Connectivity Quickstart

This quickstart takes you from network planning to a validated Starbase connection. It focuses on connectivity and session readiness; message schemas and order workflows are covered in the Binary API Reference.

​

1. Choose a Deployment Model

The Starbase matching engine and its gateways run in Equinix LD4 in London. The Starbase API is exposed through several protocols, including SBE order entry, SBE multicast market data, FIX Drop Copy, and REST. A server in Tokyo or another remote region cannot match the round-trip latency of LD4 colocation because every order must reach the matching engine in London. For detailed trade-offs and cost categories, see Infrastructure, Connectivity & Best Practices.

​

2. Request Starbase Access

Before connecting:

1. Ask your Account Manager or Technical Account Manager to enable Starbase on your test account.
2. Confirm which main account and subaccounts will trade through Starbase.
3. Configure a Member and its portfolios.
4. Arrange hosted colocation, a cross-connect, or AWS Private Link with colo-support@coinbase.com.
5. Provide the source IP addresses that Deribit should allowlist.

​

3. Create a Starbase API Key

Create the key from the Starbase section of the main account. Select the Member and portfolio permissions required by the trading application. See Creating a Starbase API Key for the full UI and API workflow. Keep credentials out of source code, logs, packet captures, and support tickets. Store them in your organization’s secret-management system.

​

4. Prepare the Client

Download the integration resources:

• SBE XML schemas — schema definitions for order entry and market data
• Starbase SDK — client SDK for integrating with Starbase
• Market data PCAP — sample multicast packet capture

Then implement:

• SBE framing, encoding, and decoding
• TCP session establishment, authentication, heartbeats, and sequence tracking
• Automatic reconnect and state recovery
• Cancel on Disconnect handling
• UDP multicast reception, packet sequencing, and gap detection
• Snapshot plus incremental L3 order-book reconstruction

Use IPv4. SBE order entry uses TCP, multicast market data uses UDP, and REST utility endpoints use HTTPS. FIX Drop Copy and multicast traffic are not TLS-encrypted because they are available only on private connectivity.

​

5. Validate Test Connectivity

Use the addresses and ports in Gateway Connectivity. Validate each service separately:

1. Establish TCP connectivity to the test SBE order-entry gateway.
2. Authenticate and maintain a healthy heartbeat exchange.
3. Connect to FIX Drop Copy and complete its session logon.
4. Receive both snapshot and incremental traffic from the required multicast channels.
5. Verify that retransmit requests can recover an intentional market-data gap.
6. Connect to the REST portfolio-management endpoints over HTTPS.

Do not treat a successful TCP connection as a complete test. Authentication, heartbeats, sequence handling, multicast group membership, and recovery must all work.

​

6. Build a Resilient Session Layout

Production order-entry gateways are organized into hot-hot A/B pairs according to the instrument’s underlying tier: Connect only to the product groups you trade, but always connect to both A and B within each required pair. Both sides are active, and their rate-limit buckets are independent. Each API key can establish one connection to each gateway instance. A second connection using the same key on the same gateway disconnects the first. Order events are scoped to the API key and gateway session that originated the order.

​

7. Validate End-to-End Behavior

On test, verify the complete lifecycle before requesting production access:

• Submit, amend, and cancel a single order.
• Send a mass quote if your strategy uses option quoting.
• Confirm responses on the originating SBE session.
• Confirm lifecycle events and fills on FIX Drop Copy.
• Confirm trades through the standard private WebSocket API.
• Confirm that open Starbase orders do not appear in the web UI or private WebSocket order feed.
• Disconnect a session and verify Cancel on Disconnect behavior.
• Reconnect, rebuild state, and resubmit only after reviewing current market conditions.
• Exercise A/B failover without losing the local view of orders or the book.

Before production, also review behavior that can change order acceptance or timing: speed bumps, Market Maker Protection, Self Match Prevention, and risk bypass.

​

8. Review Capacity

Starbase rate limits are applied per Member, per gateway, and per quoting type. API keys and sessions within the same Member do not each receive a fresh allocation. Before production:

• Estimate steady-state and burst order rates by product group.
• Separate single-order traffic from mass-quote traffic.
• Use both A and B gateways where appropriate.
• Confirm the number of API keys and active orders required.
• Discuss non-default allocations with your Account Manager.

See API Rate Limits for bucket behavior, defaults, and other limits.

​

9. Prepare for Production

Production readiness should include:

• Redundant client hosts, network interfaces, and power where applicable
• Active connections to both sides of every required gateway pair
• Both A and B multicast feeds, including snapshot and retransmit recovery
• Independent FIX Drop Copy ingestion and durable event persistence
• Clock synchronization; colocated clients can request PTP
• Metrics and alerts for session state, heartbeats, sequence gaps, rejects, and recovery
• A tested runbook for disconnects, stale books, failover, and reconciliation

Use the production endpoints only after Deribit confirms that account, credentials, source IPs, and network access are ready.

​

Troubleshooting

If connectivity fails, record:

• Test or production environment
• Connectivity type and hosting provider
• Account UID and Starbase ClientID
• Source IP, destination IP, port, protocol, gateway, and side
• UTC timestamps and the last successful heartbeat or sequence number
• Whether side A, side B, or both are affected
• TCP-connectivity results and a short sanitized packet capture
• Expected behavior, observed behavior, and any reject code

Send network and multicast issues to colo-support@coinbase.com. Send protocol rejects and account-configuration questions to your Technical Account Manager or Deribit Support.

​

Next Steps