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How to connect a bot to a prop platform
Once the bot works in a backtest, it has to send real orders to your prop account. There are three ways to do that and they are not equal in control, latency, or how much code you write. Pick the wrong one and you either fight the platform forever or build something the firm's rules do not allow. This is the landscape, with the firms that actually offer each.
I connect my own bot to a futures firm and run it live, so this is the practical version, including the rule that quietly gets accounts suspended.
Option 1: a real developer API
A genuine developer API gives you REST endpoints to send orders and a WebSocket feed to stream data straight from your own code. This is what you want for custom logic, where you care about control and latency. Among futures firms only two offer one: Topstep, through the TopstepX API powered by ProjectX, and Lucid Trading, through a custom interface in Python, Java, or C++ over Rithmic.
The catches are real. TopstepX is a separate subscription, around 29 dollars a month on top of the Combine, and it works on the evaluation and the paid Express Funded account but not on a Live Funded account. Lucid's API needs the firm's prior written approval before you go live. Both are worth it if you are writing your own logic rather than bolting onto a charting platform.
Option 2: a platform API
Most firms run on a charting or execution platform, and you automate through that platform's interface instead of the firm's own. Tradovate, Rithmic, and NinjaTrader are the common ones. Your bot talks to the platform, the platform talks to the firm. This is well-trodden ground with a lot of examples, and it is how the majority of automatable firms expect you to connect.
It is a little less direct than a dev API, and you inherit whatever the platform supports and however it rate-limits. For most strategies that is fine. Check which platform your firm actually clears trades on before you write a line, because a bot built for Tradovate does not drop onto a Rithmic-only firm.
Option 3: a TradingView bridge
If your strategy lives in TradingView as alerts, a bridge turns each alert into a real order on your prop account. TradersPost, CrossTrade, and PickMyTrade are the common ones. This is the fastest path to live for an alert-driven strategy and needs the least code, sometimes none. The limit is that you are forwarding alerts, not running custom bot logic, so anything stateful or latency-sensitive is a poor fit.
A bridge is also the route some firms restrict to. A few allow only alert-driven automation and nothing custom, so the bridge is not a shortcut there, it is the only door. Confirm the firm permits the bridge and the strategy, not just automation in general.
The local-versus-VPS rule that suspends accounts
Read where the firm requires the bot to run. Topstep, for one, requires its API automation to run locally on your own machine, and running it on a VPS can get the account suspended. Other firms are fine with a VPS and some expect it. This is not a detail you guess at, because the penalty is the account, not a warning.
The working connector code, the auth, the order routing, and the reconnection handling for when the feed drops mid-session is the part that takes real time to get right, so that cookbook is what I keep for the paid build doc. The choice of route above is the free part, and it is the decision that matters most. Check the automation page for which firm uses which platform and which offer a real API.
FAQ
Does Topstep allow automated trading?
Yes, through the TopstepX API powered by ProjectX, which exposes REST endpoints and a real-time WebSocket feed and supports automated strategies and EAs. Two catches: it is a separate subscription, around 29 dollars a month, and the bot has to run locally on your own machine rather than on a VPS. It works on the evaluation and the paid Express Funded account, but not on a Live Funded account.
Which futures prop firms have a real developer API?
Two. Topstep's TopstepX API, and Lucid Trading's custom interface in Python, Java, or C++ over Rithmic. The other firms automate through a platform API such as Tradovate, Rithmic, or NinjaTrader, or through a TradingView bridge like CrossTrade, PickMyTrade, or TradersPost.
Can I run my trading bot on a VPS?
It depends on the firm. Some allow or expect a VPS, but others require the bot to run locally on your own machine, and Topstep can suspend the account if its API automation runs on a VPS. Read the firm's rule before you deploy, because the penalty is the account rather than a warning.
Do I need to code to connect a bot through a TradingView bridge?
Often not much. A bridge like TradersPost, CrossTrade, or PickMyTrade turns a TradingView alert into an order with little or no code, which makes it the fastest route for an alert-driven strategy. The trade-off is that you are forwarding alerts, not running custom logic, so stateful or latency-sensitive strategies need a platform or developer API instead.