The Ultimate Guide to Polymarket CLI: From Terminal Operations to Automated Trading Scripts

For developers and advanced traders, leaving the graphical interface behind to interact directly with on-chain protocols via the command line often means higher efficiency, finer control, and the possibility of automated strategies. This article provides an in-depth analysis of a Rust-based Polymarket CLI tool. It is not just a simple terminal utility; it is a bridge connecting prediction markets to automated scripting.

Core Question: How can one complete the full workflow of Polymarket market browsing, fund configuration, order placement, and on-chain interaction via the command line without a graphical interface?

Getting Started: Installation and First Run

Core Question: How can Polymarket CLI be quickly deployed and run across different operating system environments?

Polymarket CLI is a binary tool written in Rust, offering high execution efficiency and cross-platform capabilities. Whether you are on macOS, Linux, or Windows (via WSL or building from source), you can install it using standard methods.

Diverse Installation Paths

Depending on your technical background and OS preference, you can choose from the following three methods:

  1. Homebrew Installation (Recommended for macOS/Linux)
    This is the simplest method. Homebrew automatically handles dependencies and path configurations. You need to add Polymarket’s custom tap and then execute the installation.

    brew tap Polymarket/polymarket-cli https://github.com/Polymarket/polymarket-cli
brew install polymarket

    The advantage of this method is that future versions can be easily maintained via brew upgrade.

  2. Shell Script Installation
    For users who do not want to manage package managers manually, the official one-liner installation script is available. This script automatically detects the system architecture and downloads the corresponding pre-compiled binary.

    curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Polymarket/polymarket-cli/main/install.sh | sh

    Note: When executing network scripts like this, it is good security practice to review the script content first.

  3. Build from Source
    If you need to customize features, debug locally, or use a non-standard architecture system, building from source is the best choice. The prerequisite is that the Rust toolchain is already installed on your system.

    git clone https://github.com/Polymarket/polymarket-cli
cd polymarket-cli
cargo install --path .

    The build process may take a few minutes, but you will get an executable of the latest code.

The “Zero Configuration” Experience

After installation, you do not need to configure a wallet immediately to start using it. The design of Polymarket CLI fully considers the convenience of “read-only” operations.

You can start browsing markets directly:

# List the top 5 markets
polymarket markets list --limit 5

# Search for a specific keyword
polymarket markets search "election"

# View specific event tags
polymarket events list --tag politics

Application Scenario:
Suppose you are a data analyst who only wants to scrape price data from current hot markets without performing any transactions. You can run polymarket markets list or polymarket -o json markets list directly to get structured data, completely skipping the cumbersome wallet creation step.

Reflection and Insight:
The tool designers decoupled “browsing” from “trading” permissions, which is a very wise decision. In the Web3 world, the private key is everything. Forcing users to provide private keys when they are merely viewing data not only increases security risks but also raises the barrier to entry. This “on-demand authorization” design pattern of the CLI is worth learning for all blockchain tool developers.

Image Source: Pexels

Core Configuration: Private Key Management and Signature Mechanisms

Core Question: How does the CLI securely manage private keys and support various signature modes to adapt to different account architectures?

When shifting from “browse mode” to “trade mode,” configuring the wallet is a necessary step. The CLI requires a private key to sign orders and on-chain transactions but provides multiple flexible injection methods.

Priority of Private Key Configuration

The CLI checks for private key configuration in the following order. This design facilitates temporary debugging as well as persistent configuration:

  1. CLI Flag: --private-key 0xabc...

    • Use Case: Executing a single operation with a specific account temporarily, or injecting via variables in a CI/CD environment.
    • Risk Warning: Command-line flags may be logged in Shell history; use with caution.

  2. Environment Variable: POLYMARKET_PRIVATE_KEY=0xabc...

    • Use Case: Server environments or scripts to avoid hardcoding in code.

  3. Config File: ~/.config/polymarket/config.json

    • Use Case: The default account for long-term local use.

