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Words used in these docs
Short definitions of the terms you meet in the PerkBridge dashboard, API and guides.
Updated 26 Oct 2026·Version 0.x
The platform
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| PerkBridge, Nile | PerkBridge is the product; Nile is the name of the software. The bundled sign-in page is branded “Perkbridge Nile Connect”. |
| Control plane | The management side you install on one server: database, management service, dashboard and, optionally, single sign-on. It keeps your inventory, users, audit log and monitoring, and runs the Trading API. It never trades itself; it sends signed commands to your servers. See Install the control plane. |
| Execution plane | All your trading servers together. They run the terminals and keep running when the control plane is unreachable. |
| Dashboard | The web interface of the control plane. It talks only to the control plane, never to your servers directly. |
| Agent gateway | The control plane’s port for agents, 8443 by default. Open it only to your trading servers. |
| Bring your own server | You own or rent the servers. PerkBridge prepares and manages them; it does not host them. |
Servers and what runs on them
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| Server, host | One Linux machine you added to PerkBridge to run terminals: Ubuntu 24.04, 64-bit x86. “Host” means the same machine. See Add a server. |
| Setup (provisioning) | The one-time SSH run that checks a server, installs Docker and the Fleet Agent, and enrols the agent. |
| Host key fingerprint | A short code that identifies a server’s SSH key. You compare it with your provider’s console before setup trusts the server. |
| Fleet Agent | The native service on each server that runs deployments. It connects out to the control plane and checks every signed command on its own before acting. |
| Enrolment | How a new agent gets its identity: it uses a single-use token once to receive its certificate and an agent ID (agt-…). Setup does this for you. |
| mTLS | Mutual TLS: the agent and the control plane each prove who they are with a certificate. |
| Gateway access, allowlist | The list of addresses each server’s agent may connect from. Other addresses are refused before the TLS handshake. |
| Watchdog | An optional local service that watches the agent and its workloads, raises alerts and records diagnostics. It does not restart anything. |
| Platform | The trading platform a deployment runs, chosen before the deployment details. Today that is MetaTrader 5. Other platforms are planned. |
| Signed catalog | The list of platforms and their versions that PerkBridge publishes, signed so the control plane and the agent can check it. New deployments use the latest version. |
| Runtime image | The container image that runs MetaTrader 5 headless. It must be approved for your organization and downloaded to the server before a deployment can use it. Install and create does both for you. |
| Deployment | One MetaTrader 5 terminal running in its own container on one server, signed in to one broker account. See Deploy a terminal. |
| Broker server name | The name MetaTrader 5 shows for your broker’s server, for example FTMO-Demo. You type it when you create a deployment. |
Trading
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| Trading account | A MetaTrader 5 demo account, running in a deployment, that you trade through the Trading API. Everything in the API lives under /v1/trading/accounts/{account_id}. |
| Demo account | A broker practice account with no real money. It is the only kind PerkBridge trades; real and contest accounts are refused with account_not_demo. |
| Route | An optional lane inside one trading account, with its own switch and risk rules. A token can be bound to one route. |
| Strategy | An optional tag you put on orders, so you can group them and set risk rules for them. There are no strategy objects. |
| Order | A request to open or close a position, or to change or cancel a pending order. Types: market, limit, stop and stop limit. |
| Pending order | A limit, stop or stop limit order that rests at the broker until the price reaches it, its time in force ends or you cancel it. You can modify its price, stop loss, take profit and expiry. |
| Time in force | How long a pending order rests: gtc (until cancelled), day, gtd (until a time) or gtd_day (until the end of a trade server date). |
| Unknown (order state) | PerkBridge cannot tell whether the broker has the order. Such an order is never resent automatically; it is checked against the broker instead. |
| API token | A secret key for the Trading API, issued for one trading account and optionally one route. Tokens expire after 90 days by default. See the Trading API reference. |
| Emergency halt (emergency stop) | One organization-wide switch, in the dashboard, that stops new positions on every account. It can also cancel the pending orders PerkBridge placed. Closing positions still works. |
| DirectConnect | A planned opt-in, low-latency order path over a TLS WebSocket, for demo accounts, with the same risk checks. Designed, not built yet. |
Risk
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| nile-risk | The risk engine that runs on the server, next to each terminal. It checks your rules before an order reaches the broker, so they hold even when the control plane is down. See Risk rules. |
| Risk rule | A limit on an account, route, strategy or symbol, such as daily loss, number of trades or open positions. A rule has up to 4 criteria. |
| Latch | When a rule trips, it stays tripped until the end of its period (day, week or month) and blocks new positions. You can clear a latch early through the API. |
| Block and close | A planned rule action that, when the rule trips, also closes the positions it covers. It is not available yet. |
| Time rule | A rule for trading hours, market close or news windows. It refuses new positions in its window and can close positions and cancel pending orders before the window starts. It never latches. |
| Close-only | A separate channel that can only close an existing position. It lets you close even while nile-risk is down. A close can never open or reverse a position. |
People, access and security
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| Organization | Your company’s space in PerkBridge. Servers, deployments, users and the audit log belong to one organization. The installer creates the first one. |
| Capability | One permission, such as adding servers or reading agents. |
| Capability grant | A set of capabilities given to a user for a scope: the whole organization, one server or one deployment. See Users and single sign-on. |
| Bundle (OPERATOR, VIEWER) | A ready-made set of capabilities used when you create a grant. VIEWER is read-only. |
| Re-authentication | Sensitive actions, such as setting up a server or delivering a broker password, need a recent sign-in. The dashboard asks you to confirm it. |
| Single sign-on (SSO) | Signing in through an identity provider. PerkBridge can install its own (Keycloak) at first install. |
| Audit log | The record of who did what and when, including refused actions. It never holds secrets. |
| Credential delivery | How a broker password reaches the server: encrypted to that server’s agent only, for one start, and not stored by the platform. See Broker credentials. |
| nile-vault | An optional service on the server that keeps a broker password you choose to remember. The key is split, so neither the server nor the control plane can open it alone. Add server can install it. |
| Remembered credentials | A broker password kept in nile-vault for one deployment, with your consent. With automatic use allowed, PerkBridge can start a new session without anyone typing it, for failover or after a reboot. See Broker credentials. |
Operations
| TERM | MEANING |
|---|---|
| Alert | A problem the platform detected, shown in the dashboard and the API until it resolves. Acknowledging it records who is looking. See Monitoring. |
| Notification channel | Where copies of alerts are sent: Telegram, Slack, email or a signed HTTPS webhook. Rules decide which alerts go where. See Alert notifications. |
| Standby | A second server you choose for a deployment, for failover. Hot: its terminal is logged in and ready. Warm: it is prepared and logs in at the switch. Arming it reserves room on that server. See Failover. |
| Switch | Moving a deployment from its active server to its standby, by hand or automatically. Trading is halted for new positions until the account is checked against the broker. |
| Removal | Taking a deployment or server out of PerkBridge, optionally cleaning the host. It never closes broker positions. See Removing. |
| Development build | A release bundle not signed with the production key. Every bundle is one until that key is published. |
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