Brokers rename instruments freely. The same market shows up as GOLD, XAUUSD, XAUUSD.m, XAUUSD.raw or XAUUSDmicro depending on who you signed up with.
What PipSync does with the name
PipSync tries the name in the signal, its standard alias (GOLD → XAUUSD) and its built-in mapping, and checks which of those your account actually carries. It does not guess a similar instrument. On the Trade Gateway the name must match your broker's exactly. On MetaTrader accounts connected directly, PipSync also recognises one common decoration of the name (such as .m, .raw, + or #), so XAUUSD finds XAUUSD.raw; if your account carries two such variants, the symbol is refused as ambiguous. A name your broker only carries with a suffix PipSync does not know for it — USOIL.cash, or on the Trade Gateway XAUUSD.raw — is not found, and the order is refused with an error such as EXACT_BROKER_SYMBOL_NOT_FOUND (tried …) or Failed to select symbol …. You can read it in Trading Hub → Execution Log (open the signal's row).
Find the name your broker uses
Open Market Watch in the terminal and show all symbols, not just the default list. That spelling is the only one your broker accepts.
Map it on the channel
Open Channels → your channel → Settings tab → Auto-trade panel → Symbol mapping, add a row and press Save mapping:
GOLD -> XAUUSD.raw US30 -> DJ30 NAS100 -> USTEC
The left side is the symbol as the channel writes it, the right side your broker's exact name. One row per instrument: GOLD also covers signals PipSync reads as XAUUSD. The mapping applies to every account the channel trades on through the Trade Gateway (MetaTrader, cTrader, Match-Trader, crypto) and to MetaTrader accounts connected directly, and only the mapped name is sent: no other spelling is tried behind it. Interactive Brokers accounts and older direct Match-Trader connections keep their own symbol names.
If the channel trades on accounts at several brokers that spell the instrument differently, one channel mapping cannot serve both. Then message us in the support chat with the symbol as your provider writes it, the exact name at each broker, and the broker and MT5 server name (shown next to the account number on the account page); PipSync can add a symbol override for that broker.
Symbol mapping is available on every plan.
A second control with the same name
Settings → Telegram → Your Telegram channels → the gear next to your channel → Trading rules tab has a Symbol mapping too. It does something different: it tells PipSync which standard symbol the channel's own nickname means, for example GOLDMICRO → XAUUSD, and it takes effect when PipSync reads the signal. It accepts standard names only (XAUUSD, not XAUUSD.raw). Use it when the channel writes its own nickname; use the Auto-trade mapping above when your broker spells the instrument differently. You can use both: the nickname is read as XAUUSD first, and the Auto-trade mapping then sends your broker's name for XAUUSD.
When your broker has no equivalent
Add the instrument to the channel's Blocked symbols (Signal filters, in the same panel). Its signals are then saved as rejected with the reason and never sent to your broker, instead of each one failing there. Details: Filtering a noisy channel.
The part people miss
Suffixed variants can be different symbols with different contract sizes. After you map a symbol, check the lot size of the next trade on it (the volume under Open Positions on the account page) against your Risk per trade (%). PipSync reads the contract specification (tick size, tick value, contract size) from your own account where your platform provides it, and otherwise from its shared MT5 service. If no specification can be read, a currency pair is sized with the standard forex contract and every other instrument goes out at your Min Lots; if your account returns contract data that cannot be used, a Risk-Based or Fixed Percentage trade is skipped with the notification Auto-trade skipped — XAUUSD contract data unusable (with your instrument's name in place of XAUUSD). So even a name that routes correctly can be sized differently from what you expect, and the first trade on a new instrument is where you find out. Details: How your lot size is calculated.
Related: “Unknown symbol” — what to change.