nautechsystems/nautilus_trader · error

ExecutionAlgorithm not registered: Portfolio not initialized

Error message

ExecutionAlgorithm not registered: Portfolio not initialized

What it means

ExecutionAlgorithm's portfolio_rc accessor unwraps the Option<Rc<RefCell<Portfolio>>> held by ExecutionAlgorithmCore. It is Some only after the algorithm has been registered with a system/kernel that owns an initialized Portfolio; otherwise any portfolio access panics.

Source

Thrown at crates/trading/src/algorithm/core.rs:109

/// plug-in authoring surface. Native borrows, `Rc<RefCell<_>>`, and core
/// references do not cross those boundaries.
pub trait ExecutionAlgorithmNative: DataActorNative {
    /// Returns the execution algorithm core.
    fn exec_algorithm_core(&self) -> &ExecutionAlgorithmCore;

    /// Returns the mutable execution algorithm core.
    fn exec_algorithm_core_mut(&mut self) -> &mut ExecutionAlgorithmCore;

    /// Returns a clone of the reference-counted portfolio.
    ///
    /// # Panics
    ///
    /// Panics if the execution algorithm has not been registered.
    fn portfolio_rc(&self) -> Rc<RefCell<Portfolio>> {
        self.exec_algorithm_core()
            .portfolio
            .as_ref()
            .expect("ExecutionAlgorithm not registered: Portfolio not initialized")
            .clone()
    }
}

impl Debug for ExecutionAlgorithmCore {
    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
        f.debug_struct(stringify!(ExecutionAlgorithmCore))
            .field("actor", &self.actor)
            .field("config", &self.config)
            .field("exec_algorithm_id", &self.exec_algorithm_id)
            .field("exec_spawn_ids", &self.exec_spawn_ids.len())
            .field("subscribed_strategies", &self.subscribed_strategies.len())
            .field(
                "pending_spawn_reductions",
                &self.pending_spawn_reductions.len(),
            )
            .field("submit_params", &self.submit_params.len())
            .field(

View on GitHub (pinned to 18893faf8b)

Solutions

1. Run the algorithm inside a fully built TradingNode so registration injects the Portfolio.
2. Verify the node's portfolio configuration is present and enabled.
3. Defer portfolio access until after the algorithm is registered (e.g. post on_start wiring).
4. In tests, register the algorithm with a core that has a Portfolio set up first.

Example fix

// before
fn on_start(&mut self) {
    let pos = self.portfolio_rc().borrow().is_flat(&instrument_id); // panics if unregistered
}
// after
fn on_start(&mut self) {
    if !self.is_registered() {
        log::warn("portfolio unavailable; skipping check");
        return;
    }
    let pos = self.portfolio_rc().borrow().is_flat(&instrument_id);
}

// guard before portfolio access
if !algorithm.is_registered() {
    return; // or log and defer
}

fn has_portfolio(core: &ExecutionAlgorithmCore) -> bool { core.portfolio.is_some() }

let portfolio = std::panic::catch_unwind(|| self.portfolio_rc())
    .ok()
    .map(|p| p.borrow());

When it happens

Trigger: Calling any ExecutionAlgorithm method that reaches portfolio_rc (e.g. order/position queries, portfolio state access) before the algorithm was registered via a trading node/kernel, or when the node started without a Portfolio configured.

Common situations: Using an ExecutionAlgorithm standalone (outside a TradingNode) or in unit tests without registering it; constructing a node with portfolio disabled/misconfigured; calling algorithm methods in on_start before the kernel wires the portfolio.

Understand the failure class

Background: 'Could not be found', 'does not exist', 'not found in database': the resource-not-found family when an ID, slug, key, or URI lookup comes back empty — this error's family across 20 libraries.

Related errors

• Logging already initialized but new guard could not be creat
• Failed to create LogGuard from global sender
• Strategy not registered: Portfolio not initialized
• Active execution intent {intent_id} was not found
• Latency model should be initialized

AI-assisted analysis of nautechsystems/nautilus_trader@18893faf8b (2026-09-08). Data as JSON: /api/errors/3cff387b75566cf3. Report an issue: GitHub.