in total loss of collateral for that position

Funding Rates

Perps charge periodic funding fees to keep perpetual contract prices anchored to spot:

When the market is bullish (perp > spot), long positions pay funding to short positions
When the market is bearish (perp < spot), short positions pay funding to long positions
Funding rates are displayed in get_market_data and typically charged every 8 hours
Persistent funding costs can erode profits over time

Venue Risk

Each venue has its own risk profile:

Hyperliquid: Newer venue with its own L1; smart contract and oracle risk
Jupiter Perps: Relies on Solana's oracle infrastructure and program security
Both are decentralized venues but carry smart contract and oracle failure risk
Consider splitting large positions across venues for diversification

Policy Controls

Configure perps-specific policy controls to limit exposure:

enable_perps: master toggle (default: true)
max_leverage: cap leverage multiplier (default: 10)
max_usd_per_position: cap position size (default: 1000)
Set lower limits if you want additional safeguards

See Policy and Approvals for how to configure policy.

Notes

For exact parameter details: Perps Tools Reference
Read get_market_data before trading to see available markets, current prices, and funding rates
Related: Swapping Guide for spot token exchanges (non-leveraged)
Perps trading is high-risk; only trade with capital you can afford to lose