Instrument Catalogue
Venues, instruments and the reference data everything rests on
Contract correctness begins here. Canonical underlying identities, series with venue and expiry, contract-level strike, right, lot, expiry class and price precision, and the symbology that maps an external feed onto those records, all originate in the instrument catalogue and the reference-data imports that maintain it.
Software infrastructure only. No investment advice, no brokerage services, no guaranteed returns.
01 · Client experience
Broker digital channels
02 · The governed layer
Stretus AI Strategy Infrastructure
03 · Execution authority
Broker execution environment
Why is a catalogue a control rather than a data set?
Because a malformed or stale instrument record does not produce an error. It produces a resolution that is subtly wrong, and a strategy tested against a subtly wrong contract returns a plausible number that nobody questions.
That is the failure mode worth designing against. An obvious break is cheap: something 404s, somebody fixes it. A quiet break is expensive, because it spreads into backtests, into approvals based on those backtests, and eventually into positions, with every downstream artefact looking normal.
What the catalogue defines, level by level
| Level | What it establishes | What breaks if it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Venue | Which trading venues are represented and enabled | Strategies resolve against a venue the account cannot reach |
| Underlying | Canonical index or stock identity | Two records for one instrument, and exposure that does not aggregate |
| Series | Future or option family with venue and expiry | Expiry handling and grouped exits operate on the wrong series |
| Contract | Strike, call/put right, lot, expiry class, price precision | Sizing, margin and P&L computed against the wrong contract |
| Symbology mapping | How external feed symbols map to canonical records | Correct-looking prices attached to the wrong instrument |
Why is symbology mapping the most dangerous layer?
Because feed data that maps to the wrong canonical instrument is impossible to tell apart from correct data until it reaches a position. There is no validation that catches a plausible price on the wrong symbol.
Indian markets make this harder than it sounds. The same underlying appears across venues and segments with different conventions, derivative series carry venue-specific expiry and lot conventions, and vendors differ in how they express all of it. Mapping is therefore maintained deliberately rather than inferred at read time.
What does validated import mean?
Reference data is checked on the way in, shape, expected fields, coverage and freshness, rather than ingested and trusted. An import that does not satisfy those checks is a failed import rather than a silently degraded catalogue.
The same discipline the custom-indicator pipeline applies to organisation data applies here to instrument data, and for the same reason: a definition that assumes coverage it does not have produces a gap that surfaces later as an inexplicable result.
How does this reach a strategy?
Through entitlement-scoped resolution. The instrument layer keeps cash, future and option records distinct, then resolves only contracts permitted for the tenant, account, broker segment and venue, and refuses an unresolved or ambiguous derivative rather than substituting the cash underlying.
That refusal is the control the whole catalogue exists to support. Without a canonical, validated record to resolve against, refusal would be the only safe behaviour available in far more cases, and the product would be less useful.
What is the current coverage position?
NSE and BSE ecosystems, cash, futures and options, and configured currency products, with INR-native reporting. BSE cash is represented; the BSE derivative catalogue and venue-policy rollout follow a phased enablement path.
Live availability for any given deployment depends on broker, account, segment, catalogue, permissions and tenant configuration. Implemented catalogue coverage and a live route for a specific account are different facts, and the distinction is worth being precise about during scoping.
Surfaces
What each surface does
The product surfaces this page covers, named as they appear in the application.
- Venues
- Which trading venues are represented and enabled. NSE and BSE ecosystems are covered; BSE cash is represented and the BSE derivative catalogue follows a phased enablement path. A venue being represented and a route being live for a specific account are different facts.
- Instrument Catalogue
- The canonical records contract resolution depends on: underlying identity, series with venue and expiry, and contract-level strike, right, lot, expiry class and price precision. It is administered centrally rather than per tenant, because a canonical record individual tenants could edit would stop being canonical, and exposure aggregation and contract resolution both depend on it being single-valued.
- Market-Data Mappings
- How an external feed's symbology maps onto canonical instrument records. This is the most dangerous layer in the whole catalogue, because feed data mapped to the wrong instrument is impossible to tell apart from correct data until it reaches a position, no validation catches a plausible price on the wrong symbol. Mappings are therefore maintained deliberately rather than inferred at read time.
