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A deployment is a running instance of your trading bot. Once activated, it evaluates your strategy’s signals on a schedule during market hours and places trades automatically — either in a paper (simulated) account or a connected live brokerage account.

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Deployment lifecycle

Saved Bot → Deploy → Configure → Create → Activate → Running → (Pause / Stop)
StatusWhat it means
createdDeployment exists but the trading engine has not started
runningBot is active and evaluating signals on schedule
pausedEngine is stopped; no new trades; positions remain open
stoppedPermanently ended; cannot be reactivated

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Execution venues

VenueDescription
Paper tradingSimulated funds via Alpaca paper account — no real money
Live tradingReal orders placed in your connected brokerage account via SnapTrade
Paper trading is available on all plans. Live trading requires a connected brokerage account and is available on the Elite plan.

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Execution frequency

Select how often the bot evaluates its signals. The engine runs at every scheduled interval during US market hours (9:30 AM – 4:00 PM ET, Monday–Friday).
FrequencyBars per dayBest for
1 min~390Scalping, intraday strategies
5 min~78Short-term intraday
15 min~26Intraday swing
30 min~13Swing trading
1 hour~7Trend following
Daily1Long-term trend / position trading

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Plan limits

PlanActive deployments
Free1
Pro5
Elite25

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Monitoring

The Deployment Monitor (accessible from the Deployments sidebar item) shows:
  • Real-time portfolio value and cash balance
  • Open positions with entry price, current price, and unrealized P&L
  • Complete trade history with timestamps
  • Live indicator values for every signal your strategy uses
  • Daily and total return metrics
See Paper trading and Live trading for full deployment guides.