Student Onboarding · Fall 2026

Getting started with the ANDX Quant Trading Competition

You'll install a starter trading bot, run it on practice money, then edit its code to build your own strategy and climb the leaderboard. No prior experience needed — this guide takes you from zero to a running bot.

Step 1

Download & install the bot

The bot runs on your own computer. Installing takes one command. You'll need Python 3 — if it's missing, the installer tells you where to get it.

On a Mac

Open Terminal (press ⌘ + Space, type Terminal, press Enter), paste this line, press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andxtrading/andx-trading-bot/main/install.sh | bash

On Windows

Open PowerShell (click Start, type PowerShell, press Enter — not Command Prompt), paste this line, press Enter:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andxtrading/andx-trading-bot/main/install.ps1 | iex

The command downloads the bot, sets it up (about a minute the first time), and opens the dashboard in your browser automatically.

TipTo start the bot again another day, open the same Terminal/PowerShell and paste the same command. Your files live in a folder called andx-trading-bot in your home directory, and any code you edit is kept.

No Python?Install it from python.org (on Windows, tick "Add Python to PATH" during install), then run the command again.

Step 2

Meet the dashboard

When the bot opens in your browser (at 127.0.0.1:8300), that page is the bot. Press the Start bot button in the top-right — it immediately begins trading on practice money ($100,000 of it), with no account or keys required.

Across the top are the tabs:

Overview — your equity curve, the live buy/sell signals per coin, and your open positions (each with a Close button).
Guide — a plain-language reference for every button, toggle, and setting. Read this early.
Activity — your full trade history and a live log of everything the bot does.
Edit Strategy — the bot's code, which you'll change in Step 5.
Settings — your name, trading mode, coins, and risk limits.

Do this nowOpen Settings → Add name and enter your name — it tags your entry for the competition. Everything you do from here stays on practice money until you deliberately switch to live.

Step 3

Get your ANDX API keys

You only need these when you're ready to trade real money — you can skip this while you're learning on practice money. When you're ready:

Create or log in to your account at exchange.andxus.io.
Go to your account's API settings (Settings → API Keys / API Management).
Click Create API Key.
Give it Trade permission only.
Copy the API Key and Secret it shows you — the secret is usually shown only once, so copy it right away.

Important — read thisEnable "trade" permission only. Never enable withdrawals. A trade-only key can place orders but can't move money out of your account. Use your own keys — never share them or use someone else's.

The keys stay on your own computer (in a file the bot never uploads) and are sent nowhere except ANDX.

Step 4

Going live (optional)

Once you have your keys and you've tested your bot on practice money:

On the dashboard, open Settings → Exchange & API keys.
Paste your API Key and Secret, then click Save & test keys — it checks them against your account and shows your balance.
Change Trading mode to Live and press Start bot. You'll be asked to confirm.

Start smallCrypto trading — especially with leverage and short positions — can lose money quickly. Practice on paper first, then start live with an amount you're comfortable losing. The bot has a daily-loss circuit breaker, but you are responsible for your trades.

Step 5

Build your own bot

Everyone starts from the same bot — you compete by editing its strategy. The more original and effective your code, the higher you place.

Where the decisions live

Open the Edit Strategy tab. You're looking at strategies.py — the code that decides when to buy and sell. The default is an "Auto" strategy that follows trends in trending markets and buys dips in calm ones. There are also EMA Trend-Following, RSI Mean-Reversion, and Breakout strategies you can borrow from.

Make your first change

Find the EMATrend strategy. It uses two moving averages — a fast one and a slow one — and buys when the fast crosses above the slow:

fast = self.p("fast", 21)   # try 9 for a quicker, twitchier bot
slow = self.p("slow", 55)   # try 100 for a slower, calmer bot

Change a number, then click Save & Apply. Your bot restarts on your new code within seconds. If you make a typo, the bot refuses the change and keeps running the old code — you can't break it. Restore original puts everything back.

Ideas to experiment with

Speed: shorter moving averages react faster but whipsaw more; longer ones catch bigger trends but lag.
Which coins: in Settings → Symbols, focus on a few coins instead of all of them.
Timeframe: 15-minute candles trade often; daily candles trade rarely but with conviction.
Risk: in Settings → Risk controls, adjust how much each trade risks, stop distance, and leverage.
Write your own: the signal() method returns +1 (buy/long), -1 (sell/short), or 0 (stay out). Anything you can compute from the price data, you can trade on.

Always test on paperKeep Trading mode on Paper while you experiment. Watch the equity curve and win rate on the Overview tab — that's your feedback loop. Iterate.

Step 6

Compete

Your bot's performance — its equity growth and win rate — is your entry. Keep refining your strategy over the competition, and watch how your changes play out on live markets.

Track your results on the Overview and Activity tabs.
Keep your edits — they're saved on your computer and applied every time your bot runs.
Submit your strategy when asked, following your competition organizer's instructions (usually your edited strategies.py file).

RecapInstall with one command → press Start bot → add your name → learn on practice money → edit the strategy → (optional) add your own keys and go live → compete. That's the whole journey.