- Reference-Data Imports
- Ingesting the reference data the catalogue rests on, with validation on the way in, shape, expected fields, coverage and freshness. An import that fails those checks is a failed import rather than a silently degraded catalogue, which matters because a malformed catalogue does not break loudly, it resolves to a subtly wrong contract.
Ownership boundaries
Where Stretus sits in the stack
Benefits
Business benefits
Derivative results that mean something
Contract-level records mean an options backtest is a backtest of the option, not of its underlying.
Exposure that aggregates correctly
Canonical underlying identity prevents one instrument existing as two records with exposure split across them.
Mapping maintained, not inferred
Feed symbology is mapped deliberately, because a plausible price on the wrong symbol passes every other check.
Imports that fail loudly
Reference data is validated on the way in, so a degraded catalogue is a failed import rather than a quiet defect.
Use cases
Enterprise operating situations
Illustrative operating situations. Availability varies by broker, exchange, account, connector and tenant.
- Challenge
- Ensure client strategies resolve against the instruments the account can actually trade.
- Stretus role
- Scope venue and instrument entitlement per tenant and account, and resolve only permitted contracts.
- Outcome
- Ineligible strategies fail at build rather than at routing.
- Challenge
- Trust that an options strategy was tested against the exact contract.
- Stretus role
- Preserve strike, right, lot, expiry class and price precision from resolution through testing to execution.
- Outcome
- Evidence about the instrument that would actually have traded.
Security posture
Security considerations
- Entitlement-scoped resolution
- Only contracts permitted for the tenant, account, segment and venue resolve, so the catalogue cannot surface what a client could not trade.
- Validated imports
- Reference data is checked for shape, fields, coverage and freshness before it becomes part of the catalogue.
- Refusal over approximation
- An unresolved or ambiguous derivative is refused before testing or execution rather than replaced with its cash underlying.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
Which venues and instruments are covered?
NSE and BSE ecosystems, cash, futures and options, and configured currency products, with INR-native reporting. BSE cash is represented and the BSE derivative catalogue follows a phased enablement path.
What happens if a feed changes its symbols?
Symbology mapping is maintained against canonical instrument records rather than inferred at read time, so a vendor change is a mapping update. This is the layer that most needs deliberate maintenance, because a wrong mapping produces correct-looking prices on the wrong instrument.
Can we bring our own instrument master?
Reference-data imports exist for exactly that kind of integration, and they validate on the way in. What a specific deployment can import is a scoping question, raise it during technical discovery rather than assuming either answer.
How often does reference data need refreshing?
Contract-level data changes constantly, new expiries, new strikes, corporate actions on underlyings. So the catalogue is maintained continuously rather than loaded once. Freshness is checked on import, and stale-data checks run against the surfaces that depend on it, so a degraded catalogue is visible rather than silently in use.
Who can change the catalogue?
It is administered in the platform control plane rather than by a tenant, which is deliberate: a canonical instrument record that individual tenants could edit would stop being canonical, and exposure aggregation and contract resolution both depend on it being single-valued. What a tenant controls is which venues and instruments it is entitled to reach.
Does catalogue coverage mean a route is live?
No, and mixing the two up is a common source of surprise. Live availability depends on broker, account, segment, catalogue, permissions and tenant configuration. Implemented coverage does not imply universal live certification.
Ecosystem
Related capabilities
Options & Derivatives
Expiry, strike, right, lot and margin preserved from exploration through execution, grouped exits and reconciliation, with scoped HALT-NEW controls.
Platform Administration
Tenant provisioning, module entitlement, venue and instrument catalogues, reference-data imports, credential isolation and production activation review.
Broker Integration
Integrate a governed strategy layer into existing broker journeys while identity, entitlements, risk policy, OMS/RMS and market access stay broker-owned.
Arrange a working demonstration
Review strategy creation, F&O contract handling, backtesting, broker controls and integration boundaries with the team. If you would rather talk to an engineer than a salesperson, say so and we will arrange that instead.
Risk and disclosure
Trading and derivatives involve risk of loss. AI output requires review. Backtests and simulations do not predict future results; live outcomes can differ because of costs, latency, slippage, liquidity, rejections, broker rules and market conditions. Availability varies by broker, exchange, account, connector and tenant. Product information only; not investment advice.