You do not need any trading experience to follow this. Every step has pictures, an honest time estimate, and a plain explanation of why it is needed. Work through it in order and the robot will be running on your own account at the end.
Six things. Gather them first and the whole setup runs without a single interruption. Nothing here is unusual — it is what opening any brokerage account requires.
Five stages. The first two happen at your brokerage, not with us — that is deliberate: your money goes into an account in your own name that only you can withdraw from.
Alpaca signup, ID check, authenticator app.
Link your bank. Funds settle before trading.
Your activation key arrives by email.
Download and run the Windows setup.
Activation key, broker keys, settings, Start.
The robot watches the market on your PC and trades your own account. Your money never leaves your brokerage.
Active time: about an hour. Calendar time is usually one to three days, almost all of it waiting for your brokerage to approve the account and your first deposit to settle.
Create your Alpaca account, pass identity checks, add money, and generate the API keys that let the robot trade for you. Read the authenticator warning first.
25 minutes + approval and settlement timeStart step 1 →$50 per month. Request access and your activation key arrives by email — it is what licenses the software to trade.
5 minutesStart step 2 →Run the Windows installer. We show you every screen, including the security warning Windows shows for new software and exactly how to get past it.
10 minutesStart step 3 →Paste your activation key, connect your broker account, choose your settings, and press Start. Then you watch.
10 minutesStart step 4 →This is the question everyone asks first, so here is the answer in a picture. The app runs on your computer and places orders in your own brokerage account. KirbyTrader has no access to that account: we cannot hold your money, move it, or withdraw it, because no such connection exists. The only thing our server ever does is confirm that your activation key is valid.
Scans the market, decides, and sends orders. Your broker keys are encrypted here and never leave.
Only you can deposit or withdraw. Holds your positions and your orders.
Your broker places your orders on the exchange and reports the fills back.
Confirms your activation key is valid. That is all it does.
Your money, your broker keys, your positions. KirbyTrader cannot hold, move, or withdraw your funds — there is no path for it to do so.
Your broker API keys are encrypted on your own PC with Windows' built-in protection and are never transmitted to us.
Leaving the PC on, what happens when it sleeps or reboots, and how to stop trading safely.
Read when you are set upOpen →The nine things that actually go wrong, each with the fix in plain language.
Keep this bookmarkedOpen →Is my money safe? What if my computer dies? Can I stop it? Is this AI?
5 minute readOpen →The whole thing condensed to a single printable page. Print it and tick things off as you go.
Printable / PDFOpen →