Getting Started

Creating Your First Agent

Build a custom AI trading agent from scratch

This guide walks you through building a custom trading agent step by step. You'll set the basics, pick a strategy, choose indicators, and set your risk rules. The whole thing takes a few minutes — no code required.

In a hurry? You don't have to build from scratch. Open Library in the sidebar, find a prebuilt agent you like, and hit Clone & Run to launch a copy instantly — or Customize to open it in the builder and tweak it first. This guide covers the from-scratch path.

Step 1: Start the Agent Builder

  1. Log into your Agentic Traders dashboard
  2. Go to the Agents page and click + Create Agent
  3. You'll enter the agent builder — a short, guided wizard

Step 2: Set the Basics

The first screen covers the essentials:

Name Your Agent

Give your agent a descriptive name like "RSI Momentum" or "EUR/USD Scalper". This helps you identify it later when you have multiple agents.

Choose a Trading Mode

  • Standard — Paper trading with simulated money. The default, and where everyone should start.
  • MT5 — Live trading through MetaTrader 5 (Pro and Elite plans). See Connect to MetaTrader 5.
  • TradingView Webhook — Let your TradingView alerts trigger the agent's AI analysis (and, optionally, paper trades).

Select an AI Model

Choose which AI model powers your agent's reasoning. On the Free plan your agent runs on our included model. Pro and Elite unlock the full model lineup — faster and more capable models that draw more from your monthly token budget. A live Estimated Token Usage readout shows roughly how much each run will cost against your budget.

Select a Trading Asset

Type or search for any asset your agent will trade. We support four markets:

  • Crypto — BTC/USD, ETH/USD, SOL/USD, and many more
  • Forex — EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, and other major pairs
  • Stocks — AAPL, TSLA, NVDA, and other top names
  • Commodities — Gold (XAU/USD), Silver, Oil, and more

Time Horizon

Pick how long your agent typically holds a position: Day Trading (hourly), Swing (daily), or Position (weekly).

Step 3: Choose a Strategy

A strategy is the plain-English trading plan your agent follows. Pick one from the Library of prebuilt strategies, or switch to the My Strategies tab to use one you've written yourself. You can edit any strategy later.

Want to understand how strategies work — and how to write your own? See Strategies.

Step 4: Select Indicators

Add the technical indicators your agent will use for analysis. Click an indicator to attach it — for example RSI for momentum or EMA for trend. How many you can attach depends on your plan (1 on Free, 3 on Pro, 5 on Elite).

The agent analyzes every attached indicator together — and it can call each one across multiple timeframes — when it makes a decision. See Adding Indicators.

Step 5: Risk Management

Set the rules your agent can't break:

  • Max Risk Per Trade — Most you'll risk on one trade (e.g. 2% of your account)
  • Risk/Reward Ratio — Minimum reward relative to risk (e.g. 1:2)
  • Max Drawdown — The loss level at which the agent pauses itself (e.g. 15%)
  • Position Sizing — How trade size is calculated (Percent of Portfolio, Fixed Size, Volatility Adjusted, or Kelly Criterion)

Start conservative. A good baseline is 1–2% risk per trade, 1:2 risk/reward, 10–15% max drawdown, and percent-based sizing. You can adjust as you learn how your agent performs. See Risk Management for a full breakdown.

Step 6: Review & Create

  1. Review everything in the summary
  2. Choose how to finish:
    • Save — Creates the agent but leaves it inactive so you can review it first
    • Save & Run — Creates the agent and activates it immediately

Activating Your Agent

If you chose Save, your agent starts out inactive. To turn it on:

  1. Open the agent's detail page
  2. Click Start Agent
  3. It begins monitoring the market and trading with paper money

You can stop it anytime with Stop Agent. Agents show one of three states: Active (running), Paused (temporarily halted — e.g. after hitting a limit), or Inactive (off).

Monitoring Your Agent

Track performance from the agent's page:

  • Overview — Real-time status, balance, and open positions
  • Decision Log — See exactly why each decision was made, including the ones where it chose to do nothing
  • Performance — Win rate, P&L, and trade history

Next Steps