Coinbase Advanced Order Types: Market, Limit, Stop-Limit

One key, one order

Coinbase Advanced’s create-order request carries an order_configuration object, and exactly one key inside it defines the order. The key names both the order type and the time in force. There is no separate time_in_force field on the order itself.

That is a deliberate design: it makes invalid combinations unrepresentable. You cannot submit a limit order with a missing time in force, because the time in force is part of the key. The cost is that the key names are literal and easy to mistype, and a wrong name is rejected at the API boundary rather than corrected.

The published configuration keys include:

The time-in-force values themselves are GOOD_UNTIL_CANCELLED, GOOD_UNTIL_DATE_TIME, IMMEDIATE_OR_CANCEL and FILL_OR_KILL. The guide’s wording is useful for separating the last two: an IOC order cancels the remaining size instead of leaving it on the book, while a FOK order is only posted if it would be immediately and completely filled.

Market orders: two variants, one restriction

A market order takes liquidity at whatever price the book offers. market_market_ioc is the standard form: it fills what it can immediately and cancels the rest. market_market_fok requires the entire size to fill at once or the order does not execute.

The guide notes that the fill-or-kill market variant is for perpetuals only. On spot, the practical choice is between a market IOC and a limit order with a price you are willing to pay. That matters because a market order has no price protection: in a thin book, the average fill can be far from the last trade.

On 2026-10-19 at 01:29:31 UTC the Coinbase BTC-USD book showed a bid of 82,377.74 and an ask of 82,377.75 — a one-cent spread, which is about as tight as a book gets. The same market order in a quiet book and in a gap are not the same instruction, even though the configuration key is identical.

Limit orders: the price is a bound, not a target

A limit order specifies the worst price at which it may execute. Coinbase’s schema defines limit_price as the price, or better, at which the order should be executed: a buy executes at or below the limit, and a sell at or above it.

limit_limit_gtc rests on the book until cancelled. limit_limit_gtd rests until a specified date and time. limit_limit_fok must fill completely and immediately, which makes it a taker order despite being a limit. sor_limit_ioc routes through the smart order router and cancels the remainder.

The less obvious field is post-only. Coinbase’s definition is direct: when enabled, only maker orders are posted to the book, and orders that would post as a taker are rejected. That makes post-only a guarantee about the fee tier, not about the fill. A post-only order that would cross is not repriced; it is rejected. The Coinbase Advanced fee guide covers why that distinction changes the cost of a round trip.

Stop-limit: two prices and a direction

A stop-limit order carries three price-related fields:

• stop_price — the trigger. The order is armed when the last trade price reaches it.
• limit_price — the bound on execution after the trigger.
• stop_direction — STOP_DIRECTION_STOP_UP or STOP_DIRECTION_STOP_DOWN, telling the venue whether the trigger is above or below the market.

The direction field is not optional and is not inferred from the side. A sell stop below the market uses DOWN; a buy stop above the market uses UP. The same sell side can be used with an UP trigger for a breakout entry, which is why the venue asks rather than guesses.

Coinbase’s documentation states that stop orders are triggered by the last trade price. That is a different rule from a futures venue that triggers on mark price. In a fast move the last trade can cross the stop and then trade well beyond the limit before the order reaches the book.

A worked example using the live book:

• BTC-USD last trade: 82,363.41.
• A sell stop-limit with stop_price 82,000 and limit_price 81,500, direction DOWN.
• The order rests unarmed while the last trade is above 82,000.
• When the last trade prints at or below 82,000, the order is placed as a sell limit at 81,500.
• If buyers are still bidding above 81,500, it fills at the best available price at or above the limit. If the market gaps below 81,500 and does not trade back up, it does not fill.

The last line is the part a stop-limit does not solve. The limit protects the price; it does not guarantee an exit. A plain stop order, where the venue supports one, converts to a market order at the trigger and accepts the fill risk instead.

Bracket orders: two exits attached to one entry

A bracket order uses trigger_bracket_gtc or trigger_bracket_gtd. It attaches a take-profit and a stop to an entry, and Coinbase’s documentation describes the mechanism: as soon as a fill occurs at one of the specified price levels, the other side is automatically disabled.

The same documentation is explicit about the limit of the protection: execution of downside protection is not guaranteed during high market volatility. A bracket is a pair of conditional orders, not an insurance contract. If the stop is a stop-limit and the market gaps through its limit, the bracket’s protection can fail in the same way a standalone stop-limit can.

The bracket’s stop leg uses a limit price 5% higher for buys and 5% lower for sells, according to the guide. That is a wide bound designed to improve the chance of a fill in a fast market, at the cost of accepting a worse price.

Where order-entry mistakes actually happen

• The key name. limit_limit_gtc, not limit_gtc. The type is repeated.
• The missing direction. stop_direction is required on a stop-limit, and an inverted value arms the order on the wrong side of the market.
• The wrong trigger. Coinbase stops follow the last trade price. A trader watching the mark or an index is watching a different series.
• The limit treated as a stop. After the trigger, the order is a limit. It can rest unfilled.
• Post-only on the wrong type. Post-only lives on the limit configuration and rejects taker-side orders; it is not in the stop-limit schema.
• The filled side of a bracket. One fill disables the other side. A partial fill at the entry does not necessarily mean the exits are sized to the filled quantity, so the position and the protection have to be reconciled after execution.

The mechanics of rejection are covered in why an exchange rejects your order, which is the right place to start when a configuration is refused rather than filled. The cost side of the same decision — maker versus taker, and the difference between Simple and Advanced — is set out in Coinbase Simple vs Advanced trading cost. The trading fee calculator turns the resulting rates into a round-trip cost.

Risk note. Order schemas and field definitions in this article were read from Coinbase Developer Platform documentation on 2026-10-19, and the live BTC-USD quote at 01:29:31 UTC from Coinbase’s public Exchange API. Order behaviour in fast markets can differ from the documented path, and a stop-limit can fail to fill. Nothing here is investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

The configuration is the strategy

Coinbase Advanced’s order model rewards precision. A market order is one key; a limit order is one key; a stop-limit is one key plus two prices and a direction. Once those are right, the venue does exactly what was asked, including leaving a triggered stop-limit unfilled when the market gaps through its limit.

The way to read the table is not “which order type is best” but “what do I want to happen at each price”. A market order answers “fill now at any price”. A limit answers “fill at this price or better, or not at all”. A stop-limit answers “arm at this price, then behave like a limit”. The key names are just the encoding of that sentence.