Market Timeline

Recurring markets (5-minute, hourly, daily crypto, etc.) run as a series of timed slots. /markets/active only ever returns the slot that is currently open, so it cannot be used to pre-fetch the next one. The timeline endpoints return the upcoming and past slots for a recurring series, including each slot’s slug and a tradable flag, so you can resolve the next slug and warm up an orderbook subscription before it opens. Both endpoints are public and require no authentication.

By current slug

If you already have the current slug (e.g. from /markets/active):

Route: GET /markets/{slug}/timeline
Query: before (default 1), after (default 24) — number of slots to return on each side of the anchor.

curl "https://api.limitless.exchange/markets/btc-up-or-down-5-min-1771934700/timeline?before=1&after=24"

By symbol and frequency

If you do not have a current slug, anchor on the recurring series directly:

Route: GET /markets/timeline

Query param	Type	Required	Description
`symbol`	`string`	Yes	Underlying symbol, e.g. `BTC`.
`frequency`	`string`	Yes	One of `minutely`, `hourly`, `daily`, `weekly`.
`subFrequency`	`string`	Required for `minutely` / `hourly`	Slot size, e.g. `minutes_5`, `minutes_15`, `hours_1`.
`before`	`number`	No	Past slots to return (default `10`, max `500`).
`after`	`number`	No	Future slots to return (default `10`, max `500`).

# Upcoming 5-minute BTC slots
curl "https://api.limitless.exchange/markets/timeline?symbol=BTC&frequency=minutely&subFrequency=minutes_5&before=2&after=10"

Response

{
  "current": {
    "slotId": 4821,
    "slug": "btc-up-or-down-5-min-1771934700",
    "state": "OPEN",
    "tradable": true,
    "startAt": "2026-05-28T12:05:00.000Z",
    "endAt": "2026-05-28T12:10:00.000Z",
    "countdownSec": 142
  },
  "next": {
    "slotId": 4822,
    "slug": "btc-up-or-down-5-min-1771935000",
    "state": "PRE_OPEN",
    "tradable": false,
    "startAt": "2026-05-28T12:10:00.000Z",
    "endAt": "2026-05-28T12:15:00.000Z",
    "countdownSec": 442
  },
  "batch": [
    {
      "slotId": 4822,
      "index": 1,
      "slug": "btc-up-or-down-5-min-1771935000",
      "state": "PRE_OPEN",
      "tradable": false,
      "startAt": "2026-05-28T12:10:00.000Z",
      "endAt": "2026-05-28T12:15:00.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

Slot fields

Field	Type	Description
`slug`	`string`	Market slug for this slot. Use it to fetch the orderbook or place orders once tradable.
`state`	`string`	`PRE_OPEN`, `OPEN`, `SETTLING`, `SETTLED`, or `FAILED`.
`tradable`	`boolean`	Whether orders are currently accepted for this slot.
`startAt` / `endAt`	`string`	ISO 8601 slot window bounds.
`countdownSec`	`number`	Seconds to the next boundary (`current` / `next` only).
`index`	`number`	Slot offset from the anchor (`batch` only).

The GET /markets/{slug}/timeline variant additionally returns anchor and job metadata describing the recurring series.

A slot can exist in PRE_OPEN before orders are accepted. Gate order submission on tradable: true / state: "OPEN" rather than on startAt alone.

Pre-fetch pattern

Poll the timeline a few seconds before the current slot ends.
Read next.slug and open its orderbook subscription early.
Submit the moment next flips to state: "OPEN" / tradable: true.

Responses are cached for a few seconds, so polling once per second per series is safe.

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By current slug

By symbol and frequency

Response

Slot fields

Pre-fetch pattern

​By current slug

​By symbol and frequency

​Response

​Slot fields

​Pre-fetch pattern

By current slug

By symbol and frequency

Response

Slot fields

Pre-fetch pattern