Getting started

This page gets you from a blank browser to a running dashboard, and explains the top bar that appears on every screen.

1. Start the dashboard

From the project folder, with the bundled virtual environment:

.venv/Scripts/python.exe -m uvicorn trading_agent.dashboard.app:create_app --factory

Then open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser. The dashboard binds to 127.0.0.1 (localhost) on purpose — it is not exposed to your network.

It runs fully offline: no API key, no internet, and no brokerage account are required. A deterministic mock AI provider stands in for the real models, so the same input always produces the same output.

Landing on the Approvals screen with an empty queue is normal — / redirects there, and you have not triggered any runs yet.

2. The top bar, explained

Every page shares the same header:

• Trading Agent (left) — click to go home (the approvals queue).
• PAPER badge — confirms you are in simulation mode. It never turns off in this

build; live trading is not wired in.

• Navigation links:
  • Runs — start a new pipeline run for a symbol.
  • Approvals — the queue of trades waiting for your decision (your main screen).
  • Portfolio — open positions, P&L, alerts, and the kill switch.
  • Strategy — the mandate: which symbols are allowed and how much risk.
  • Settings — trading mode, provider API keys, memory backend, and which AI model plays each role.
  • Metrics — timing and run counters.
  • Guide — this guide.
• Token field (right) — see below.

3. The Token field (you need this to act)

Reading screens needs nothing. But any action that changes state — approving a trade, rejecting, engaging the kill switch, saving the strategy or LLM settings — is protected by a token. If you click a button without setting it first, you get a 401 “Authentication token required” error.

How to set it once per browser session:

1. Type your dashboard token into the Token box in the header.
2. Click Set. (The value is stored in your browser for this session and is

auto-attached to every action form — you will not be asked again.)

The token is whatever DASHBOARD_TOKEN is set to in the environment. The default is change-me if it was never configured — try that first on a fresh local setup, and change it before exposing the dashboard anywhere.

The token only gates writes. Browsing Approvals, Portfolio, Metrics, and this Guide never needs it.

4. Your first 60 seconds

1. Set the token (step 3).
2. Go to Runs, keep the symbol as RELIANCE, click Run Agents.
3. You land on Approvals with one pending request — click Review.
4. Read the thesis, scroll to the bottom, enter any Trader ID, tick the confirm

box, and click Approve Order.

1. You land on Portfolio with an open position and live P&L.

That is the entire loop. The next page breaks down exactly what each of those steps is doing.