Polymarket RTDS Guide

Polymarket RTDS stands for Real-Time Data Socket. In plain English, it is a WebSocket stream for live data that sits next to the core market WebSocket. The current Polymarket docs describe RTDS as supporting comments, crypto prices, and equity prices through wss://ws-live-data.polymarket.com.

This matters because a lot of Polymarket research is not just the market price. It is also the discussion around the market, the outside asset price that may affect the market, and the timestamp of each update. RTDS can help capture that context. It should not turn context into an automatic trade.

This page is educational and workflow-focused. It does not tell you what market to trade, which outcome to pick, or how to automate execution.

Key concepts in plain English

• ▸RTDS: Polymarket's documented Real-Time Data Socket for selected live data streams.
• ▸Topic: The stream category, such as crypto_prices, equity_prices, or comments.
• ▸Type: The event kind inside a topic, such as an update or a reaction event.
• ▸Filter: Optional criteria that narrows what you receive.
• ▸Gamma auth: A wallet-address authentication field that Polymarket says may be required for some user-specific streams.
• ▸Heartbeat: A keepalive routine. Polymarket docs say to send PING messages every 5 seconds to maintain the RTDS connection.

What Polymarket documents support

Polymarket's WebSocket overview separates the public market stream, authenticated user stream, sports stream, and RTDS. The RTDS endpoint is documented as wss://ws-live-data.polymarket.com.

The RTDS page describes a subscription message with an action, a list of subscriptions, each subscription's topic, type, optional filters, and optional gamma_auth. RTDS messages include topic, type, timestamp, and payload fields.

That is enough to design a clean research workflow without pretending the stream is magic.

The right way to use RTDS in research

Start with a market packet:

Market question:
Market slug or ID:
Resolution source:
Deadline:
Current displayed probability:
Best bid / ask:
Visible depth:
RTDS topic watched:
Why this topic matters:
Review action allowed:

Then decide what the stream is allowed to do. A comment update can trigger a source check. A crypto price update can trigger a probability recalculation note. An equity price update can trigger an earnings or company-event review. None of those alerts should silently become an order.

Example: crypto price stream context

Imagine a Bitcoin-related market where Yes is displayed around 62%. The outside BTC price moves quickly. RTDS context may help you timestamp the outside move, but your market review still needs the exact Polymarket question, deadline, price, spread, and resolution source.

A cleaner note looks like this:

BTC outside-price update timestamp:
Polymarket Yes bid / ask before update:
Polymarket Yes bid / ask after update:
Spread change:
Depth change:
Rule/source checked:
Decision: no action / review only / user-approved action

Common mistakes

• ▸Treating RTDS comments as verified facts.
• ▸Watching outside prices while ignoring the Polymarket order book.
• ▸Forgetting that a midpoint is not the same as executable price.
• ▸Building alerts with no max-risk cap, daily cap, or kill switch.
• ▸Skipping logs for reconnects, missed messages, and stale data.

Bucko checklist

• ▸Exact market question saved.
• ▸Resolution source and deadline saved.
• ▸RTDS topic and reason written down.
• ▸Timestamp, spread, depth, and price snapshot captured together.
• ▸Review prompt written before alerting starts.
• ▸User-defined controls attached: max risk, daily cap, and stop condition.
• ▸Post-resolution review scheduled.

How Bucko fits

Bucko is the research and journal layer around Polymarket data. Use it to store RTDS notes, source links, price snapshots, watchlists, controls, and post-resolution reviews. Fast data is useful only when the reasoning stays visible.

Polymarket CTA

If you are eligible for the US app offer, use code BUCKO for a $50 deposit bonus on the Polymarket US app: https://www.poly.market/BUCKO. Confirm current eligibility, app screens, and offer terms before depositing.

Sources and last-verified notes

• ▸Polymarket docs checked 2026-07-04 PDT: llms.txt, llms-full.txt, WebSocket overview, RTDS documentation, market WebSocket overview, and rate-limit documentation.
• ▸RTDS source notes: Polymarket documents wss://ws-live-data.polymarket.com, comments, crypto prices, equity prices, optional gamma_auth, message fields, and 5-second PING keepalive guidance.
• ▸Public Gamma samples checked 2026-07-04 PDT showed active politics, crypto, sports, macro, weather, IPO, app-ranking, and AI markets.
• ▸Bucko/Polymarket partner offer wording is user-provided: code BUCKO, $50 deposit bonus for eligible U.S. app downloads, https://www.poly.market/BUCKO. No newer official affiliate term sheet was independently located during this run.