# Canonical: https://www.uddalak.xyz/hyperliquid-academy/article/96-hyperliquid-perpetual-contract-specifications
# Author: Uddalak Das
# Last source: https://www.uddalak.xyz/hyperliquid-academy/article/96-hyperliquid-perpetual-contract-specifications

---
title: "Hyperliquid Perpetual Contract Specifications"
description: "Hyperliquid perpetuals are linear derivative markets with market-specific asset metadata, leverage, size precision, oracle inputs, and risk parameters that should be read before trading or integrating a symbol."
pillar: "Markets & Trading"
track: "Markets & Trading"
cluster: "Markets & Trading"
level: "Intermediate"
primary_icp: ["trader", "builder"]
secondary_icp: ["institutional decision-maker"]
content_type: "reference"
reading_time: "3 min"
last_reviewed: "2026-09-07"
last_verified: "2026-09-07"
volatile: true
prerequisites: ["09-perpetual-futures"]
related: ["97-tick-size-lot-size-and-szdecimals", "61-hyperliquid-margin-tiers", "100-how-oracle-prices-feed-hyperliquid-risk-engine"]
---

# Hyperliquid Perpetual Contract Specifications

A perpetual ticker is not enough to describe the contract. Hyperliquid perpetuals have specifications covering the asset index, size decimals, price precision, leverage or margin tier, oracle/reference system, and other market parameters. Strategies should load those specifications programmatically because assumptions that work for one market can fail on another.

## Linear payoff

Hyperliquid's standard crypto perpetuals use linear exposure: position PnL changes approximately with position size multiplied by the change in underlying price. Margin and settlement use the market's quote/collateral system rather than an inverse coin-margined formula.

That makes notional intuitive, but leverage still changes the relationship between PnL and account equity.

## Precision is contract state

`szDecimals`, tick/price formatting rules, minimum order value, and quantity rounding determine whether an otherwise sensible order is valid. A client should derive these from metadata instead of storing hand-maintained constants.

## Leverage is size-sensitive

Headline maximum leverage can be reduced by margin tiers as notional grows. Large positions therefore need to inspect both the market specification and the applicable tier.

## Oracle and mark behavior

The market's reference pricing affects funding and liquidation. HIP-3 or specialized markets can have different oracle operation from core markets. A contract specification should therefore link to the relevant oracle methodology rather than treating “perp” as one homogeneous risk class.

## Builder checklist

Load metadata at startup, cache it with a refresh strategy, validate symbol-to-index mapping, round sizes and prices deterministically, and reject an order locally if it violates known precision or risk rules. Then still handle exchange-side validation because protocol parameters can change.

## How this connects

Start with [What Is a Perpetual Futures Contract?](/hyperliquid-academy/article/09-perpetual-futures) if the underlying concept is unfamiliar. Related reading: [Tick Size, Lot Size, and szDecimals on Hyperliquid](/hyperliquid-academy/article/97-tick-size-lot-size-and-szdecimals), [Hyperliquid Margin Tiers Explained](/hyperliquid-academy/article/61-hyperliquid-margin-tiers), [How Oracle Prices Feed Hyperliquid's Risk Engine](/hyperliquid-academy/article/100-how-oracle-prices-feed-hyperliquid-risk-engine).

## Sources

- https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/contract-specifications
- https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/tick-and-lot-size
- https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/margin-tiers
- https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/robust-price-indices