First Run
What happens the first time TigerTradeBot opens: the seeded admin sign-in, two-factor setup, a new password, license activation, and the main areas of the app.
This page walks through the first launch, so nothing is a surprise. You start with an empty installation and your own license; there’s no sample data.
1. Sign in with the seeded admin account
A fresh installation creates one administrator account:
| Install | Username | Password |
|---|---|---|
| macOS app | admin | tigertradebot |
| Windows, Linux and portable bundles | admin | admin |
The default password only works until you change it, which the next steps make you do.
Note: If you’re moving from another computer, the sign-in screen of a fresh installation offers Already have a backup from another machine? so you can restore your data before signing in.
2. Set up two-step sign-in
Two-step sign-in is required for every account. Scan the QR code with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, 1Password, or similar), type the 6-digit code, and save the backup codes somewhere safe. After setup you can also add a hardware security key as a second factor.
3. Choose your own password
TigerTradeBot asks for a new password before going further. The default password stops working as soon as you set yours.
4. Activate your license
Until a license is installed, the app shows the Activate TigerTradeBot screen and nothing else works.
- Under Get your license, enter the email address your license was issued to.
- Choose Send approval link. Open the email on any device and approve the request within 15 minutes.
- The app installs your license and unlocks.
If you haven’t got a license yet, the same screen can start a paper-trading trial for an email address that has never held a TigerTradeBot license. Each email gets one, ever.
TigerTradeBot checks the license with the license server when it starts and then once a day. If the server can’t be reached during a daily check, it keeps running for a 6-hour grace period without opening new trades, then stops. An expired license stops the app until you renew.
5. Find your way around
The left navigation groups the app’s pages. The ones you’ll use first:
- Dashboard: your bot’s mode (PAPER MODE or LIVE MODE), equity, positions and recent activity.
- Instances (admin): create and start bot instances. Each instance has its own settings and its own mode.
- Strategies, Strategy Designer and Strategy Lab: choose, build and test strategies.
- Positions, Orders and Portfolio: what’s open, what’s working, and the portfolio-level risk console with the kill switch.
- AI Copilot and Local LLM: the AI assistant and its local model setup.
- Trade Journal, Performance Reports, Taxes and Exports: reporting.
- Settings (admin): broker credentials, AI providers and every instance setting.
- Logs: the activity log. If anything surprises you, look here first.
New instances start in Paper mode, so nothing you do during setup can place a real order. A free paper-trading license keeps every instance in Paper mode for its whole term.
Next: Paper trading.