CLI Commands

The CLI ships ~20 commands grouped into four areas: auth & account, strategies & deployment, data & analysis, and maintenance.

Traders do not need the CLI: the Lab runs bots on your computer, and the install command sets up a server. Run tradectl <command> --help for every flag.

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Auth & account

tradectl login

Authenticate with the platform using an API key (read it from stdin to avoid leaking it into shell history):

echo "st_live_<your-key>" | tradectl login

Exchanges the API key for a signed license (Ed25519 JWT). The license is short-lived; the CLI and running bots refresh it by themselves.

On a server, tradectl login --setup-code ABCDE-FGHJK logs in with a one-time code from the Lab (Profile → add a server). The server gets its own key. The install command does this for you, and also gives the server your pair key.

tradectl license

Show your plan: tier, paid period, paid bots and the Free limits.

tradectl license             # what this machine has
tradectl license --refresh   # ask tradectl.com again first

tradectl logout

Clears the cached license token.

tradectl logout

tradectl auth

Manage exchange API credentials. Supported providers: binance, bybit, okx, hyperliquid, htx, gate, bitget.

tradectl auth set binance     # interactive — prompts for key/secret/passphrase
tradectl auth list            # list configured exchanges
tradectl auth remove binance  # remove credentials for an exchange

OKX and Bitget additionally prompt for a passphrase. Hyperliquid uses an API wallet's address + private key.

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Strategies & deployment

tradectl init <name>

Scaffold a new strategy crate.

tradectl init my-strategy

Creates a Rust project with src/lib.rs, src/params.rs, config.json, a unit test, and a STRATEGY.md template. The SDK dependency is resolved automatically (local path or crates.io).

tradectl build

Compile the current strategy crate to a cdylib.

tradectl build              # release build of cdylib

Produces target/release/lib<name>.so (Linux), lib<name>.dylib (macOS), or <name>.dll (Windows). Cargo converts dashes to underscores in the cdylib name.

tradectl run <bot>

Run a bot. Each bot has a name and its own folder, ~/.tradectl/bot/<bot>/, where it keeps its config. Paper or live is set per strategy by isEmulator.

tradectl run my-bot                         # foreground
tradectl run my-bot --daemon                # detach as a background process
tradectl run my-bot -c config.json          # copy config.json into the bot's folder, then run
tradectl run my-bot --dry-run               # validate config + load plugin, do not start
tradectl run my-bot --replay data/prepared.bin   # historical replay

Flag	Description
<BOT>	Bot name: a-z, 0-9, - and _, up to 32 characters
-c, --config <FILE>	Copy this config into the bot's folder before starting (refuses when the bot's config has changed; --force overwrites)
--daemon	Run in background as a detached process
--dry-run	Validate config and load strategy without starting trading
--replay <FILE>	Replay a prepared .bin data file instead of connecting live

A bot with no config waits for setup from the Lab.

tradectl stop

Stop a running bot.

tradectl stop my-bot          # stop one bot
tradectl stop all             # stop all bots managed by this CLI

The bot cancels its orders and closes all its open positions at market price, then exits. This can take up to 3 minutes. Other bots' positions are not touched. A bot that runs as a service is stopped through systemd and stays stopped.

tradectl service

Run a bot, or the watchdog, as a systemd service on Linux: it starts on boot and restarts after a crash (10 s later; after 3 crashes in 10 minutes it stays down).

tradectl service install my-bot   # make it a service and start it
tradectl service status my-bot    # one line: running or not
tradectl service start my-bot     # start it again after a stop or a crash loop
tradectl service remove my-bot    # stop it (it closes its positions) and remove the service

Use watchdog as the name for the watchdog.

tradectl strats

List installed strategy plugins (scans ~/.tradectl/lib/).

tradectl strats

tradectl install <strategy>

Download a strategy from the marketplace. The CLI verifies the SHA256 of the binary against the platform's record before writing.

tradectl install shot

tradectl upload

Register the current strategy with your platform account.

