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OptAlgo is an AI strategy lab for crypto. You describe a strategy to the AI app you already use; OptAlgo backtests it honestly, runs it on paper, and trades it live on your exchange only when you decide. This page takes you from a new account to a paper bot. Everything here works on the Free plan.

1. Sign up​

Create an account at app.optalgo.com with your email or with Google (Sign up and log in). You start on Free: backtests and paper trading, no exchange and no money needed.

2. Connect your AI app​

You useDo this
Claude (web, desktop, mobile) or ChatGPTAdd the connector URL https://mcp.optalgo.com/mcp in the chat app's settings and approve it once in OptAlgo. No API key. Chat app connector
Claude Code or CodexOpen AI agents in the app, copy the prompt into your agent, and approve the link it shows. The key is saved on your computer, never in the chat. AI agents page

Claude Code works with either one.

3. Your first prompt​

Describe an idea in plain words. For example:

Using OptAlgo: write a simple EMA-crossover strategy for BTCUSDT.P on 1h,
validate it, backtest 2024-01-01..2025-01-01, tell me the honesty grade first,
then improve it once.

The AI app writes the strategy, checks it for free, runs the backtest on OptAlgo's engine and reports the result. Every run appears on your Backtest page. A run costs backtest units: Free has 50 a month.

No AI app? Paste a Python strategy on the Backtest page yourself.

4. Read the result honestly​

Read the result in this order:

  1. The honesty grade, A (best) to D: how close the backtest is to what would really have happened. Never rely on the numbers of a D run.
  2. The search verdict: how many variants were tried on the same data, and whether the best one is likely luck.
  3. The numbers, net of fees and funding.

One backtest is in-sample: a good number is a starting point, not proof. Before you trust an edge, check it out of sample with a walk-forward research run.

5. Run it on paper​

Paper trading uses live prices and a simulated balance. It needs no exchange connection. Two ways:

  • Run on OptAlgo: OptAlgo runs your backtested strategy at every bar close in a bot in My Bots. Click Run on OptAlgo on a backtest graded A to C, or ask your AI app to deploy it. Free includes 1 strategy. Run on OptAlgo
  • A paper bot: ask your AI app to create a paper bot and open a small trade, or create a bot in My Bots and send it signals from TradingView. My Bots

Watch it at app.optalgo.com/my-bots. Connect Telegram under Settings to get a message on every trade.

6. Go live when you are ready​

Live trading needs a connected exchange (Connect an exchange). Strategies run on OptAlgo and AI agents trade live on Plus and Pro; on Free, your own webhook bots can make 10 live trades a month (Plans and limits).

  • A strategy that runs on OptAlgo goes live from its bot in My Bots. We recommend 7 days on paper with at least 1 closed trade, or 5 closed paper trades, first.
  • A webhook bot switches from paper to live in My Bots when it has no open trade.

Going live is always your decision, in the app. A chat app connector can never trade real money, and an API key can trade live only with the Live trading permission that you turn on.

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