> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.joinmobius.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Paper trading: deploy and monitor a Mobius bot

> Deploy your Mobius strategy to a risk-free paper trading account and monitor real-time portfolio value, trades, and indicator signals live.

Paper trading runs your strategy against live market data using simulated funds — no real money is ever at risk. Each Mobius account gets an isolated Alpaca paper trading account, so your results are completely separate from anyone else's. You can deploy any saved bot, run it at a scheduled frequency, and monitor performance in real time through the Deployment Monitor.

<Note>
  Paper trading uses simulated money. No real funds are at risk.
</Note>

## Deploy a bot to paper trading

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open a saved bot">
    Navigate to **My Bots** in the left sidebar and open the bot you want to deploy. The bot must be saved before you can deploy it. If you haven't run a backtest yet, complete one to verify the strategy behaves as expected.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Deploy">
    Click the **Deploy** button on the bot detail page. This opens the deployment configuration panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select Paper Trading">
    Make sure **Paper Trading** is selected as the execution venue. This is the default.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose an execution frequency">
    Select how often the bot evaluates its signals: **1 min**, **5 min**, **15 min**, **30 min**, **1 hour**, or **Daily**. Match this to the bar frequency used in your backtest.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Create Deployment">
    The deployment is created with a `created` status. The trading engine has not started yet.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Activate">
    On the deployment detail page, click **Activate** to start the live engine. The bot will begin evaluating signals at every scheduled interval during market hours.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm running status">
    The deployment status updates to `running` and the Deployment Monitor begins populating with live data.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Execution frequency guide

| Frequency | Best for            | Max backtest period |
| --------- | ------------------- | ------------------- |
| 1 min     | Scalping, intraday  | 30 days             |
| 5 min     | Short-term intraday | 180 days            |
| 15 min    | Swing intraday      | 2 years             |
| 30 min    | Swing               | 3 years             |
| 1 hour    | Swing / trend       | 5 years             |
| Daily     | Long-term trend     | 5 years             |

## Monitor performance

The **Deployment Monitor** dashboard gives you a live view of your bot's activity and portfolio health.

**Portfolio metrics:**

* **Portfolio value** — total account value (cash + positions)
* **Cash** — uninvested balance available for new trades
* **Positions value** — current market value of all open positions
* **Total return %** — cumulative return since deployment started
* **Daily P\&L** — profit or loss for the current trading day
* **Unrealized P\&L** — gain or loss on open positions at current prices
* **Realized P\&L** — gain or loss on all closed positions

**Trade history:** Every executed trade is logged with entry and exit details — asset, side (buy/sell), quantity, price, and timestamp.

**Live indicator values:** See the current value of every technical indicator your strategy uses, updated in real time since the deploy date.

**Open positions:** Current holdings with entry price, current price, quantity, and unrealized P\&L per position.

## Pause and resume

Use **Pause** to temporarily stop new trades without ending the deployment. Existing positions remain open and unaffected. Click **Resume** to restart the engine — the bot picks up at the next scheduled interval.

## Stop a deployment

Click **Stop** to permanently end a deployment. The bot will not run again and cannot be reactivated.

When stopping, you can optionally **close all open positions** — this instructs the paper account to sell all current holdings at market price. If you leave this option off, open positions remain in your paper account but are no longer managed by the bot.

<Warning>
  Stopping a deployment is permanent. Use **Pause** if you want to take a break and resume later.
</Warning>

To stop all running deployments at once (for example, during unusual market conditions), use the **Stop All** option in the Deployments panel.

## Plan limits

| Plan  | Active deployments |
| ----- | ------------------ |
| Free  | 1                  |
| Pro   | 5                  |
| Elite | 25                 |

To run more deployments simultaneously, upgrade your plan in **Settings → Billing**.