AutoFirmer

Automated futures trading dashboard for prop firm accounts via Tradovate.

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VPS Setup (Windows Server 2019 / 2022)

All commands are run in PowerShell (run as Administrator).

1. Install Git

Download and install from https://git-scm.com/download/win, or via winget:

winget install --id Git.Git -e --source winget

Restart PowerShell after installing so git is on the PATH.

2. Install Node.js 22+

winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e --source winget

Restart PowerShell, then verify:

node --version   # should be v22.x or higher
npm --version

3. Install Windows Build Tools (required for better-sqlite3)

better-sqlite3 compiles a native C++ module and needs the Visual Studio build tools:

npm install -g windows-build-tools

If that fails on newer Node, install manually:

• Download Build Tools for Visual Studio from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2022
• During install, select "Desktop development with C++"

4. Clone the repo

git clone https://github.com/Senofy/autofirmer.git
cd autofirmer

5. Install dependencies

npm install

6. Build

npm run build

7. Run

Development (with hot reload):

npm run dev

Production:

npm start

The app runs on port 3000. Access it at http://<your-vps-ip>:3000.

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First-time setup

On first run, the SQLite database (autotrader.sqlite) is created automatically in the project root. No migrations need to be run manually.

Open the app in your browser and add your firms through the UI:

1. Click + Add Firm on the main page
2. Enter the firm name, Tradovate username, and password
3. Go to the firm's Settings page to configure account types (prefix, profit target, consistency %, etc.)
4. Return to the main page — accounts will populate once the firm connects to Tradovate

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AutoBuyer (browser automation)

The AutoBuyer page drives a real browser to buy and reset prop-firm accounts. It is three pieces, and all three must be running:

Piece	What it does
the dashboard	Defines automations, queues runs, shows progress
extension/	A Chromium extension that reads the broker page and measures elements
clicker/runner.py	A desktop process that moves the real mouse and keyboard

Automations are declared in lib/automations.ts — one entry per firm, with the steps inside. Adding a button means editing that file; the page and the runner pick it up from the server.

1. Load the extension

chrome://extensions → enable Developer mode → Load unpacked → select the extension folder.

Chrome does not reload an unpacked extension when its files change. After pulling updates, click the reload icon on its card — the dashboard shows the version it sees, and a mismatch means the reload did not take.

Adding a new firm also means adding its host to host_permissions in extension/manifest.json and reloading. Without it the extension cannot read that site, and every step fails to locate.

2. Install the clicker

cd clicker
pip install -r requirements.txt

See clicker/README.md for the per-platform notes — display scaling and foreground lock both matter on Windows — and for the verification sequence to run before letting it click anything on a new machine.

3. Start the runner

python clicker\runner.py

Leave it running. It reports in every two seconds, and the dashboard greys out the automation buttons when it is not there. A running Python process does not reload when the source changes, so restart it after pulling updates; the dashboard warns when its version is behind.

Running it

Turn Page capture on from the AutoBuyer page, then press an automation's button. Progress appears per step, and Stop halts a run between steps.

The browser must be visible and frontmost while a run is in flight — the clicks are real OS-level input, so the machine cannot be used for anything else, and a dialog stealing focus fails the step. That makes an RDP session a poor host: disconnecting can suspend the desktop and break clicks in ways that are hard to diagnose.

Keeping it running (PM2)

Install PM2 globally:

npm install -g pm2
npm install -g pm2-windows-startup

Start the app and save the process list:

cd C:\path\to\autofirmer
pm2 start "npm start" --name autofirmer
pm2 save
pm2-startup install

To restart after pulling updates:

cd C:\path\to\autofirmer
git pull
npm install
npm run build
pm2 restart autofirmer

If the update touched the AutoBuyer, two things do not reload themselves:

• The extension — click reload on its card in chrome://extensions.
• The runner — stop it with Ctrl-C and start it again.

The dashboard reports the version it sees from each, and warns when either is behind. Most AutoBuyer bugs that look mysterious are one of these two still running the previous code.

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Firewall

To restrict port 3000 to a specific trusted IP only:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "AutoFirmer" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3000 -RemoteAddress <your-ip> -Action Allow

Or open it to all inbound (less secure):

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "AutoFirmer" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3000 -Action Allow

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Updating

cd C:\path\to\autofirmer
git pull
npm install       # only needed if dependencies changed
npm run build
pm2 restart autofirmer

If the update touched the AutoBuyer, two things do not reload themselves:

• The extension — click reload on its card in chrome://extensions.
• The runner — stop it with Ctrl-C and start it again.

The dashboard reports the version it sees from each, and warns when either is behind. Most AutoBuyer bugs that look mysterious are one of these two still running the previous code.