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Alpaca in 10 minutes: create your practice account and connect your keys

3 min read

Alpaca is a US broker with a rare trait: it was built to be connected to software (API-first) and offers free practice accounts with real market data. That's why Kamla works with it. This guide gets your account created and connected in about 10 minutes.

Step 1: Create the account (3 min)

  1. Go to alpaca.markets and sign up with your email.
  2. Confirm your email. To use paper trading (practice) only, you don't need to deposit anything or complete full identity verification.
  3. In the dashboard, make sure you're in Paper mode (the selector at the top, the practice environment, with a simulated $100,000 balance).

Step 2: Generate the API keys (2 min)

  1. In the Paper dashboard, look for "API Keys" in the right sidebar.
  2. Click Generate (or "Regenerate" if keys already exist).
  3. You'll get two strings: API Key ID (starts with "PK...") and Secret Key. The secret is shown only ONCE: copy both to a safe place.

Security note: paper keys only trade simulated money, and Alpaca keys never allow withdrawals, only trading and reading. Even so, treat them like a password.

Step 3: Connect to Kamla (2 min)

  1. In Kamla, go to Settings → Brokers → Alpaca (or "Connect broker" during onboarding).
  2. Paste the API Key and Secret Key, give the account a name, and confirm.
  3. Kamla validates the keys on the spot, stores them encrypted, and from then on auto-execution is active: the brain applies the daily decision to your practice account, sized to your risk profile.

Step 4: Check that everything is healthy (3 min)

  • In the Kamla dashboard: the account shows up with its balance (~$100,000) and the auto-execution status.
  • In the Alpaca dashboard: under "Orders" you'll see Kamla's orders when the cycle runs (weekdays, after the US market opens).
  • The kill switch is in the settings, one tap pauses everything. And you can revoke the keys on Alpaca at any time: you're always in control.

Quick questions

Does it cost anything? Alpaca's paper account is free. Is it real money? No, it's practice: zero risk while you evaluate the system. Can I turn it off whenever I want? Yes: kill switch in the app or revoke the keys on Alpaca.

Ready to watch the brain work on your practice account? Create your Kamla account at kamla.ai, the trial is 7 days.