Desktop Client

What it is

The Desktop Client is a small app that runs on your computer. It lets tools with weak or no HTTP support automate trading. Your tool writes commands to plain CSV files, and the Desktop Client reads those files and runs the orders on your behalf. There is no install step: download it, keep it on your desktop, and run it.

How it works

The Desktop Client is the bridge. Tools like Excel, AmiBroker and MetaTrader write order requests to files on your PC. The Desktop Client reads them and sends the real instructions on to AutoTrader Web and your broker.

Code that can make HTTP requests (Python, Java, C#, HTTP REST) talks to the platform directly and does not need this client.

Why is it needed?

AutoTrader Web is an HTTP REST API for multi-client, multi-broker automated trading. Calling the REST API directly from code needs development skill. To make this easier, we provide programming-language libraries that any developer with basic skills can use.

Many languages that ship with charting software do not support HTTP requests well. For those, we built a simpler way to communicate: plain text CSV (comma separated value) files. The Desktop Client reads from and writes to these files.

So a language with limited or no HTTP support can write commands to a CSV file, and the Desktop Client then runs those commands (for example, place, modify or cancel orders).

When to use it?

Use the Desktop Client when you are using one of these libraries from us:

• AmiBroker library
• Excel library or tools
• MetaTrader library

You can also use it if you coded your strategy in a language we do not provide a built-in library for, and that language has weak HTTP support.

How to install?

You can download the AutoTrader Desktop Client. There is no install step. Just keep it on your desktop and run it directly. The client runs on any operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux or Ubuntu).

Java

This step is optional for Windows client users. The client will automatically ask you to install Java if it is not already present on your system.

If you cannot download Java 17 or above, get it from Adoptium Temurin releases. Once Java is installed, you can start the at-desktop client.

Windows

Windows users can download the setup from the links below.

• Download (Windows) – Link 1
• Download (Windows) – Link 2

Mac

Download (Mac)

Follow these steps to set up AutoTrader on your Mac.

1. Download and extract

• Download the AutoTrader-Mac.zip file.
• Double-click the zip file to extract it. You will see an application named AutoTrader (with the monitor icon).

2. Move to Applications

• Drag the AutoTrader app into your Applications folder. This is important for the next step to work correctly.

3. Grant security permissions

Because this is an independent application, macOS needs a one-time permission fix to allow it to run:

1. Open the Terminal app (press Command + Space, type “Terminal”, and hit Enter).
2. Copy and paste the following command into the window:
3. sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/AutoTrader.app
4. Press Enter.
5. It will ask for your Mac password. Type it in and press Enter again. (Note: you won’t see any characters moving while you type. This is a normal security feature.)

4. Launch the app

• You can now open AutoTrader directly from your Applications folder or Launchpad, like any other app.
• You can safely delete the original AutoTrader-Mac.zip file.

All other operating systems

Non-Windows users can download the setup below. The file is a self-executing JAR. You can run it directly.

Note: You must have Java installed on your PC to run the client. Click here to install Java.

Download (Non-Windows)

Notes

• You need Java 8 or higher installed on your PC. Download Java 8.
• If you cannot start it, run this command from your command terminal:
  • java -jar at-desktop.jar
• Mac OS: you need to give permission for the app to run.
  • Go to [System Preferences -> Security & Privacy]
  • Select the [General] tab
  • Click the Lock icon to unlock settings
  • Tick allow apps downloaded from: [App store & identified developers]. See the image below.
  • For more details on how to allow apps, see this link.

How to upgrade?

Once a client is installed, it shows a message at the bottom of the screen whenever a new version is available.

We strongly recommend upgrading when a new version is available. The steps are:

1. Delete the existing client.
2. Download the latest version from the setup links above.
3. Just start using it. The client automatically loads its settings, which are saved on your computer.

Usage

Setup

This is a one-time activity.

• Start the desktop client and go to the Settings tab.
• Click the change button next to API Key.
• You can find your API Key in AutoTrader Web (Settings -> Security).
• Enter your API Key and click Save.

Trading

Each day, when you start trading, do the following:

• Start the desktop client.
• Click the Monitor button.

This makes sure the desktop client is listening to your commands.

To stop trading, click the Stop button on the Dashboard tab.

Settings

You can find the client’s settings under the Settings tab.

Setting	What it does
Secret API Key	Used for authentication. Find this key on AutoTrader Web (Settings -> Security).
Communication Folder	The folder in which the communication (input and output) files are created.
AmiBroker Library	A button to install the AmiBroker library.
MetaTrader Library	A button to install the MetaTrader library.
AutoTrader Server	We have two servers. We recommend PRIMARY. If there is a problem with PRIMARY, we will notify users to use BACKUP.
Portfolio Read	Whether to read live portfolio and write it to output files, so your programs (like strategies) can read those details. If you use Excel tools and do not read live portfolio data, it is recommended to keep it OFF.
Portfolio Read Interval	How often the portfolio is read. The system can override this value to avoid hitting API limits.
Monitor on Startup	The client automatically starts monitoring on startup.
Beep	You hear a beep sound whenever the client receives a new command.
Parallel Order Execution	The client executes orders in parallel. This improves performance when you use multiple accounts (see below).
Worker Thread Count	How many workers to use in parallel processing. Increasing the count can speed up processing, especially when sending bulk orders in multiple accounts.

About Parallel Order Execution: when at-desktop receives multiple orders back-to-back, it runs them in parallel instead of one by one. This does not guarantee that orders run in the sequence in which they were received. Sometimes the order sequence matters (for example, an option strategy may need sequential execution to avoid hitting higher margins). In such cases, turn this setting OFF.

Connecting from other languages

If your trading strategy is coded in a language with weak HTTP support, you can use this Desktop Client.

Client home directory

This is where the Desktop Client keeps the CSV files used for communication. You can change this path from settings.

• Default Path: $USER_HOME_DIRECTORY/autotrader
• Example: C:\Users<username>\autotrader

The user home directory path differs from one operating system to another.

Input files

The Desktop Client reads this file as soon as it changes. All commands are read from this file. For example, to place, modify or cancel an order, write the details in this file in comma separated value format.

• Input Directory: $CLIENT_HOME_DIRCTORY/input
• Input Files: commands.csv

Important: you must write a newline character (Enter) at the end of each line.

Input csv file column specification

Output files

The Desktop Client continuously polls a live portfolio snapshot (orders, positions, margins) from the AutoTrader server. It writes those details to the following CSV files.

Note: each pseudo account has its own separate files.

Important: these files are only generated when the Portfolio Read setting is ON in at-desktop settings.

• Output Directory: $CLIENT_HOME_DIRCTORY/output
• Output Files:
  • <pseudo_account>-margins.csv
  • <pseudo_account>-orders.csv
  • <pseudo_account>-positions.csv
  • <pseudo_account>-summary.csv

Output csv files column specification

Logs

The logs are at C:\Users<win-user>\autotrader\logs.