tradectl upload              # register source
tradectl upload --binary     # also upload the compiled binary

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Data & analysis

tradectl backtest

Run a local backtest against a prepared data file.

tradectl backtest \
  -d data/prepared.bin \
  --balance 10000 \
  --leverage 5 \
  --taker-fee 0.0004 \
  -p order_size=0.001 \
  -v

Flag	Description	Default
-d, --data <PATH>	Prepared data file (.bin, .parquet, .csv, or .jsonl)	required
--balance <FLOAT>	Initial balance (USD)	10000
--leverage <FLOAT>	Leverage multiplier	1.0
--taker-fee <FLOAT>	Taker fee rate	0.0004
--maker-fee <FLOAT>	Maker fee rate	0.0002
--slippage <FLOAT>	Slippage as a fraction	0.0001
-p, --param <KEY=VAL>	Strategy parameter (repeatable)	—
-v, --verbose	Print individual trades	false
--bench	Profile latency / throughput / pipeline breakdown	false

tradectl sweep

Parameter sweep — Cartesian product of ranges, ranked by score.

tradectl sweep \
  -d data/prepared.bin \
  -r entryDistance=0.5:3.0:0.1 \
  -r takeProfit=0.3:1.5:0.1 \
  -p order_size=0.001 \
  --top 20 \
  --min-trades 5

Flag	Description	Default
-d, --data <PATH>	Prepared data file	required
-r, --range <KEY=MIN:MAX:STEP>	Range to sweep (repeatable)	required
-p, --param <KEY=VAL>	Fixed parameter (repeatable)	—
--balance / --leverage / --taker-fee / --maker-fee / --slippage	Same as backtest	—
--top <N>	Show top N results	20
--min-trades <N>	Minimum trades to be eligible	5
-o, --output <PATH>	Save results as JSON	—

tradectl prepare

Prepare raw market data into the optimized format.

tradectl prepare \
  --root data/raw \
  --exchange binance \
  --symbol BTCUSDT \
  --interval 2026-01-01:2026-02-01 \
  -o data/prepared.bin

Flag	Description
--root <DIR>	Raw data directory
--exchange <NAME>	Source exchange (binance, bybit, ...)
--symbol <SYM>	Symbol to prepare
--interval <RANGE>	Date range (YYYY-MM-DD:YYYY-MM-DD)
--ticker-data <PATH>	Or supply a single bookTicker file directly
--trade-data <PATH>	Or supply a single trades file directly
--trades-only	Synthesize tickers when bookTicker is unavailable
--ticker-bucket-ms <N>	Synthesis bucket size (default 100)
--buffer-ms <N>	Windowing buffer (default 20, 0 = off)
-o, --output <PATH>	Output (.bin or .parquet)

The CLI emits the TCTL v3 binary format — single-file pack of ticker / trade / kline / depth streams with a footer index for mmap loading. Load time: ~18 µs for the binary format vs ~360 ms for parquet.

tradectl collect

Live WebSocket recorder — captures market data into compressed JSONL files.

tradectl collect binance --symbols BTCUSDT,ETHUSDT --output data/raw/

Writes zstd-compressed .jsonl.zst files. Use tradectl prepare afterward to roll them into the binary format.

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Maintenance

tradectl config validate

Validate a bot config file without starting it.

tradectl config validate config.json

tradectl run my-bot -c config.json --dry-run does the same thing plus loads the strategy plugin to verify ABI compatibility.

tradectl mcp

Stdio proxy for the bot's embedded MCP server (port 9101). Used to register the bot as an MCP server in Claude Code:

claude mcp add tradectl-bot -- tradectl mcp

See MCP Server.

tradectl telegram

Link your account to the shared Telegram bot, @tradectlbot. See Telegram.

tradectl telegram link

tradectl watchdog

The independent watchdog that guards accounts against positions without a stop. Run it on a separate machine. See Watchdog.

tradectl update

Update the CLI binary in place from the GitHub Releases channel.

tradectl update