AutoTrader FAQ

What is AutoTrader?

It is an automation tool which provides API functions which are broker independent. It also provides free live & historical data for all exchanges into AmiBroker.

  • Users code their strategies in AmiBroker, MetaTrader, Excel or custom application
  • These platform run the strategies, but orders must be placed in Trading Terminal (Upstox, Kite, NOW, NEST, ODIN)
  • Hence they use AutoTrader provided API functions for communicating with their Trading Platform

Is AutoTrader Free?

Yes, but for first 7 days only. Thereafter clients need to obtain a paid license, please see pricing section on this link.

What are additional costs (Broker’s API, datafeed, charting software etc.)?

  • Datafeed: You can use AutoTrader provided datafeed which doesn’t have any additional cost. You can use datafeed from any other vendor as well & the costs depend on the vendor.
  • AmiBroker/MetaTrader: Free trials of both these software are sufficient for Automated Trading. Free trails of these software come with no Expiry date.
  • Broker’s API: AutoTrader does NOT use APIs from any broker, so you DO NOT need them.

In simple terms, there are no additional costs except AutoTrader license.

What are the trading platforms supported by AutoTrader?

There are mainly 3 types of trading platforms supported by stock brokers:

  • Web (browser) based trading platforms (Trading through browser)
  • Desktop based trading platforms (Trading via an application installed on your computer)
  • Mobile based (Trading via mobile application)

At the time of writting, AutoTrader supports web based and desktop based trading terminals. Our focus is on adding more and more support for web based trading platforms, as they are ideal for automated trading. Here is a list of supported platfroms:

Trading PlatformSupported onBrokerComments
Zerodha KiteAutoTrader WebZerodha
Supports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio), bulk orders & real time data
UpstoxAutoTrader WebUpstoxSupports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio), bulk orders & real time data
AliceBlue AntAutoTrader WebAliceBlueSupports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio) & bulk orders
ShoonyaAutoTrader WebFinvasiaSupports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio) & bulk orders
Smart APIAutoTrader WebAngel BrokingSupports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio) & bulk orders
FyersAutoTrader WebFyersSupports automated trading (place/modify/cancel orders & reading live portfolio) & bulk orders
NOWAutoTrader (Old)Any brokerSupports automated trading (only order placement), bulk orders, multiple clients
NESTAutoTrader (Old)Any brokerSupports automated trading (only order placement), bulk orders, multiple clients
ODINAutoTrader (Old)Any brokerSupports automated trading (only order placement), bulk orders

Which analysis or charting software can connect to AutoTrader?

AutoTrader does not run strategies by it’s own. So you need some software that can run your strategy. Here are some of the examples:

  • Charting software (AmiBroker, MetaTrader, NinjaTrader etc.)
  • Microsoft Excel or Access (Using macros VBA)
  • Any custom made software

To facilitate easy integration, AutoTrader provides built-in support for AmiBroker, MetaTrader & Excel. What it means is that you get a set of functions for automated trading, which you can directly use in your strategy code.
For any other software, your can communicate with AutoTrader using files; more information can be found on here.

Why there is limited support in Free Trail?

The simple reason is cost. We have tried to keep the cost of AutoTrader to absolute minimum for retail traders. As a result, we cannot afford more resources on support for free trial members. Support is taken care by professional developers & algorithmic traders.

Legality of Automated or Algorithmic Trading in India is a gray area. The most relevant legal document we could find is here.

Algorithmic trading can be risky, if your algorithmic setup has bugs. The primary reason for having restrictions on algorithmic trading is the lack of knowledge among retail clients about the risks involved in this area. Having said that, looking at the amount that most retail traders trade with; the possibility of their algorithm affecting the market is small. The discussion of the risks are beyond the scope of this article.

AutoTrader is an automation tool which is built to reduce data entry work for retail clients & give them an edge in the ever growing algorithmic trading market. Many retail clients use different types software for automation.

AutoTrader supports both modes semi & fully automated trading. Users can use any mode of their choice. It is the responsibility of the users to get necessary approvals automated trading.

What is the goal of AutoTrader & why is it better?

The goal is simple, give retail traders an advantage by providing automation with minimum cost. AutoTrader package comes with (automation + live prices); you can compare the cost of these packages with other vendors.

If you use AutoTrader, then you become broker independent. It means switching broker is as simple as changing a setting. But if you use broker’s API, then changing a broker means changing all of your strategy code to use APIs from a new broker.

The live & historical data provided by AutoTrader is from your trading terminal; so you can rely on it.

Average time it takes to place an order on web platforms like (Upstox & Kite) is 0.2 seconds.

Very easy to integrate with any charting software, due to it’s csv file based communication.

What kind of live & historical data AutoTrader provides?

AutoTrader simply pulls the data from your trading terminal (Kite, Upstox) & transfers it to AmiBroker.

  • Data is available for all instruments on all exchanges (including stocks, indices, futures & options etc.)
  • Data includes price, volume & open interest
  • Users are restricted to a maximum of 50 symbols
  • This feature works similar to the “Export Market Watch to Excel” option available on trading platforms like NOW, NEST & ODIN
  • AutoTrader only gives 1-month historical data, but it saves data on your local computer; so over a period of time you would end up collecting data
  • This is a free feature & might be stopped at any point

How do I upgrade to latest version of AutoTrader?

