FAQ
Common technical questions. (These also help seed the in-app Ask the docs assistant — the ? button
in the header.)
What is ClearEdge, in one sentence?
Section titled “What is ClearEdge, in one sentence?”A self-hosted, single-user platform to research trading strategies honestly — ingest data, write or generate strategies, validate them through a strict anti-overfit gauntlet, and run survivors on paper and (gated) live through Interactive Brokers. See introduction.
Do I need Interactive Brokers to use it?
Section titled “Do I need Interactive Brokers to use it?”No — not for research. You can ingest data, backtest, run the full gauntlet, and use the Studio with just a (free) Tiingo key. IB is only needed when you want to paper or live trade equities. Crypto paper trading uses a fully local simulator (no account needed). See paper trading.
Why isn’t my new key working?
Section titled “Why isn’t my new key working?”Most settings are read at startup by both the API and the worker, so restart after changing
backend/.env (scripts/stop.sh && scripts/start.sh). The Anthropic key is the exception — Studio/
assistant generation picks it up immediately. See configuration.
My backtest looks great — is the strategy good?
Section titled “My backtest looks great — is the strategy good?”Almost certainly not yet. A positive backtest is the start. Run it through the gauntlet: does it beat random entries (rule test), survive out-of-sample (walk-forward), clear the deflated Sharpe gate, hold up at 2× costs, and beat buy-and-hold? Watch its readiness score on the Research tab.
How does the Studio run AI-generated code safely?
Section titled “How does the Studio run AI-generated code safely?”Generated Python is validated against a static allow-list, executed with restricted builtins and a guarded import, and backtested in an isolated, resource-limited subprocess. It can’t go live until it clears the gauntlet and you approve it. See Studio and the security model.
Where do my API keys and data go?
Section titled “Where do my API keys and data go?”Keys live in backend/.env on your machine and are sent only to the vendor you gave them to; data stays
in the local catalog. The AI features call your own Anthropic key. Nothing phones home. See the
security model.
How do I add my own strategy?
Section titled “How do I add my own strategy?”Write a file under backend/ats/strategies/ following the contract (and
the canonical STRATEGY_GUIDE), or describe it in the
Studio. Either way it joins the picker and the gauntlet.
Can I run lots of strategies unattended?
Section titled “Can I run lots of strategies unattended?”Yes — python -m ats.sweep screens the whole basket and runs the deep gauntlet on the survivors,
printing a ready-first leaderboard. See command-line research.
Where’s the full API / config / metrics reference?
Section titled “Where’s the full API / config / metrics reference?”REST API (generated from the live schema), the configuration reference, and the metrics reference.
Can I put these docs on a website?
Section titled “Can I put these docs on a website?”Yes — they’re portable Markdown. See the rendering note in deployment.