BitMEX Testnet: testing Autoview before you trade live
BitMEX Testnet is a free, separate demo exchange with its own funds and its own order book, and Autoview connects to it exactly the way it connects to live BitMEX. If you want to prove a new alert, a new command, or a whole new strategy works before it touches real money, this is the account to connect first.
Testnet funds and markets are separate from mainnet. A BitMEX Testnet account is a different account from your live BitMEX account, with its own demo balance. Nothing you do on testnet moves real money, and nothing on testnet touches your live positions.
What BitMEX Testnet is
BitMEX runs a full parallel exchange at testnet.bitmex.com, a separate environment with its own API endpoint. It mirrors live BitMEX's order types, instrument codes, and account mechanics, but the balances are demo funds BitMEX credits you, not real money, and orders match against other testnet users rather than the live order book. It exists so you can place a real order, see a real fill, and confirm your automation behaves the way you expect, with nothing at risk.
On Autoview, this shows up as its own exchange connection, BitMEX Testnet, priced at $0. It's a first-class connection, not a toggle on your live BitMEX account -- you add it separately, with its own API key, and it runs alongside (or instead of) your live connection.
Register a BitMEX Testnet account
Testnet accounts are separate from live BitMEX accounts, so you register one on BitMEX's own testnet site, not through Autoview: testnet.bitmex.com. BitMEX credits the account with demo funds automatically once it's created.
From there, generate an API key the same way you would on live BitMEX: open Account > API Keys on the testnet site, create a key with order permission (so Autoview can place and cancel orders and read your balances and positions), and skip withdrawal permission -- testnet funds can't be withdrawn, so there's nothing to protect there, but it's still the right habit to carry over. BitMEX calls the two pieces you'll paste into Autoview ID and Secret; copy both somewhere safe, since BitMEX doesn't show the Secret to you twice.
Connect it to Autoview
In Autoview, add an account and choose BitMEX Testnet from the exchange list rather than BitMEX. Paste the ID and Secret from the testnet site's API management page into the same two fields a live BitMEX connection uses. Run the connection test after saving -- it's read-only, so it checks that your key authenticates without placing or touching any order.
Make sure you're adding it as BitMEX Testnet, not BitMEX. They're two separate connections in Autoview, matching the two separate accounts on BitMEX's side, and credentials from one don't work on the other.
Sending commands: what changes, what doesn't
The command syntax is identical to live BitMEX, including the instrument codes -- BitMEX names Bitcoin XBT rather than BTC, on testnet the same as live. Every parameter on the BitMEX getting-started guide works the same way on testnet. Only the account differs.
The one thing that changes is how the Chrome extension picks the exchange. On the webhook platform, a webhook is already tied to whichever account you connected it to, so you never set an exchange in the command itself. On the extension, swap e=bitmex for e=BITMEXTESTNET (or the equivalent e=BITMEX-TESTNET):
| Live BitMEX (extension) | BitMEX Testnet (extension) |
|---|---|
e=bitmex s=XBTUSD b=buy p=-5% q=1 | e=BITMEXTESTNET s=XBTUSD b=buy p=-5% q=1 |
Add d=1 to any command first, on testnet the same as live, and Autoview parses it and reports what it would have done without placing anything. It's worth keeping the habit even on demo funds, since it's the fastest way to confirm the resolved symbol and size look right before you check the order lands correctly on testnet.
One BitMEX quirk carries over unchanged from live: BitMEX places one order per alert, so an entry with a stop-loss or take-profit attached in the same command doesn't bracket together the way it does on some other exchanges. Send the entry in one alert and the stop or target in its own separate alert. The getting-started guide's "One BitMEX quirk" section covers this in full, including how trailing stops don't share the limitation.
Once testnet looks right
Testnet proves your command syntax and your alert wiring, not your live account's credentials or permissions -- those are separate on BitMEX, so a working testnet connection doesn't skip the setup steps on live BitMEX. When you're ready, follow the getting started with BitMEX guide to connect your live account, generate a live API key, and run the same dry-run-then-live check with real funds at a small size.