Bots

A bot (or bot instance) is a running deployment of a custom bot with specific configuration values. While a custom bot defines the trading logic and configuration schema, a bot instance is the actual execution of that logic with concrete parameters.

Relationship to Custom Bots

Custom bots and bot instances have a one-to-many relationship. A single custom bot can have multiple bot instances, each configured differently.

For example, consider a custom bot called sma-crossover that implements a simple moving average crossover strategy. You might deploy several bot instances from this template:

• One instance monitoring AAPL with a 5/20 period crossover
• Another instance monitoring MSFT with a 10/50 period crossover
• A third instance monitoring GOOGL with different parameters

Each instance runs independently with its own configuration, logs, and metrics.

Creating Bot Instances

Bot instances are created using the CLI with a JSON configuration file:

the0 bot deploy config.json

The configuration file specifies which custom bot to use and provides values for its configuration parameters:

{
  "name": "my-aapl-sma",
  "type": "realtime/sma-crossover",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "symbol": "AAPL",
  "short_period": 5,
  "long_period": 20
}

The type field follows the format {execution-model}/{custom-bot-name}, where execution model is either scheduled or realtime.

Managing Bot Instances

The CLI provides commands for managing bot instances throughout their lifecycle:

# List all bot instances
the0 bot list

# Update an instance's configuration
the0 bot update <bot_id> config.json

# View logs for an instance
the0 bot logs <bot_id>

# Delete an instance
the0 bot delete <bot_id>

Execution Behavior

How a bot instance executes depends on its type:

Scheduled bots run on a cron schedule. Each execution is independent—the bot starts, executes its logic, reports results, and exits. The scheduler triggers the next run according to the configured schedule.

Realtime bots run continuously until stopped. They typically contain an event loop that monitors prices, emits metrics, and executes trades based on conditions.

Related Topics

• Custom Bots - The templates that bot instances are created from
• Bot Deployment - The deployment process in detail
• Bot Commands - CLI reference for bot management