Asset classes

Caravan's universe is multi-asset. Every tradable instrument carries a security_type, and the order path, settlement, and money mechanics follow from it. Indices are reference-only and never tradable; funds are a separate NAV-priced rail. This guide is the map.

The security_type tag

GET /v1/instruments returns the whole tradable universe in one list, alphabetical by market_id, symbol. Each row's security_type tells you what it is:

security_type	What it is	Order path	Reference
equity	a listed share	equity path (/v1/orders)	Market data
etf	an exchange-traded fund	equity path — same as a share	Market data
bond	a government / treasury / corporate bond	clean-price (quoted; trading on the roadmap)	Bonds & sukuk
sukuk	a shariah-compliant fixed-income instrument	clean-price (quoted; trading on the roadmap)	Bonds & sukuk

Two more surfaces sit alongside the tradable universe:

• Funds — open-ended, NAV-priced, on their own rail (/v1/funds, /v1/fund-orders).
• Indices — reference series only, never tradable (/v1/indexes).

ETFs ride the equity path. An ETF is ordered exactly like a share — same /v1/orders body, same bands, ticks, whole-share quantities, and T+2 settlement. There is no separate ETF endpoint; the security_type tag is the only difference.

Filtering the universe

/v1/instruments accepts factual filters that narrow the set while keeping it alphabetical:

• ?shariah=true — screened-compliant instruments only (a user-elected universe filter on a screening-provider tag; descriptive, not advice).
• ?security_type= / ?asset_class= — narrow to one class (e.g. just ETFs).

The order is always market_id, symbol. There is no sort-by-merit, no "trending," and no relevance ranking — see Conventions and the neutrality note below.

Equities & ETFs

The familiar path. Whole shares, integer micros, ±20% price band, tick sizes, the Sun–Thu 10:00–14:30 Africa/Cairo session, T+2 settlement. ETFs are tagged security_type=etf but otherwise indistinguishable to the order machinery. See Placing orders and Orders.

Bonds & sukuk

Fixed income quotes a clean price as a percent of par (100000000 micros = 100.000%). Each bond/sukuk has a bond-terms sidecar — coupon rate, frequency, face value, issue and maturity dates, day-count convention — surfaced by /v1/bonds.

The economic price a buyer pays is the dirty consideration:

dirty = clean + accrued
accrued ≈ face_value × (coupon_rate_bps / 10000) × (days_since_last_coupon / day_count_basis)

A sukuk is simply security_type=sukuk with shariah_compliant=true — it reuses the same clean/dirty mechanics, not a separate asset class. Settlement follows the instrument type (corporate bond T+0; government bond / bill / equity / ETF T+2).

Quoted, not yet orderable. In this release bonds and sukuk are quoted (clean price, terms, order book, candles) but not yet tradable through /v1/orders. When the money path opens, an order will carry a clean_price_micros limit and fills will itemize accrued_micros and the dirty consideration. Equity and ETF trading is unaffected.

For a step-by-step walkthrough see Learn → Clean & dirty price.

Indices

Indices are benchmarks — a level and a constituent list, nothing more. They never appear in /v1/instruments, are never order-routable, and their constituents are alphabetical. To track an index, hold an index-tracking ETF or the constituents directly.

Funds

Funds are open-ended and NAV-priced at execution — a separate rail from the order book, with their own /v1/fund-orders endpoint, cutoff times, and settlement days.

A note on neutrality

Across every asset class the same rule holds: lists are alphabetical, chronological, or strictly time-recency — never ranked by merit. Coupon, yield, NAV, index weight, and market cap are returned as disclosure, never as a sort key or a "best" surface. This is FRA Decision 332 / R1, enforced by construction: the absence of a score / rank / relevance / sentiment field is the contract. See Conventions.