Quick Wallet Management Commands

The CLI provides a comprehensive set of wallet management commands, covering the full lifecycle of creation, import, viewing, and resetting:

# Create a new wallet (automatically generates a random private key and saves it)
polymarket wallet create

# Import an existing private key
polymarket wallet import 0xabc123...

# View the currently configured wallet address
polymarket wallet show

The configuration file is not just a place to store private keys; it also defines the Chain ID and Signature Type. A standard configuration file looks like this:

{
  "private_key": "0x...",
  "chain_id": 137,
  "signature_type": "proxy"
}

Understanding Signature Types: Proxy vs EOA vs Gnosis Safe

This is an advanced but easily confusing part of the Polymarket CLI. Different signature types correspond to different account architectures:

  • Proxy (Default): Uses Polymarket’s proxy wallet system. This is the account mode most users use when interacting with Polymarket on the web. The proxy contract can optimize Gas fees or provide an additional security layer.
  • EOA (Externally Owned Account): Signs directly with the address corresponding to the private key. This applies to scenarios where an external account is directly controlled.
  • Gnosis Safe: Geared towards multi-signature wallet scenarios. This allows the CLI to construct transaction proposals for the multi-sig wallet to sign and execute.

Application Scenario:
If you have been using a wallet to connect to Polymarket on the web, you are most likely using the Proxy mode. If you are using a raw private key directly in a script for arbitrage trading, you may need to try EOA or Proxy mode depending on the actual situation. If configured incorrectly, the order signature will fail validation. You can override the setting in the config file via the --signature-type eoa flag in a single command.

Market Data and Output Formats: Human-Readable vs. Machine-Processable

Core Question: How can the CLI serve both the trader in front of the terminal and the automation scripts running in the background?

The CLI’s output design reflects a “dual-friendly” principle: table mode by default for human reading, and JSON mode for program parsing.

Table Mode: An Intuitive Market Panorama

By default, the command output is a well-aligned table.

polymarket markets list --limit 2

Output Example:

 Question                            Price (Yes)  Volume   Liquidity  Status
 Will Trump win the 2024 election?   52.00¢       $145.2M  $1.2M      Active
 Will BTC hit $100k by Dec 2024?     67.30¢       $89.4M   $430.5K    Active

This format clearly displays the question, current price, volume, and liquidity, suitable for quickly judging market heat.

JSON Mode: The Cornerstone of Automation

Add the -o json or --output json flag, and the output instantly becomes structured JSON data.

polymarket -o json markets list --limit 2

Output Example:

[
  { "id": "12345", "question": "Will Trump win the 2024 election?", "outcomePrices": ["0.52", "0.48"], ... },
  { "id": "67890", "question": "Will BTC hit $100k by Dec 2024?", ... }
]

Application Scenario: Building a Monitoring Script
Suppose you want to write a script to monitor the price of the “Bitcoin Breaks $100k” market and send a notification when the price drops below 60 cents. You can easily achieve this using JSON output combined with the jq tool:

# Extract price field
PRICE=$(polymarket -o json markets get bitcoin-above-100k | jq '.outcomePrices[0]')
echo "Current Price: $PRICE"

Reflection and Insight:
Many CLI tools only provide text parsing, requiring heavy use of grep and sed when writing scripts, which is extremely fragile. Polymarket CLI’s native support for JSON output not only lowers the barrier for script writing but also ensures the stability of data parsing. For modern DevOps and quantitative trading development, this is an indispensable feature. Furthermore, error handling follows this principle: in table mode, errors go to stderr; in JSON mode, a JSON object containing an error field is returned to stdout. This consistency greatly simplifies exception handling logic.

Image Source: Unsplash

Trading in Action: CLOB Orders and Position Management

Core Question: How to precisely execute limit and market orders in the command line and effectively manage order status?

CLOB (Central Limit Order Book) is the core trading mechanism of Polymarket. The CLI provides complete order lifecycle management functionality.

Prerequisite: Contract Approvals

Before any trading occurs, you must ensure that the smart contracts have permission to operate your assets. This is a one-time on-chain operation that consumes MATIC on the Polygon network for Gas fees.

# Check current approval status (read-only, no Gas needed)
polymarket approve check

# Execute approval (sends 6 transactions, requires MATIC)
polymarket approve set

This step essentially authorizes Polymarket’s contracts to use your USDC (as collateral) and CTF Tokens (Conditional Tokens). Without this step, orders will fail due to insufficient balance or permission denial.

Order Strategies: Limit and Market Orders

The CLI supports two main order modes:

  1. Limit Order: Specify price and quantity, placed on the order book waiting for a match.

    polymarket clob create-order \
  --token 48331043336612883... \
  --side buy --price 0.50 --size 10

    Parameter Explanation:

    • --token: The ID of the target outcome token.
    • --side: Buy or Sell.
    • --price: Target price (0.50 means 50 cents).
    • --size: Quantity (10 shares).
    • Scenario: You believe an event’s probability is underestimated and want to buy at 50 cents, waiting for the price to rebound.

