nautechsystems/nautilus_trader · error · anyhow::Error

Cannot submit order: execution client not connected

Error message

Cannot submit order: execution client not connected

What it means

`submit_order` refuses to submit an order when the dYdX execution client's connection check (`is_connected()`) fails. This is a deliberate guard so orders are never sent over a dead WebSocket/gRPC link where they would be silently lost.

Source

Thrown at crates/adapters/dydx/src/execution/mod.rs:1279

        if self.core.is_stopped() {
            log::warn!("dYdX execution client not started");
            return Ok(());
        }

        log::info!("Stopping dYdX execution client");
        self.session_tasks.begin_shutdown();
        self.begin_pending_shutdown();
        self.ws_client.begin_shutdown();
        self.core.set_stopped();
        self.core.set_disconnected();
        Ok(())
    }

    fn submit_order(&self, cmd: SubmitOrder) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
        if !self.is_connected() {
            let reason = "Cannot submit order: execution client not connected";
            log::error!("{reason}");
            anyhow::bail!(reason);
        }

        let current_block = self.block_time_monitor.current_block_height();
        let order = self.core.cache().try_order_owned(&cmd.client_order_id)?;

        let client_order_id = order.client_order_id();
        let instrument_id = order.instrument_id();
        let strategy_id = order.strategy_id();

        if current_block == 0 {
            let reason = "Block height not initialized";
            log::warn!("Cannot submit order {client_order_id}: {reason}");
            self.emitter.emit_order_denied(&order, reason);
            return Ok(());
        }

        if order.is_closed() {
            log::warn!("Cannot submit closed order {client_order_id}");

View on GitHub (pinned to 18893faf8b)

Solutions

1. Wait for the client to report connected before submitting (subscribe to connection state / retry after connect)
2. Check network connectivity and dYdX endpoint status
3. Restart the adapter/node to re-establish the connection
4. Verify the adapter is running in live mode — a disconnected execution client will never accept orders

Example fix

// before
client.submit_order(cmd)?;
// after
if client.is_connected() {
    client.submit_order(cmd)?;
} else {
    log::warn!("skipping submit, client disconnected");
}

if !client.is_connected() { return Err(anyhow!("client not connected")); }

match client.submit_order(cmd) {
    Err(e) if e.to_string().contains("not connected") => reconnect_and_retry(),
    Err(e) => return Err(e),
    Ok(_) => {}
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling `submit_order` (directly or via `submit_order_list`) while the client is disconnected — e.g. before `connect()` completes, after a dropped WebSocket, or during a reconnect window.

Common situations: Strategy starts before the adapter finishes connecting; network outage drops the live connection; adapter was never started in a live/trading context.

Understand the failure class

Background: ECONNREFUSED and "connection refused" / "could not connect to server" errors: what they mean and how to fix them — this error's family across 44 libraries.

Related errors

• Cannot submit order list: execution client not connected
• Cannot cancel order: not connected
• Cannot cancel orders: not connected
• handler command channel closed: {e}
• Take profit limit order missing limit price

AI-assisted analysis of nautechsystems/nautilus_trader@18893faf8b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f7094b30fe7cd458. Report an issue: GitHub.