🚀 Start Here

Quick Start Guide

From a freshly installed PolyBot to your first trade in 5 minutes. Follow these steps in order — the Setup Wizard handles everything.

Before You Begin

⚠️ Always start in Paper Mode. Run the bot on fake money for at least 1–2 weeks before going live. This lets you understand its behaviour without any financial risk.

Setup Steps

1

Get Your Polymarket API Key

Go to polymarket.com → connect your wallet → click your profile → Settings → API. Click Generate L2 Key. You'll receive three values: api_key, api_secret, and api_passphrase. Copy all three — you won't see the secret again.

2

Start PolyBot

If you haven't launched the bot yet:

cd ~/polybot docker compose up -d
3

Open the Setup Wizard

Navigate to http://localhost:8080 (or your VPS IP). On first launch, the Setup Wizard appears automatically. It walks you through the entire configuration step by step.

4

Enter Your API Credentials

Paste your three API values into the Setup Wizard fields, plus your Polymarket wallet address. The chain ID should be 137 (Polygon mainnet). Click Validate — the wizard tests your connection live.

5

Choose Your Starting Mode

Select Paper Mode on the Mode screen. This runs the bot with real signals but fake money — a safe way to observe behaviour before committing capital.

6

Start the Bot

Click the green Start button. The bot begins monitoring markets immediately. For the 15M AI Trader, your first trade appears within 15 minutes. For the Copy Bot, trades appear when tracked wallets enter positions — typically within a few hours.

7

Watch the Trade Log

Open the Trades tab in the dashboard. Every paper trade is logged with timestamp, direction, size, fill price, and P&L. Watch for at least 50 trades before evaluating performance.

Understanding the Three Modes

Recommended Start
📄 Paper Mode

Completely fake money. Real signals, real API calls, but no orders placed. Zero financial risk. Use for 1–2 weeks minimum.

Final Test
🔍 Dry-Run Mode

Real API calls, real order checks, but orders are submitted then immediately cancelled. Confirms everything works before going live.

Real Money
⚡ Live Mode

Full live trading with your real USDC. Only switch here after 50+ paper trades with a positive expectancy you're comfortable with.

Going Live

When you're ready to trade with real money:

💡 Start small. Begin with $50–100 USDC and a $10–15 daily loss limit. Scale up only after you've observed consistent positive performance over several weeks.