  2. Market Order: Immediate execution at the current best price.

    polymarket clob market-order \
  --token 48331043336612883... \
  --side buy --amount 5

    Parameter Explanation: Here, --amount (amount) is used, representing spending 5 USDC to buy this token.

    • Scenario: Breaking news occurs, and you need to enter the market immediately, regardless of slippage.

Advanced Order Options:
The CLI also supports order types like GTC (Good-Til-Cancelled, default), FOK (Fill-Or-Kill), GTD (Good-Til-Date), and FAK (Fill-And-Kill). With the --post-only flag, you can ensure the order is only placed as a Maker, which is typically used to earn maker rewards or avoid slippage.

Order and Asset Management

After placing orders, management is a continuous task:

  • View Orders: polymarket clob orders lists all active orders.
  • Cancel Orders: polymarket clob cancel ORDER_ID cancels a specific order, or polymarket clob cancel-all to cancel all orders with one command.
  • Check Balances:

    polymarket clob balance --asset-type collateral  # Check collateral balance
polymarket clob balance --asset-type conditional --token TOKEN_ID # Check specific token balance

Reflection and Insight:
The biggest challenge when trading via CLI is “cognitive friction.” Clicking a button on the web is simple, but typing command-line flags in a terminal requires a clear understanding of every parameter (Token ID, price precision, Gas cost). This “cumbersome” nature is precisely the source of safety—it forces you to confirm transaction details again before pressing Enter. For quantitative traders, this precision is crucial, avoiding the possibility of misclicks common on web interfaces.

Advanced On-Chain Operations: CTF Tokens and Cross-Chain Bridge

Core Question: Besides trading, what other deep on-chain interactions can the CLI perform?

Polymarket is built on the Gnosis Conditional Token Framework (CTF). The CLI exposes the underlying CTF operation interfaces, allowing users to interact directly with on-chain contracts, bypassing the order book.

Core CTF Operations: Split, Merge, Redeem

These operations interact directly with the conditional token contracts on the Polygon chain:

  1. Split: Converts collateral (USDC) into conditional tokens.

    • Principle: Splits 10 “YES” Token and $10 “NO” Token.
    • Command: polymarket ctf split --condition 0xCONDITION... --amount 10
    • Scenario: You want to provide liquidity on both YES and NO sides simultaneously, or recover value through arbitrage.

  2. Merge: Converts conditional tokens back into collateral.

    • Principle: Holding equal amounts of YES and NO Tokens allows you to merge them back into USDC.
    • Command: polymarket ctf merge --condition 0xCONDITION... --amount 10

  3. Redeem: Settles the winning tokens.

    • Scenario: The market has settled (e.g., the election is over), and you hold the winning YES Token.
    • Command: polymarket ctf redeem --condition 0xCONDITION...

Technical Details:
These operations are on-chain transactions and consume MATIC. The --partition flag defaults to 1,2 (binary market: YES/NO). This provides advanced users with the ability to manage funds directly using smart contract logic, not just limited to CLOB matching.

Cross-Chain Bridge

Polymarket operates on the Polygon network. If your funds are on Ethereum Mainnet, Solana, or Bitcoin, you need to perform a cross-chain deposit.

# Get deposit addresses for different chains
polymarket bridge deposit 0xWALLET_ADDRESS

# Check deposit status
polymarket bridge status 0xDEPOSIT_ADDRESS

This simplifies the multi-chain asset management process, making the CLI a lightweight cross-chain asset management terminal.

Image Source: Pixabay

Practical Workflows and Automation Scripts

Core Question: How can these scattered commands be combined into efficient workflows?

Scenario 1: Data-Driven Market Research

Suppose you focus on “Politics” events and want to screen for markets with good liquidity and active status through data.

  1. Search Markets: polymarket markets search "election" --limit 10
  2. Get Token IDs: Extract IDs via JSON output.
  3. View Order Book Depth: polymarket clob book TOKEN_ID to determine if the market has enough depth for your capital.
  4. View Price History: polymarket clob price-history TOKEN_ID --interval 1d to analyze trends.

Scenario 2: Scripted Trading and Monitoring

Using Shell scripts and jq, we can build a simple price monitoring alerter.