  • If you are using AmiBroker, then take a backup of your AFLs
  • Download the latest setup from our website & run it as administrator

How does AutoTrader identify each stock uniquely?

For most web based trading platforms (KITE & UPSTOX), AutoTrader needs Exchange & Symbol to identify a stock uniquely. Older desktop based platforms like (NOW, NEST & ODIN) require you to pass all parameters (Exchange, Instrument, Symbol, Option Type, Strike Price & Expiry).

How to change Trading Platform in AutoTrader?

To change trading platform, please follow the steps given below:

  1. Go to AutoTrader Menu (Settings -> AutoTrader)
  2. Click the “Trading Platform” button
  3. Change following settings as applicable
  4. DEFAULT_CLIENT_ID (Enter client/login id of new trading platform)
  5. LOGIN_PASSWORD (Login password for Upstox & AliceBlue only)
  6. LOGIN_2FA_ANSWER (Login password for Upstox & AliceBlue only)
  7. PLATFORM_NAME (Your desired trading platform)
  8. Save settings
  9. AutoTrader will automatically download instruments for web based trading platforms. Wait for instrument download to complete (check dashboard), it takes about 1 minute.
  10. Restart AutoTrader

Why AutoTrader new releases are delivered so frequently?

The reasons for these are as follow:

  1. It indicates that AutoTrader is in active development. Any issues/bugs are fixed as soon as possible.
  2. We continuously keep working on new features.
  3. AutoTrader deals with multiple systems (Browser, Excel, AmiBroker, MetaTrader) & multiple trading platforms (KITE, UPSTOX, NOW, NEST, ODIN). These software are developed by their respective firms and they are updated from time to time. As a result, we also need to update AutoTrader to make sure it is compatible with latest versions of these software.

How do email alerts work in AutoTrader?

AutoTrader sends email alerts to your email account configured in settings. An email is sent when AutoTrader encounters an error. We are working on improving this feature, but currently there are following limitations:

  • No error mail is sent, if it happens between midnight to 9 am
  • Max email limit for a single AutoTrader instance is 10 mails per day

How to trade in multiple trading accounts using AutoTrader?

AutoTrader does support trading across multiple client accounts, but the features are limited. Users can only place automatic orders as of now, but they cannot read portfolio status. Many users request us this feature and we are working hard towards making it available with our new product AutoTrader Web. But as of now, you have following options available:

  • Most trading platforms that are available for retail traders are single user platforms. Hence to trade in multiple accounts, you need multiple machines with separate installation of AutoTrader.
  • Another way to trade in multiple accounts is using a (NOW/NEST) dealer terminal. A dealer terminal supports multiple accounts, but you would need get a dealer terminal from your broker and need to map all clients under your dealer id. AutoTrader supports multi-accounts trading using this approach.

If you are someone who is looking to do multi-broker and multi-accounts automated trading, we recommend you to wait for our new product. The initial release is expected in June 2020.

I have around 15 years of experience developing Financial Software. I took a break from my career to start my own algorithmic trading setup. This new journey started well and along with my own proprietary trading systems, I also started building automation systems for retail traders, fund managers and HNIs. I was employed with firms like Morgan Stanley, HSBC & SunGard. I work on various technologies, but my strengths are building server side cloud based algorithmic trading systems built primarily using Java programming language. Apart from all of this, I am a big fan of Formula 1 racing :-)

41 thoughts on “AutoTrader FAQ”
  • Anurag says:

    In installation problem facing short cut not coming on fesktop

    December 28, 2018 at 5:04 pm
    • Admin says:

      Please email to support

      December 31, 2018 at 3:58 am
  • Kvlmanohar says:

    Hi I am having trading account in wisdom capital, and trading platform nest, can I get RTD and Backfill facility from nest trader.

    March 3, 2019 at 2:07 pm
    • Admin says:

      No, RTD does not work with NEST

      March 6, 2019 at 7:26 am
  • thiagarajan says:

    Sir, Will i be able to run Auto Trader in my Intel Core 2 Duo system with 2 GB of ram. Or do i have to upgrade my laptop. Please clarify.

    March 13, 2019 at 8:01 am
    • Admin says:

      No need to upgrade.

      March 14, 2019 at 7:50 am
  • thiagarajan says:

    I would also like to know what are the indicators I will be able to use in Auto Trader. Thank you.

    March 13, 2019 at 8:03 am
    • Admin says:

      AutoTrader is a set of API functions. API functions can be used with any indicator as they do not depend on any indicator. This is not a robotic software which provides any built-in indicators. You can use any indicators available in your charting software.

      March 14, 2019 at 7:51 am
      • thiagarajan says:

        Thank you sir, for clearing both my doubts.

