Guide

How to get a Tradovate API key

A Tradovate API key is a client id (cid) and secret (sec) generated in the trader app once API Access is enabled.

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About 15 minutes 3 steps Checked October 2026

Before you start

  • A Tradovate account
  • API Access add-on (and >$1,000 equity for live)

Create your Tradovate API key

  1. 1

    Enable API Access

    In the Tradovate app, open Application Settings → API Access and subscribe to the add-on if required.

  2. 2

    Generate an API key

    Create a key with the permissions you need. Copy the cid and secret; the secret is shown once.

  3. 3

    Store credentials

    Save TRADOVATE_CID, TRADOVATE_SEC, TRADOVATE_USERNAME and TRADOVATE_PASSWORD.

Test the key

Before wiring the key into a strategy, make one request by hand. It separates “the key is wrong” from “my code is wrong”.

curl -s -X POST https://demo.tradovateapi.com/v1/auth/accesstokenrequest \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"'$TRADOVATE_USERNAME'","password":"'$TRADOVATE_PASSWORD'","appId":"algogp","appVersion":"1.0","cid":'$TRADOVATE_CID',"sec":"'$TRADOVATE_SEC'"}'
A JSON body with accessToken means the key works; errorText explains failures.

Keep the credentials safe

  • Store values in a password manager or a git-ignored .env, never in code or notebooks you share.
  • In an AlgoGP project you can still add them under APIs & keys (encrypted at rest) and read them with strategy_runtime.secrets.get("TRADOVATE_USERNAME").
  • Give each bot its own credential so you can revoke one without stopping the others.
TRADOVATE_USERNAME=paste-your-value-here
TRADOVATE_PASSWORD=paste-your-value-here
TRADOVATE_CID=paste-your-value-here
TRADOVATE_SEC=paste-your-value-here
.env for local runs

Design and backtest your Tradovate strategy first

AlgoGP turns an idea into Python and tests it on years of history before you connect it to Tradovate. The exported code keeps the broker behind four small adapter methods.

  • AI copilot writes and revises the rules
  • Backtests with realistic costs
  • Exported Python ready to wire to Tradovate
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How the Tradovate API works

AlgoGP is not affiliated with Tradovate. Menus get renamed from time to time; if a label differs, the official documentation has the current path.