Install

ClearEdge runs on your own machine. You need a few services running locally; the trading parts (IB Gateway) are only needed when you actually paper/live trade.

Prerequisites (one-time)

1. Docker Desktop — used for Postgres, Redis, and (later) the IB Gateway. Install it and open it once so the daemon starts.
2. uv — the Python toolchain/runtime manager (installs Python 3.12 for you). On macOS: brew install uv.
3. Node 22 — for the frontend (e.g. via nvm install 22).

Apple Silicon / Linux are the supported hosts. Everything runs as your user; nothing needs root.

Get the code and dependencies

git clone <your-fork-url> clearedge-algo && cd clearedge-algo

# Backend deps (creates a local .venv via uv)
cd backend && uv sync && cd ..

# Frontend deps
cd frontend && npm install && cd ..

Configure

ClearEdge reads all configuration from backend/.env. Scaffold it:

scripts/setup.sh        # creates backend/.env with a generated session secret

Then add a free Tiingo API token (for daily data) to backend/.env as ATS_TIINGO_API_TOKEN, or add it later from the in-app Settings page. Every setting is documented in the configuration reference.

Start the supporting services

Postgres and Redis run in Docker:

docker compose -f infra/docker-compose.yml up -d postgres redis

Database schema is managed by Alembic migrations (run automatically by the start script, or manually with cd backend && uv run alembic upgrade head). See database & migrations.

Next

You’re ready to run the app — continue to First run. For the full deployment picture (all processes, the IB Gateway, scripts), see deployment.