#!/bin/bash

TOKEN_ID="48331043336612883..."
THRESHOLD="0.45"

# Get current midpoint price
MID_PRICE=$(polymarket -o json clob midpoint $TOKEN_ID | jq -r '.mid')

echo "Current Mid Price: $MID_PRICE"

# Logic judgment
if (( $(echo "$MID_PRICE < $THRESHOLD" | bc -l) )); then
  echo "Price dropped below $THRESHOLD! Placing order..."
  # polymarket clob market-order --token $TOKEN_ID --side buy --amount 10
else
  echo "Price is normal."
fi

This script demonstrates how to parse JSON data and execute commands based on conditions. In a production environment, you could put this into a Cron Job or a Kubernetes CronJob for scheduled execution.

Scenario 3: Quick Operations via Interactive Shell

If you are tired of typing the polymarket prefix every time, you can enter interactive mode directly:

polymarket shell

Once inside, the prompt changes to polymarket>, and you can type subcommands directly:

polymarket> markets list --limit 3
polymarket> clob balance
polymarket> exit

This is highly suitable for scenarios requiring the continuous execution of multiple queries or operations, providing an experience similar to psql or mysql command-line clients.

Practical Summary and Operations Checklist

To facilitate quick onboarding, here is an operations checklist for different usage stages:

Phase 1: Installation and Browsing

  1. Complete installation using brew install polymarket.
  2. Run polymarket markets list to test connectivity.
  3. Use polymarket markets search "keyword" to find markets of interest.

Phase 2: Configuration and Authorization

  1. Run polymarket wallet create or import to import a private key.
  2. Ensure your wallet has MATIC (for Gas) and USDC (for trading).
  3. Execute polymarket approve set for contract authorization.

Phase 3: Trading and Management

  1. Use clob price or clob book to determine prices.
  2. Use clob create-order for limit orders or clob market-order for market orders.
  3. Periodically run polymarket data positions 0xYOUR_ADDRESS to check holdings.

One-Page Summary

Module Core Command Description
Install brew install polymarket Quick install for macOS/Linux
Browse markets list, markets search View markets without a wallet
Wallet wallet create, wallet import Manage private keys and account config
Config ~/.config/polymarket/config.json Stores private key, Chain ID, and Signature Type
Data clob price, clob book Query prices, order books, spreads (Read-only)
Trade clob create-order, clob market-order Place orders (requires auth & Gas)
On-Chain ctf split, ctf redeem Split/Redeem conditional tokens
Output -o json, -o table Switch output formats for script parsing
Interactive polymarket shell Enter interactive command environment

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Does using Polymarket CLI cost money?
No. The CLI tool itself is open-source and free. However, when performing trades or on-chain operations, you need to pay Gas fees on the Polygon network (paid in MATIC) and potential market trading fees.

2. Is my money safe? Does the CLI store my private keys?
The CLI stores private keys locally in the configuration file (~/.config/polymarket/config.json). This means as long as your computer is secure, your private key is secure. However, please note this is experimental software; it is recommended to only deposit small amounts for testing or daily trading. Do not store large assets in a hot wallet associated with the CLI for the long term.

3. Why can’t I place an order? It says insufficient balance.
Apart from insufficient USDC balance in your account, the most common reason is the lack of contract authorization. Please run polymarket approve set and ensure you have enough MATIC to pay for the Gas fees of the authorization transactions.

4. What is the difference between Proxy signature mode and EOA mode?
Proxy mode is Polymarket’s default account system, which transacts through a proxy contract; EOA mode uses your raw private key address directly. If you are a legacy user migrating from the web interface, you should typically use Proxy mode.

5. How do I find the Token ID for a specific market?
You can use polymarket markets get <MARKET_ID_OR_SLUG> with the -o json parameter. In the output JSON data, find the clobTokenIds field, which contains the Token IDs corresponding to Yes and No.

6. Which networks does the CLI support?
The CLI connects to the Polygon network (Chain ID: 137) by default. This is Polymarket’s primary operating network, suitable for high-frequency trading due to its low Gas fees and high throughput.

7. Can I use the CLI for an automated trading bot?
Absolutely. This is one of the main design purposes of the CLI. By combining -o json output with scripting languages (like Python, Bash, Node.js), you can build complex market monitoring and automated order placement systems.

8. How do I update the CLI to the latest version?
If you installed via Homebrew, run brew upgrade polymarket. If you installed via script, you can re-run the installation script or use the built-in polymarket upgrade command (if supported by the current version).