Getting Started

KlawTrade is an algorithmic trading system that runs locally on your machine. It connects to the Alpaca brokerage API, executes strategies automatically, and provides a real-time web dashboard. You can go from installation to simulated trading in under five minutes.

Installation

Install KlawTrade from PyPI using pip. Python 3.10 or later is required.

pip install klawtrade

This installs the klawtrade CLI and all required dependencies including the trading engine, strategy framework, and web dashboard.

Quick Setup

Run the interactive setup wizard to configure your trading environment.

klawtrade init

The wizard walks you through several configuration steps:

  • Starting capital -- how much simulated or real capital to allocate
  • Risk profile -- conservative, moderate, or aggressive position sizing
  • Alpaca API keys -- your paper or live trading credentials
  • Always-on mode -- whether to run continuously or only during market hours

This generates a config/settings.yaml file and a .env file for your API credentials. You can edit these files directly at any time.

Start Trading

Launch the trading engine with a single command.

klawtrade start

By default, KlawTrade starts in simulation mode. No real orders are placed until you explicitly switch to live trading in the configuration. Simulation mode uses real market data but executes trades against a virtual portfolio, so you can validate your strategies without risk.

Dashboard

Once the engine is running, open the web dashboard in your browser.

http://localhost:8080

The dashboard provides a real-time view of your trading system:

  • Equity curve -- track your portfolio value over time
  • Open positions -- see current holdings, P&L, and entry prices
  • Trade history -- review all executed trades with timestamps and outcomes
  • Kill switch -- immediately halt all trading and flatten positions with one click