# TLS alert: handshake_failure

Independent and unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any broker or platform named here. Educational only: nothing here is advice, and nothing here recommends a broker or a trade.

This is the markdown version of https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/tls/handshake-failure, written from the same records as that page.

Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders.

As text you can copy:

```
handshake_failure
```

- Kind: Alert
- Where you meet it: While a secure connection is being set up or used
- Read from: [RFC 8446, The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3, section 6.2](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8446.html#section-6.2)
- Status: verified. Source: [rfc-editor.org](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8446.html#section-6.2), checked 2026-10-09.

## What does handshake_failure mean in TLS?

The sender was unable to negotiate an acceptable set of security parameters given the options available.

## What it means in trading API work

Your client and the API's server found no common ground: no shared protocol version or cipher suite, or the server required something the client did not offer. An old runtime or operating system is one possible cause.

This part is this site's own explanation, written for people learning to call a trading API. It is not part of the source cited above and it describes no particular broker.

## What should I do about handshake_failure?

Update the runtime and its TLS library. Make sure nothing in your code or configuration pins an old protocol version or a narrow list of ciphers.

This page is an independent explanation in plain words. The definition itself is in [the source it was read from](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8446.html#section-6.2), which is the authority if the two ever differ.

## Where to go next

- [Everything decoded for TLS](https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/tls)
- [Getting started with API trading](https://openbrokerapi.com/guides/getting-started-with-api-trading): What an API is, what you need and how to make a first call safely.
- [Brokers](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers): The record for each broker: access, limits, endpoints and error codes.
- [Platform APIs](https://openbrokerapi.com/platforms): APIs that belong to trading software offered by many brokers.
- [Error codes](https://openbrokerapi.com/errors): What each error means, and the fix where the source gives one.

## Licence and how to cite

The records behind this page are all rights reserved. This file is the page itself, at its own address, in another format. It is not part of the CC BY 4.0 downloads listed at https://openbrokerapi.com/data. Quote from it with a link to the page.

Cite as: TLS alert: handshake_failure. Broker API Hub, https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/tls/handshake-failure, newest check 2026-10-09.

Where you rely on a single figure, cite the source and the checked date printed beside it as well. Where this page and a broker's own documentation differ, the documentation wins.