Create Locate

post

https://paper-api.alpaca.markets/v1/locates

Creates a locate request for a short sale. This endpoint is not available in paper trading.

Idempotency: Reusing the same key with the same request returns the original
locate response. Reusing the same key with a different request returns HTTP 422.

Body Params

Locate request details.

Request to locate shares for a short sale.

all_or_none

boolean

Defaults to false

Reject the locate unless the full requested quantity is available.

limit_price

string | null

Maximum acceptable locate fee per share, as a decimal string in USD.
If omitted, any quoted fee is accepted.

qty

int64

required

≥ 1

Number of shares to locate. Must be positive and in round lots of 100; invalid quantities return HTTP 400.

symbol

string

required

Stock symbol.

Headers

Idempotency-Key

string

length ≤ 128

Optional client-generated key for safe retries and duplicate request detection.
This endpoint currently accepts keys up to 128 characters. Alpaca is moving toward
a 36-character maximum; new implementations should generate a unique UUIDv7 or
UUIDv4 value (36 characters including hyphens) for each logical operation. Do not
reuse a key across operations.

Responses

201Created

400Invalid locate request.

401Authentication headers are missing or invalid. Make sure you authenticate your request with a valid API key.

403User has no access to a resource.

422Cannot complete locate request.

500Internal server error. We recommend retrying these later. If the issue persists, please contact us on Slack or on the Community Forum.