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Get Account Equity (get_equity)

Sugar method: Returns current equity (balance + floating P/L) in one line.

API Information:

  • Method: sugar.get_equity()
  • Returns: Current equity as float
  • Layer: HIGH (MT5Sugar)

Method Signature

async def get_equity(self) -> float

ℹ️ Input / Output

Input Type Description
None - No parameters required
Output Type Description
equity float Current equity (balance + floating profit)

🏛️ Essentials

  • What it is: Current account value including open positions' floating profit/loss.
  • Why you need it: Real-time account worth, margin level calculations, risk management.
  • Formula: Equity = Balance + Floating Profit - Floating Loss

⚡ Under the Hood

MT5Sugar.get_equity()
    ↓ calls
MT5Service.get_account_summary()
    ↓ calls
MT5Account.account_summary()
    ↓ gRPC protobuf
AccountHelperService.AccountSummary()
    ↓ MT5 Terminal

What happens:

  1. Sugar Layer: Simple async method extracts equity field
  2. Service Layer: Returns AccountSummary dataclass
  3. Account Layer: gRPC call to terminal
  4. Result: Balance + all open positions P/L

Related files:

  • Sugar: src/pymt5/mt5_sugar.py:396
  • Service: src/pymt5/mt5_service.py:254
  • Account: package/MetaRpcMT5/helpers/mt5_account.py:540

When to Use

Risk management - Calculate margin level and available funds

Position monitoring - Track real-time account value

Stop-out prevention - Monitor equity to avoid margin calls

Performance tracking - See total account value including open trades

Before trading - Verify sufficient equity for new positions

🔗 Usage Examples

1) Basic usage

equity = await sugar.get_equity()
print(f"Equity: ${equity:.2f}")
# Output: Equity: $10250.50

2) Compare balance vs equity

balance = await sugar.get_balance()
equity = await sugar.get_equity()
floating_pl = equity - balance

print(f"Balance:      ${balance:.2f}")
print(f"Equity:       ${equity:.2f}")
print(f"Floating P/L: ${floating_pl:+.2f}")

# Output:
# Balance:      $10000.00
# Equity:       $10250.50
# Floating P/L: +$250.50

3) Monitor margin level

equity = await sugar.get_equity()
margin = await sugar.get_margin()

if margin > 0:
    margin_level = (equity / margin) * 100
    print(f"Equity:        ${equity:.2f}")
    print(f"Margin:        ${margin:.2f}")
    print(f"Margin Level:  {margin_level:.2f}%")

    if margin_level < 100:
        print("WARNING: Low margin level!")

Account value methods:

  • get_balance() - Balance without open positions
  • get_floating_profit() - Only the P/L from open positions
  • get_margin() - Used margin
  • get_margin_level() - Margin level percentage
  • get_account_info() - All account data at once

Key difference: 

# Balance: What you started with + closed trades
balance = await sugar.get_balance()

# Equity: Balance + floating P/L (reality check)
equity = await sugar.get_equity()

# The difference is your open positions P/L
floating = equity - balance

Common Pitfalls

1) Using balance instead of equity for margin checks

# WRONG - balance doesn't reflect open positions
balance = await sugar.get_balance()
if balance < 1000:
    print("Low funds")  # Might be wrong!

# CORRECT - equity shows real account value
equity = await sugar.get_equity()
if equity < 1000:
    print("Low funds")  # Accurate check

2) Not considering floating losses

# WRONG - only checking balance
balance = await sugar.get_balance()
print(f"I have ${balance:.2f}")  # Misleading if positions are losing

# CORRECT - check equity for reality
equity = await sugar.get_equity()
print(f"Real value: ${equity:.2f}")  # Shows true situation

Pro Tips

  1. Equity is reality - Always use equity for current account worth

  2. Margin level formula - (Equity / Margin) * 100

  3. Stop-out watch - Brokers close positions when margin level drops below threshold (typically 20-50%)

  4. Use get_account_info() - Get equity, balance, margin all at once

  5. Track equity changes - Monitor equity over time to measure performance

📚 See Also