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Key Terms

This page translates the core instrument terms into plain language.

Asset

The platform object that gives something a stable identity.

An asset can represent:

  • a tradeable instrument, like a bond,
  • or a market object, like a curve or a reference rate.

The field you will use most is unique_identifier.

PricingDetail

The platform record that stores the latest known instrument terms for an asset.

This is what makes an asset priceable by the instruments SDK.

current_pricing_detail

The latest pricing detail attached to an asset.

This is usually where downstream code reads:

  • instrument_dump
  • pricing_details_date

instrument_dump

The serialized SDK instrument definition stored on the platform.

It is the payload you use later to rebuild the bond or swap model.

pricing_details_date

The as-of date for the stored instrument terms.

This matters whenever you care about reproducibility across time.

InstrumentsConfiguration

The platform configuration object that tells the SDK where to read:

  • discount curves,
  • and reference-rate fixings.

Without it, runtime pricing cannot fetch its market data inputs.

MSInterface

The runtime adapter that reads stored curves and fixings from Main Sequence and turns them into Python-native structures used during pricing.

DataNode

A producer node that writes data into storage.

In the instruments context, the important examples are:

  • DiscountCurvesNode
  • FixingRatesNode

APIDataNode

A reader object used to query already-stored tables.

In the instruments runtime, it is used behind the scenes to load curves and fixings.

Constant name

The symbolic name for a market object, such as ZERO_CURVE__VALMER_TIIE_28.

This is commonly used on the ETL registration side.

UID value

The resolved string identifier returned by Constant.get_value(...).

This is what pricing actually uses at runtime.

Curve UID

The UID stored as unique_identifier for a curve asset in the discount_curves table.

Fixings UID

The UID stored as unique_identifier for a fixing-rate asset in the fixing_rates_1d table.

IndexSpec

The pricing contract for an index UID.

It tells the runtime:

  • which curve to use,
  • which fixings to use,
  • and which conventions to apply.

build_zero_curve

The runtime helper that loads stored curve data and builds a QuantLib curve handle from it.

get_index

The runtime helper that turns an index UID into a QuantLib index, optionally hydrating historical fixings.

Position

The portfolio wrapper that groups instruments plus units and lets you price them together.

It is the simplest interface for portfolio-level PV and cashflow aggregation.

Back to: Instruments Overview