PAPER TRADING ONLY — NO REAL MONEY AT RISK

Get set up in about 10 minutes

The Trading Optimizer trades on your own brokerage account — we never hold your funds. Today we support Alpaca, which is free, supports paper (practice) trading, and lets you choose your own starting balance. This guide walks you through every step, including the two-factor authentication setup that trips most people up.

A quick note on screenshots

Alpaca and the app stores update their layouts from time to time, so a button might be named or placed a little differently than described here. The steps and concepts stay the same — look for the idea described, not the exact pixel.

1

Choose a brokerage & create your account

A brokerage is the account that actually holds the trades. Our bot connects to it with API keys (more on those below) and places trades for you. Here's what's supported:

Alpaca
Available now

Free, API-first, and the only one of these with free paper trading. Recommended to start.

TradeStation
Coming soon

Planned for a future release.

Schwab
Coming soon

Planned for a future release.

Tradier
Coming soon

Planned for a future release.

Starting with paper trading? Pick Alpaca.

Not every brokerage offers paper trading (practice trading with virtual money and real market prices). During our pilot, The Trading Optimizer is paper-only — no real money is ever at risk — and Alpaca is the best choice for it: the paper environment is free, it's built for automated/API trading, and you can set your own starting balance. The rest of this guide uses Alpaca.

Create your Alpaca account
  1. Go to alpaca.markets and click Sign Up (sometimes shown as "Get API Keys" or "Start Trading").
  2. Enter your email address and create a strong password, then submit.
  3. Open the confirmation email Alpaca sends and click the link to verify your email.
  4. Log in. You'll land in your Alpaca dashboard.
You don't need to fund anything for paper trading

Paper trading uses virtual money, so you don't have to deposit real funds or finish the full brokerage approval to follow this guide. Alpaca may still ask you a few onboarding questions — that's normal.

2

Turn on two-factor authentication

Alpaca requires two-factor authentication (also called 2FA or MFA) before you can use any account. It's a security layer: on top of your password, you enter a 6-digit code that changes every ~30 seconds, generated by an app on your phone. Until you complete this, your Alpaca account stays locked — this is the step most people get stuck on, so here it is in detail.

What is Microsoft Authenticator?

It's a free app from Microsoft that generates those rotating 6-digit codes. We'll use it here, but Google Authenticator or Authy work the same way if you already have one. The code lives on your phone, so even someone with your password can't get in without it.

Step by step
  1. Install the app on your phone. On iPhone, get Microsoft Authenticator from the App Store; on Android, from Google Play. Open it. You can skip adding a personal Microsoft account — you don't need one for this.
  2. On your computer, start Alpaca's 2FA setup. Alpaca will show you a QR code (a square barcode). Leave that screen open.
  3. Don't scan it with your phone's camera or a regular QR-reader app — it only works from inside the authenticator app. In Microsoft Authenticator, tap the blue QR-scanner icon in the bottom-right corner to open the scanner. (Don't see it? Tap "+" → "Other account" instead.) On iPhone, the first time you may need to allow Microsoft Authenticator to use your camera before the scanner turns on — tap Allow when asked, or turn it on in Settings → Authenticator → Camera.
  4. Point your phone at the QR code on your computer screen. The app reads it and adds a new entry — usually labelled "Alpaca."
  5. That entry now shows a 6-digit code with a little countdown timer next to it (a shrinking circle or bar). The code refreshes automatically about every 30 seconds.
  6. Type that current 6-digit code into the box on Alpaca — before the timer runs out. If the timer hits zero and the number changes while you're typing, just type the new 6-digit code instead.
  7. Alpaca verifies the code and enables two-factor authentication. Your account is now activated and ready to use.
Two things to remember

Every login from now on you'll open your authenticator app and type the current 6-digit Alpaca code. It's only valid for ~30 seconds, so enter it promptly — if it expires, just type the next one.

Save your backup codes. If Alpaca offers recovery/backup codes when you set this up, store them somewhere safe (not on the same phone). They're how you get back in if you lose or replace your phone.

3

Create a paper account & set your balance

  1. In your Alpaca dashboard, switch to the Paper Trading environment. Look for a Paper / Live toggle (often near the top or in the left menu). Make sure it says Paper.
  2. Alpaca currently lets you create up to 3 paper accounts under one login — useful if you want to run more than one strategy or test ideas side by side. One is all you need to start.
  3. Set your starting balance. Each paper account begins with virtual cash. The default is $100,000, but you can change it to whatever you like — look for a Reset or Configure option on the paper account and enter your preferred amount.
Tip: make it realistic

Setting the starting balance to roughly what you'd actually invest makes the results easier to relate to. It's virtual money either way — change it any time.

4

Generate your API key & secret

API keys are how The Trading Optimizer's bot places trades on your paper account — think of them as a dedicated username and password scoped to that one account. There are two values:

API Key IDPK7XQ…EXAMPLE
Secret KeyaZ9k…keep-this-private…Qm2

The API Key ID is a public identifier (paper keys start with PK). The Secret Key is the private half — treat it like a password.

  1. Confirm you're in the Paper environment (not Live).
  2. Find the API Keys panel — it's usually on the home/overview page, shown as "Generate API Keys" (or "View" / "Regenerate" if you've made some before).
  3. Click Generate. Alpaca displays your API Key ID and Secret Key.
  4. Copy both values right away. The secret is shown only once.
If you lose the secret

You can't view it again — but you can regenerate a new key/secret pair. Regenerating invalidates the old pair, so if you'd already connected it, you'll need to update it on The Trading Optimizer (Settings → Update API keys).

Keep your secret private

Never email or message your secret to anyone. The Trading Optimizer will only ever ask for it inside the secure Connect account form — never by email, chat, or phone. Paper keys can only place simulated trades (no real money), but it's a good habit to keep them private regardless.

5

Connect them on thetradingoptimizer.com

  1. Sign up or log in at thetradingoptimizer.com.
  2. On the Connect your brokerage account screen, choose Alpaca and account type Paper.
  3. Paste your API Key ID into the "API key ID" box and your Secret Key into the "API secret" box.
  4. Click Verify. We confirm the keys work with Alpaca. (Each brokerage account can be connected once — if it's already linked to a strategy, you'll see a message.)
  5. Pick a strategy and finish. Your bot places its first trade on the next market day.
Your keys are encrypted the moment they arrive

We envelope-encrypt your keys with a dedicated AWS KMS key — only the trading bot can decrypt them, and only to place your trades. You can rotate or replace them any time in Settings → Update API keys.

Ready to connect your account?

Sign up takes about a minute. Paper trading is free.

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