Quantrex
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User Guide

Everything you need to get Quantrex up and running.

1 Sign In

Quantrex uses passwordless phone authentication — no password needed. You receive a one-time code by SMS each time you sign in.

  1. Go to quantrex.app in your browser.
  2. Enter your phone number. US numbers can be entered as 10 digits (e.g. 9092041242). International numbers need the country code (e.g. +44 7700 900000).
  3. Tap Send code — you'll receive a 6-digit SMS within seconds.
  4. Enter the code and tap Verify & sign in.
First time? Your account is created automatically on first sign-in. No registration form required.

2 Alpaca API Setup

Alpaca is the brokerage that executes your trades. You need an Alpaca account and API keys to connect Quantrex to your portfolio.

Create an Alpaca Account

  1. Go to alpaca.markets and click Get Started.
  2. Sign up with your email. No minimum deposit for paper trading.
  3. For paper trading (practice with fake money — recommended to start): no identity verification needed.
  4. For live trading (real money): complete identity verification in the Alpaca dashboard.
Tip — Start with Paper Trading Use paper trading first to test your watchlist and settings without risking real money. Switch to live when you're confident in the bot's behavior.

Generate API Keys

  1. Log in to alpaca.markets.
  2. In the left sidebar, click Paper Trading (or Live Trading for real money).
  3. Click API Keys → Generate New Key.
  4. Copy both the API Key ID and Secret Key. The secret is shown only once — save it somewhere safe.
Warning — Never share your secret key Your secret key gives full access to your trading account. Keep it private and never paste it into chat or email.

Enter Keys in Quantrex

  1. In Quantrex, click API Settings in the top menu.
  2. Under Alpaca, paste your keys into the input fields.
  3. Set the URLs:
FieldPaper TradingLive Trading
Base URL https://paper-api.alpaca.markets https://api.alpaca.markets
Data URL https://data.alpaca.markets
  1. Click Save My Credentials. Your keys are stored privately — only you can see them.

3 Stock Screener Setup (FMP)

The Stock Screener uses Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) to automatically find tradeable symbols each day — most active stocks, top gainers, top losers, or custom filters. Free tier gives 250 requests/day which is more than enough.

Create a Free FMP Account

  1. Go to financialmodelingprep.com and click Get Free API Key.
  2. Sign up with your email and complete the short onboarding survey:
    • Purpose → Investment Analysis
    • Dataset → Live Stock Data
    • Most important → Data Accuracy
    • Role → Investor / Analyst
  3. Verify your email. Your API key will be shown in the dashboard.

Add the Key to Quantrex

  1. In Quantrex, go to API Settings.
  2. Scroll to the Financial Modeling Prep panel.
  3. Paste your key and click Save FMP Key.

Using the Screener

  1. Go to the Dashboard and scroll to the Stock Screener panel.
  2. Choose a mode:
ModeDescriptionBest For
Most ActiveHighest trading volume todayDay trading — liquid, moving stocks
Top GainersBiggest % price increases todayMomentum / breakout plays
Top LosersBiggest % price drops todayOversold bounce plays
Custom FilterFilter by price range and min volumeYour own criteria
  1. Click Run Screener to fetch results.
  2. Click + Add next to any symbol to add it to your watchlist, or click Add All to Watchlist to add everything at once.
Tip — Morning routine Run the screener each morning before market open to find the day's most active symbols, then start the bot with a fresh watchlist.
Free tier limit — 250 requests/day Each screener run uses 1 request. Running it a few times per day is well within the free limit.

4 Add Symbols to Watchlist

The watchlist is the list of stock symbols the bot will analyze and trade. You can add or remove symbols at any time.

  1. Go to the Dashboard tab.
  2. Scroll to the Watchlist section.
  3. Type a symbol (e.g. TSLA, AAPL, NVDA) and press Enter or click Add.
  4. To remove a symbol, click the × on its chip.
Tip — Start small Begin with 3–5 symbols you already follow. Too many symbols increases API usage and makes it harder to monitor performance.

5 Running the Bot

Start the Bot

  1. In the Controls panel, select a trading mode:
    • Shares — buys and sells whole or fractional shares
    • Options — trades options contracts (higher risk)
  2. Click Start. The status indicator in the top-left will turn green and show Running.
  3. The bot will begin analyzing your watchlist on a schedule and executing trades when confidence is high enough.

Stop the Bot

  1. Click Stop in the Controls panel. The bot will stop after the current cycle completes.
  2. Open positions are not automatically closed — you'll need to close them manually in Alpaca if desired.

Monitoring

Use the Live Log to watch real-time activity. The Open Positions panel shows your current holdings and unrealized P&L. The Account P/L tiles show performance across different time periods.

6 Understanding Trade Decisions

Every decision the bot makes is logged in the Recent Trade Decisions table. Here's what each column means:

ColumnDescription
TimeWhen the decision was made (Pacific Time)
SymbolThe stock ticker analyzed
Action Buy  Sell  Hold — what the bot decided to do
ConfConfidence level (0–100%). Higher means the bot is more certain. Trades below the minimum threshold are skipped.
BiasTechnical analysis signal — Bullish, Bearish, or Neutral based on price/volume indicators
NewsNews sentiment — Positive, Negative, or Neutral based on recent headlines
AmountDollar value of the trade executed
StatusOrder status returned by Alpaca (e.g. filled, pending, rejected)
ReasoningThe bot's explanation of why it made this decision

7 FAQ

Why isn't the bot making any trades?

The bot skips trades when confidence is below the minimum threshold. Check that your Alpaca API keys are saved correctly in API Settings. Also confirm you have symbols in your watchlist and the bot shows Running.

What does "paper trading" mean?

Paper trading simulates real trades using fake money. It's connected to real market data but no real money is at risk. Use it to test the bot's behavior before switching to live trading.

How do I switch from paper to live trading?

In API Settings, replace your Alpaca keys with your Live Trading keys and change the Base URL from https://paper-api.alpaca.markets to https://api.alpaca.markets. You'll need a funded Alpaca live account.

Is my API key data safe?

Yes. Your keys are stored in your private user profile on the server — only you can read or update them. No other user can see your credentials.

Can I use Quantrex on my phone?

Yes — the dashboard is fully responsive and works on any device. Sign in at quantrex.app from any browser.