⚡ TradeCraft

🚀 Getting Started with TradeCraft

Your guide to setting up automated trading in 4 simple steps

1
Join TradeCraft

Create your free TradeCraft account to access trading agents, strategy simulations, and the full compendium. Already have an account? Switch to sign in.

or
🔐 Sign in via SSO
2
Create Your Alpaca Brokerage Account

TradeCraft uses Alpaca as the brokerage backend. Alpaca is a commission-free trading platform designed specifically for algorithmic trading.

🎉 Great News: Alpaca offers paper trading with $100,000 in simulated money — perfect for testing strategies risk-free before going live!

Why Alpaca?

  • ✓ Commission-free stock trading — No fees on US stocks & ETFs
  • ✓ API-first design — Built for automated trading
  • ✓ Paper trading — Test with fake money first
  • ✓ Fractional shares — Trade any amount
  • ✓ 24/7 Crypto trading — Trade crypto anytime
  • ✓ FINRA/SIPC member — Regulated and insured
Takes ~5 minutes

💰 Understanding Trading Fees on Alpaca

📈
Stocks & ETFs
$0
Commission-free trading
No hidden fees
🪙
Cryptocurrency
0.25%
Per trade (taker fee)
Both buy and sell
⚠️ Crypto Fee Impact: The 0.25% fee applies to both entry AND exit. For a $1,000 crypto trade: $2.50 to buy + $2.50 to sell = $5 total (0.5% round-trip). High-frequency crypto strategies can accumulate significant fees!

Our Recommendation: Start with stocks for cost-effective trading. Use crypto for strategies where you expect larger moves that justify the fees.

3
Generate Your API Keys

After creating your Alpaca account, you'll need to generate API keys so TradeCraft can execute trades on your behalf.

How to Get Your Keys:

  1. Log into your Alpaca Dashboard
  2. Click "Paper Trading" in the left sidebar (start here!)
  3. Go to "API Keys" section
  4. Click "Generate New Key"
  5. Copy both the API Key ID and Secret Key
🔐 Security: Your Secret Key is only shown once. Copy it immediately and store it safely. Never share your API keys with anyone. We encrypt them using AES-256 encryption.
💡 Tip: Start with Paper Trading keys! They give you $100,000 in simulated money to test strategies without risking real funds.
4
Connect Your Keys to TradeCraft

Once you have your API keys, connect them to TradeCraft to start automated trading.

  1. Go to the Bot Dashboard
  2. Enter your API Key ID and Secret Key
  3. Click "Verify & Save"
  4. You'll see your account balance and buying power appear!
✅ BYOK Model: You keep full control of your brokerage account. You can revoke TradeCraft's access anytime by deleting the API keys in Alpaca.
🔑 Sign In First Create Account

🎯 What's Next?

Explore the Compendium

Browse our collection of 30 trading characters, each representing a different algorithmic strategy. View their historical simulations, win rates, and performance across 120+ symbols.

📖 View Compendium

Create Your First Agent

Select a proven strategy and symbol combination, configure your risk parameters, and deploy your first trading agent.

➕ Create Agent

📚 Important Information

📊 Strategy Disclosure

Complete documentation of all trading strategies, their algorithms, and mathematical formulas.

⚠️ Risk Disclosure

Understand the risks of automated trading before you begin.

📜 Terms of Service

Legal terms governing use of the platform.
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