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MetaTrader 5

How the MT5 connection
actually works

MT5 is a terminal, not an exchange, so the connection works differently from a crypto venue. What does not change is the rule: Vectorhelm trades the account and never holds the funds in it.

FX · CFDs · Indices
instrument classes
Any MT5 broker
including funded accounts
Non-custodial
your funds stay in your own account

The connection

What MT5 needs, and why it differs.

  • A terminal session, not a REST key

    MT5 connects through a hosted terminal session bound to your account. That is the mechanism the platform provides; there is no API key to scope.

    Terminal

  • Trading permission only

    The credentials used grant order placement. Vectorhelm places and cancels orders and does nothing else with the account.

    Trade scope only

  • Funded and challenge accounts

    Prop accounts work the same way. Set the firm’s rules as engine limits, and the account stops itself before the firm has to.

    How the mapping works →

    Prop-ready

  • One terminal, one book

    Each terminal is its own risk book with its own ceilings, so a challenge account and a live one never share a limit.

    Isolated

MT5 specifics

Where MT5 brokers differ from each other.

The protocol is the same everywhere. The instrument definitions are not, and that is where automation breaks.

  • Symbol names carry suffixes

    The same instrument is EURUSD at one broker, EURUSD.raw or EURUSDm at another. A strategy written against one name routes to nothing at the other, so symbols are mapped per connection.

    Per broker

  • Volume steps and minimums

    Minimum volume, maximum volume and step size are per symbol and per broker. An order between two steps is rejected by the terminal, which is why a size that works live can fail on a different account.

    Per symbol

  • Netting or hedging

    A netting account holds one position per symbol; a hedging account holds many. The same sequence of orders produces a different book on each, so the account model changes what a strategy does.

    Account model

  • Stop and freeze levels

    Brokers set a minimum distance for stops from the current price, and a freeze band where orders cannot be modified. A stop inside either is refused by the broker rather than by us.

    Broker rule

Point your broker at a demo account.

Map the symbols, set the limits, and run the strategy on demo until the fills look like the ones you expected.

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