Alpaca API Mastery: Build Your First Trading Bot in Python

A hands-on, zero-fluff guide to automated trading. From API authentication to live execution. 100% Free.

4-6 hours

7 sections

Beginner friendly

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AlpacaTutorial

Python Trading Course

01_authentication.py

02_market_data.py

03_portfolio.py

04_order_execution.py

05_martingale_bot.py

Course Curriculum

Master automated trading step by step

Introduction & Setup

Getting started with Alpaca API

• Course overview

• Alpaca platform introduction

• Python environment setup

• Required libraries installation

• Project structure

• Paper trading account

Authentication

01_authentication.py

• Alpaca account setup

• API key configuration

• Environment variables

• Client initialization

• Authentication testing

• Secure credential management

Market Data

02_market_data.py

• Historical bars retrieval

• Real-time market streams

• Data preprocessing

• Price data analysis

• Market data formatting

• Data visualization

Portfolio Management

03_portfolio.py

• Account information

• Position tracking

• Buying power calculation

• Portfolio value

• Cash balance

• Portfolio performance metrics

Order Execution

04_order_execution.py

• Market orders

• Limit orders

• Position closing

• Order status tracking

• Error handling

• Order cancellation

Martingale Bot

05_martingale_bot.py

• Strategy implementation

• Risk management

• Position sizing

• Bot logic flow

• Live deployment

• Strategy backtesting

Advanced Topics & Best Practices

Production-ready trading systems

• Error handling strategies

• Logging and monitoring

• Performance optimization

• Testing strategies

• Security best practices

• Deployment considerations

Open Source & Community Driven

Access all code snippets, templates, and updates directly on GitHub. Join thousands of developers building trading systems.

Full source code access

Regular updates and improvements

Community discussions and support

View on GitHub

# alpaca_trading_bot.py
import
alpaca_trade_apias
tradeapi
import
pandasas
pd

# Initialize API connection

api = tradeapi.REST(
API_KEY,
SECRET_KEY,
base_url='https://paper-api.alpaca.markets'
)

if
rsi<30:
api.submit_order('AAPL', qty=10)