        March 14, 2019 at 3:33 pm
  • Shirin Patel says:

    GETTING THIS ERROR: – AT-ERR-001: Could not find KITE authorized user. [true, true, true]

    April 8, 2019 at 3:38 pm
    • Admin says:

      Click Help -> Support

      April 13, 2019 at 4:18 pm
  • devaraja says:

    unable to sync RTD with metatrader

    April 12, 2019 at 4:17 am
    • Admin says:

      Contact support with details of the problem

      April 13, 2019 at 4:17 pm
  • thiagarajan says:

    Good afternoon Sir. While overlaying my indicator in Amibroker chart I am able to see ema crossovers but the same indicator does not ruturn any result in Analysis. I am using indicator in Futcom (MCX).
    Please help me.

    April 19, 2019 at 8:07 am
  • Akash singh dadghaye says:

    Fantastic system you have created I really appriciate that….All is set but getting some errors in amibroker while starting any afl strategy and trying to put order.
    Error31 Syntax error unexpected ‘(‘,expecting’)’or’,’
    Error32 Syntax error
    Error33 Syntax error
    Error34 Syntax error

    May 2, 2019 at 10:03 am
    • Admin says:

      Use algotrader-util-old.afl if you are using amibroker version 5.7 or below.

      May 6, 2019 at 5:15 am
  • Orders are getting created in orders.csv file. But it not going into UPSTOX platform. Autotrader dashboard shows Upstox connected. Any idea why order not going into trading platform?

    May 13, 2019 at 5:51 pm
  • Rajasekar says:

    getting error unable to use the Auto trader, not working

    June 9, 2019 at 8:21 am
  • Adil Shah says:

    Error: AT-ERR-001: Could not find KITE authorized user. [true, true, true]

    getting this error, have followed all instructions in user guide and still gettting this error.

    June 29, 2019 at 10:34 pm
    • Admin says:

      Contact support

      July 2, 2019 at 6:12 am
  • Sunil says:

    I am trying AUTOTRADER with KITE. My charting software is MT4. I did all the setting as per your guidelines. The Autotrader dashboard shows KiTE stream connected. But when i just try to buy a single quantity of stocks , no order is created in qrdes.csv file.
    Just want to know if anyone really able to use autotrader , based on the guidelines given?

    July 28, 2019 at 4:31 pm
    • Admin says:

      Sir,

      The product has been tested with MT5. So kindly request you to email support team regarding your issues.

      July 29, 2019 at 4:33 am
  • Sunil says:

    can than the trial period is extended ? .. for a week or so… still its not responding to MT5 ccation…harting appli

    August 3, 2019 at 7:19 am
  • Sunil says:

    can than the trial period is extended ? .. for a week or so… still its not responding to MT5 ccation…harting applicaion…t

    August 3, 2019 at 7:20 am
  • Mayank says:

    My trial is over, how do I get RTD now?

    October 24, 2019 at 8:04 am
    • Admin says:

      Sir, we are not data providers. Data feature is free with automation paid license. You can go for any datafeed provider. We do not sell data.

      November 8, 2019 at 7:13 am
  • Vijay Das says:

    Can AutoTrader configures with two Trading Platform like
    1. AliceBlue for Trading and
    2. Zerodha Kite for getting Real Time Data Feed.

    If so please guide

    November 6, 2019 at 7:49 pm
    • Admin says:

      Not possible.

      November 8, 2019 at 7:06 am
  • Vijay says:

    How can one be assured of the privacy of client info entered in algo trader?

    December 3, 2019 at 1:38 pm
    • Admin says:

      The sensitive information login credentials of your trading platform are saved on your local machine.

      December 9, 2019 at 12:28 pm
  • Yashas D A says:

    Hi,

    I am looking for more information on the system, is there any possibility to speak to know more about the software.

    Thank you,

    December 13, 2019 at 11:07 am
    • Admin says:

      You can contact us.

      December 14, 2019 at 6:15 am
  • Priya says:

    Any reference material is available to read the MTM positions into the excel through Powerquery or any other means. I want to know the positions immediately after the order is placed, to be sure that I don’t place orders further mistakenly.

    December 22, 2019 at 11:53 am
  • Ash says:

    Can we get live data directly in excel without Amibroker and trade from excel ?

    December 29, 2019 at 12:37 pm
  • Priya says:

    Which article you are referring ?

    stkadmin says:
    AutoTrader does not feed data into excel, however this article might be of use to you.
    December 30, 2019 at 3:36 am

    January 2, 2020 at 4:29 pm
  • murali says:

    hi its very difficulty to install and configure please provide any technical person to install and configure through anydesk or team viewer

    so that it will help full for all…..

    regards
    murali
    7892207798

    January 16, 2020 at 12:25 pm
  • murali says:

    hI TEAM for banknifty weekly option how to add instrument names and weekly expiry date ..

    when it entered Ex: BANKNIFTY JAN 31900 CE its accepting .. but with expiry date BANKNIFTY 23 JAN20 31900 CE its shows error instrument not found
    please provide the solution for the weekly expiry option trade.

    regards
    murali

    January 16, 2020 at 6:19 pm
  • Niranjan Mohapatra says:

    Sir can We use multiple Zerodha account in web version?

    May 22, 2020 at 2:54 am
    • Pritesh says:

      Yes

      May 24, 2020 at 10:01 am

Comments are closed.