alpha-arena/QUICKSTART.md

Quick Start Guide

Your daily reference for Alpha Arena commands.

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Essential Commands

Start

./alpha start

Starts the server in the background. You'll get a macOS notification when it's ready.

Stop

./alpha stop

Graceful shutdown with notification.

Status

./alpha status

Shows if running, the URL, and health status.

Logs

./alpha logs

Watch live server logs. Press Ctrl+C to exit.

Open Web UI

./alpha open

Opens http://localhost:8000 in your browser (starts server if needed).

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All Commands

Command	Description
./alpha start	Start in background, notify when ready
./alpha stop	Stop gracefully, notify when stopped
./alpha restart	Stop then start
./alpha status	Show running status and URL
./alpha logs	Watch live logs (Ctrl+C to exit)
./alpha open	Open web UI in browser
./alpha test	Run all tests
./alpha check	Run system diagnostics
./alpha help	Show all commands

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Web Interface

Once started, open: http://localhost:8000

Page	What it does
Dashboard	Live P&L, positions, system status
Trading	Start/stop trading, simulation/live modes
Positions	View and manage open positions
Markets	Browse Polymarket markets
Wallet Analysis	Analyze any wallet's strategy
Agents	Monitor AI agent status
Risk	Configure limits and kill switch
Config	All system settings
Logs	Decision logs and metrics

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Notifications

You'll get macOS notifications when:

• Server starts successfully
• Server stops
• Errors occur

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Environment Variables

Override defaults without editing config:

# Change port
ALPHA_PORT=9000 ./alpha start

# Change host (for network access)
ALPHA_HOST=0.0.0.0 ./alpha start

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Menu Bar App (macOS)

For a native macOS experience, use the menu bar app instead of terminal commands.

# Build and install to /Applications
cd macos-app && ./build.sh install

Features:

• One-click start/stop from menu bar
• Real-time P&L updates via WebSocket
• Native macOS notifications
• Network mode toggle (localhost/LAN)

See docs/MACOS_APP_MANUAL.md for full documentation.

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Auto-Start at Login

To have Alpha Arena start automatically when you log in:

./scripts/install-autostart.sh

To remove auto-start:

./scripts/install-autostart.sh remove

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Testing

# Run all tests
./alpha test

# Or use the test script directly
./scripts/test.sh          # All tests
./scripts/test.sh unit     # Unit tests only
./scripts/test.sh api      # API tests only
./scripts/test.sh e2e      # End-to-end tests
./scripts/test.sh coverage # With coverage report

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First-Time Setup

If ./alpha start says setup is needed:

./scripts/setup.sh

Then add your API keys to .env:

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...

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Troubleshooting

Server won't start

./scripts/check.sh --fix

Check what's running

./alpha status

See error details

./alpha logs

Reset everything

./alpha stop
rm -rf .venv
./scripts/setup.sh
./alpha start

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Next Steps

• docs/WEB_APP_MANUAL.md - Full web interface guide
• docs/USER_MANUAL.md - Complete CLI and API reference
• docs/TESTING.md - Testing guide