I purchased a trading strategy, can I automate it with Autoview?

Can you automate a purchased trading strategy with Autoview?

In short, yes, Autoview is specifically designed to facilitate the automation of trading strategies by acting as a crucial connection between your strategy alerts and your brokerage account. This guide will explain how.

The Core Functionality: Bridging Alerts and Execution

At its heart, Autoview serves as a powerful bridge, receiving signals or "alerts" that are typically generated by your trading strategies on external platforms, such as TradingView, Trendspider, or even custom Python scripts. These alerts contain specific commands that Autoview then translates into actual trade executions on your connected brokerage or exchange account. This automation eliminates the need for manual trade execution when your strategy's conditions are met, ensuring trades are placed instantly and efficiently.

Choosing Your Autoview Platform

Autoview offers flexibility in how you connect your alerts to your exchange, providing two primary platforms:

• The Autoview Chrome Extension: This version operates directly within your Google Chrome browser. It receives alerts when configured to be sent directly from TradingView to the extension. For the Extension to process commands, your computer and the Chrome browser must be running. It stores your API keys and information locally in your browser’s storage, supporting a decentralised setup.
• The Autoview Webhook Platform: This platform operates server-side, meaning it does not require your computer to be continuously running to receive and execute commands. It processes signals received via webhooks, making it suitable for integration with platforms that can send webhook alerts. When setting up the Webhook Platform, you'll generate a unique webhook URL and can assign a key for enhanced security.

Your choice of platform should align with your specific workflow and needs.

Connecting Securely to Your Brokerage Account

To enable Autoview to execute trades, you must securely connect it to your trading exchange account using API (Application Programming Interface) keys. These keys are credentials you create on your exchange's website that grant specific permissions to external applications like Autoview.

For enhanced security, it is crucial to:

• Grant Only Necessary Permissions: When generating API keys, you must only grant the permissions required for trading (placing and cancelling orders) and reading account data (balances, positions). You must explicitly not grant withdrawal permissions.
• Utilise IP Whitelisting: Autoview highly recommends using IP whitelisting, a feature supported by many exchanges, which restricts API key usage to a list of approved IP addresses.

Once generated, you add your API Key and Secret to the configuration settings of your chosen Autoview platform (Extension or Webhook). The Platforms allow you to name API keys to link them to specific webhooks or specific commands.

Testing and Verification: The d=1 Dry Run

Before you begin using Autoview with live capital, it is essential to rigorously test your connection and command syntax.

• Dry Run Mode (d=1): A powerful tool for verifying command syntax is the d=1 parameter. Adding d=1 to your command string tells Autoview to perform a "dry run". It will process the command and show you in the logs what it would have done, without sending the order to the exchange. This is invaluable for verifying your command syntax. For example, a dry run for a market buy on Tradovate could look like: e=tradovate s=esm5 b=long q=1 t=market d=1 (for Chrome Extension) or s=esm5 b=long q=1 t=market d=1 (for Web Platform).
• Small Live Trades: After verifying syntax with d=1, it is recommended to perform small test trades on your live account with minimal quantity to ensure end-to-end functionality. Platform logs are vital for debugging any issues during this phase.

Key Command Parameters

Autoview supports a wide range of command parameters that enable the implementation of complex trading strategies and risk management. Here are some key parameters:

• e= (Exchange): Chrome Extension ONLY. Specifies live or simulation trading (e.g., e=tradovate or e=tradovatesim).
• s= (Symbol): Specifies the market or instrument to trade. Tradovate uses a specific format for futures contracts (e.g., ESZ5 for December 2025 E-Mini S&P futures).
• b= (Book/Side): Identifies the trade action. b=[buy, long] signifies a BUY, while b=[sell, short] signifies a SELL. Long and short are used for margin and futures whereas buy and sell are for spot. 
• q= (Quantity): The quantity of the asset to trade.
• t= (Order Type): Specifies the order type. Some supported types include market, limit, ioc (Immediate-or-Cancel), fok (Fill-or-Kill), and post (PostOnly).
• p= (Price/Relative Price): Specifies the limit price for limit, ioc, fok, and post order types. This parameter calculates the price relative to the current price (e.g., p=10 would be $10 above current, p=-10 would be $10 below) and works with percentages or ranges.
• ps= (Price Source): Specifies the price source, either "position average" (with c=position) or "last sale price" when opening a new order.
• sl=, fsl= (Stop Loss): Defines a Stop Loss price. fsl= is for a fixed price, while sl= is relative to the entry or current price.
• tp=, ftp= (Take Profit): Defines a Take Profit price. ftp= is for a fixed price, while tp= is relative to the entry or current price.
• ts=, fts= (Trailing Stop): Defines a Trailing Stop price.
• px=, fpx= (Trigger Price): Required for OCO orders and Auto-Trail bracket orders. fpx= is for a fixed price, px= is relative.
• c= (Cancel): Used to cancel orders or positions. c=all cancels all open orders and positions for the specified account and symbol; c=order cancels all open limit orders; c=position cancels all open positions.
• cm= (Cancel Maximum) and cmo= (Cancel Maximum Order): When used with c=order, these limit the number of orders cancelled and specify the sort order (e.g., newest, oldest).

Specific Operational Details

Autoview interacts with API's to manage various aspects of your trading. For instance, it can:

• Retrieve account details and balances.
• List and filter open orders or positions.
• Handle order placement, including complex order types like OCO and bracket orders.
• Manage cancellations of single orders, multiple orders, or liquidating all positions and orders.
• Perform calculations related to price units (points, pips, ticks, price) based on Tradovate's product and contract information.

Benefits of Automating with Autoview

Automating your purchased trading strategy with Autoview offers several advantages:

• Automatic Execution: Ensures trades are placed instantly when your strategy's conditions are met, eliminating manual intervention.
• Complex Order Implementation: Supports a wide range of command parameters for sophisticated features like take-profit, stop-loss, trailing stops, and OCO orders, enabling robust risk management.
• Consistency: Helps enforce consistency in trade execution by removing emotional biases from the trading process.
• Unified Interface: Integrates with various exchanges, acting as a unified interface for trade execution from a multiple alerting sources.

In conclusion, Autoview provides the necessary automation layer to connect your purchased trading strategy's alerts (e.g., from TradingView) directly to your Tradovate account, enabling automated and efficient trade execution.