How to start algo trading in India without coding

You do not need to write code to run rule-based strategies on your own account. You need four things, one phone call, and a willingness to leave it alone for a quarter.

The four things

Creating the API key

Every broker's portal differs in detail but the shape is the same: enable API access, create an "app", set the redirect URL the platform gives you, and note the key and secret shown once. Grant order placement and portfolio read; do not grant fund transfer. Share the key over the platform's secure form, never by chat. Broker-by-broker screenshots are in the onboarding toolkit.

Setting capital and risk

This is the call that matters. You decide the capital the strategies may use, the maximum drawdown you accept before everything is cut back, which strategy families run, and whether to start in paper mode. Get it in writing. With Firefly that write-up is the first document in your account.

The first month

Small sizes for the first week or two, visible in your broker app with stops attached. A check-in call in week one. Sizes step up as you get comfortable. At month end, a statement: every trade, the rule behind it, the net result after costs, and — only if that result is positive — the bill.

Three things to avoid

• Trading manually on the same account. Your positions compete with the strategies for margin and can trip the risk limits. Use a separate account for discretionary trades.
• Judging by week. A rule set is evaluated over months. If you will need to check daily, start with Signals instead, which is built for that.
• Believing a return figure. Ask for the full trade log and its worst month. If a platform will not show it, do not start.

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Fintrens Technologies Pvt Ltd is not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst. This guide is general information, not advice; trading involves risk of loss.