The EPEX SPOT API is the programmatic interface to EPEX SPOT's trading systems: M7 for the intraday continuous market and MATS for the auctions. Desks use it to read the live order book and to send, modify and cancel orders from their own software instead of a screen. The M7 API, the EPEX intraday API, has two sides on one identity: AMQP for orders and private reports, and a WebSocket stream for the public order book and execution reports. Voltnir speaks that API for you and exposes the same market over REST, WebSocket and gRPC.
Which APIs does EPEX SPOT offer?
Two, one per trading system. The M7 API serves the intraday continuous market, including the cross-border XBID coupling, and is what people mean by the EPEX intraday API. The MATS API serves the day-ahead and intraday auctions. EPEX SPOT describes both as an interface to program against, not a ready-to-use application. Voltnir speaks the M7 API only; auctions are out of its scope.
How does the EPEX SPOT M7 API work?
M7 v6 and v7 are two parallel interfaces of one platform, not versions. v6 is the AMQP interface: orders, modifications, cancels and the exchange's private reports travel as XML messages. v7 is the WebSocket interface: the public order book arrives as a snapshot followed by sequenced deltas, with your own execution reports on a private stream, as protobuf over mutual TLS. Both sides share one client certificate, and a full integration uses both. Continuous trading runs around the clock down to quarter-hour contracts, so the feed is fast, and a missed sequence number means rebuilding the book from a fresh snapshot.
Does EPEX SPOT have a REST API?
No. The M7 API is AMQP and WebSocket, XML on one side and protobuf on the other, with no REST endpoint and no JSON. A gateway in between is the usual answer, and Voltnir is one: it holds the M7 session and exposes the market as REST, WebSocket and gRPC, with a Python SDK for the gRPC surface.
How do you get access to the EPEX SPOT API?
Through an EPEX SPOT membership. The exchange's own process runs from interest to go-live in nine steps: the API package, simulation access, implementation against the Terms of Reference, your own testing, a conformance test, authorisation, then production access. Simulation access needs an EPEX SPOT ASIM licence. A desk trading through a certified ISV application branches from the first step straight to simulation and production access, with no implementation, testing or conformance test of its own.
What is an EPEX SPOT ISV?
An Independent Software Vendor is a company that has entered into an ISV agreement with EPEX SPOT and whose software has passed the exchange's conformance tests against its trading products and market specifications. EPEX SPOT lists them on its software-providers page, per trading system, with a sales contact. For a desk, an ISV application means the exchange has already tested the software it will trade through. Voltnir is a certified ISV for the M7 intraday continuous market.
Where does Voltnir fit?
Voltnir is an EPEX SPOT intraday trading API gateway built for automated power trading. It speaks the EPEX SPOT API so your stack does not have to: one static binary on your Linux host holds the M7 session, keeps the order book, checks position, cash and self-trade limits before an order leaves, and serves the market over REST, WebSocket and gRPC with an embedded trading terminal. Run it free against EPEX SPOT SIM with your ASIM credentials, then move the same install to production; the features page has the full picture. What an EPEX SPOT ISV is and how it gets a desk online faster has the onboarding side. If you are weighing building the integration yourself, the article "Connecting to EPEX SPOT M7: the work nobody quotes you for" in our articles lists what that takes.
Frequently asked questions
Is the EPEX SPOT API the same as the M7 API?
Mostly, yes. The M7 API is the EPEX SPOT API for the intraday continuous market, the one desks mean by the EPEX intraday API. EPEX SPOT also has a MATS API for its auctions. Voltnir covers M7 only.
Is EPEX SPOT M7 the same as the day-ahead market?
No. M7 is the continuous intraday system, where electricity trades in real time within the delivery day. The day-ahead market is a separate, once-daily auction on the MATS system that clears prices for the following day; M7 handles what trades after that auction.
What is the difference between EPEX SPOT M7 v6 and v7?
They are two parallel API surfaces of the same M7 platform, not successive versions. v6 is the AMQP API used to send and manage orders as XML and receive private reports; v7 is the WebSocket API that streams the live order book and execution reports as protobuf over mutual TLS. A full integration uses both.
Does EPEX SPOT offer a REST API?
No. M7 speaks AMQP and WebSocket with XML and protobuf payloads. A gateway such as Voltnir provides the REST, WebSocket and gRPC interfaces on top of it.
Do I need an EPEX SPOT membership to use the API?
Yes for production. Simulation access needs an EPEX SPOT ASIM licence, which issues the SIM credentials. Software does not replace the membership; it connects it.
What does an EPEX SPOT ISV certification mean for my desk?
That the exchange has tested the software you trade through. In EPEX SPOT's own application process a desk on an ISV application goes from interest straight to simulation and production access, skipping the implementation, testing and conformance test steps. Voltnir is a certified ISV for the M7 intraday continuous market.