When something is not right

Work through these in order:

• Check for a stray space at the start or end when you pasted it. Retype it if in doubt.
• Confirm you are using the whole key exactly as it appears in the email.
• A key locks to one computer. If this is a second PC, the key will refuse — email us and we will move it in seconds.
• If it says it cannot reach the server, check the PC is online, then try again. Security software occasionally blocks the app's outbound connection.

Inactive means the robot may not open new trades. The card on the dashboard tells you which reason applies — usually an expired licence. Your open positions are still being managed either way. Enter a new activation key in Settings → Step 1 and it resumes automatically.

Almost always one of three things:

• Paper keys in a live account, or the reverse. They are not interchangeable. Check the account type selected in the app matches where you generated the keys.
• The secret was truncated when copied. Regenerate the pair at Alpaca and paste both halves again.
• The keys were revoked at Alpaca. Generate a new pair and enter them via Settings → Change Alpaca API keys…

This is usually correct behaviour, not a fault. Check in this order:

• Is the US market open? Nothing happens overnight, at weekends or on US market holidays.
• Does the status say Running? If it says Stopped, press Start Trading.
• Open Activity. If it is narrating what it is looking at, it is working — it simply has not found a setup worth taking.
• Is there settled cash in the account? Money that has not settled cannot be spent.
• The market-health filter may be standing the robot aside deliberately. The dashboard says so when it is.

Days without a trade are normal and expected.

Go to Settings. The line under Step 2 shows which account is connected and when it was bound. To change it, click Change Alpaca API keys… and enter the right pair. If it is a different account, you will get a confirmation screen first, the old account's records are archived rather than deleted, and the robot comes back stopped until you press Start.

Look at the bottom-left corner of the app. A blue PAPER badge means simulated money; a red LIVE badge means real money. The dashboard's Mode card says the same thing, and Settings shows the connected account. If the three ever disagreed, the badge in the corner is the one that reflects what is actually trading.

This is a brokerage matter and we cannot fix it for you — but it is recoverable.

• If you saved the recovery codes when you set the account up, use one to sign in, then set the authenticator up again on your new phone.
• If you used an app that backs codes up (such as Authy), restore it on the new phone.
• Otherwise contact Alpaca support and go through their identity-recovery process.

Meanwhile the robot keeps running: it uses API keys, not your login, so it is unaffected.

Check the notification area near the clock first — it may already be running and simply hidden. Right-click the Kirby icon and choose Open Dashboard.

• If a window opens but stays blank, the app falls back to your web browser automatically; allow it if Windows asks.
• If security software is blocking it, add Kirby Ultimate Trader to its allowed list.
• If it still will not start, restart Windows and try once more, then email support.

Email [email protected]. Tell us what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened instead — and attach a screenshot if you can. For anything about your money, deposits, withdrawals or account approval, contact Alpaca directly: that account is yours and we have no access to it.