Deribit Testnet: testing Autoview before you trade live
Deribit Testnet is a free, separate demo exchange with its own funds and its own markets, and Autoview connects to it exactly the way it connects to live Deribit. If you want to prove a new alert, a new command, or a whole new options or perpetuals strategy works before it touches real money, this is the account to connect first.
Testnet funds and markets are separate from mainnet. A Deribit Testnet account is a different account from your live Deribit account, with its own demo balance. Nothing you do on testnet moves real money, and nothing on testnet affects your live positions.
What Deribit Testnet is
Deribit runs a public testnet at test.deribit.com, a fully separate exchange environment with its own API endpoint. It mirrors live Deribit's order types, instrument naming, and account mechanics, but the balances are demo funds Deribit credits you, not real money, and the markets trade against other testnet users rather than the live order book. It exists so you can place real orders, see real fills, and confirm your automation behaves the way you expect, with nothing at risk.
On Autoview, this shows up as its own exchange connection, Deribit Testnet, priced at $0. It's a first-class connection, not a toggle on your live Deribit account -- you add it separately, with its own API key, and it runs alongside (or instead of) your live connection.
Register a Deribit Testnet account
Testnet accounts are separate from live Deribit accounts, so you register one on Deribit's own testnet site, not through Autoview: test.deribit.com. Deribit credits the account with demo funds automatically once it's created.
From there, generate an API key the same way you would on live Deribit: open the testnet site's API management page, create a key with trade permission (place, cancel, read balances and positions), and skip withdrawal permission -- testnet funds can't be withdrawn, so there's nothing to protect there, but it's still the right habit to carry over. Deribit's key has two halves, an Access Key and an Access Secret; copy both, since the secret is shown once.
Connect it to Autoview
In Autoview, add an account and choose Deribit Testnet from the exchange list rather than Deribit. Paste the values from the testnet site's API management page into the same two fields a live Deribit connection uses: Access Key and Access Secret. There's no passphrase, so those two fields are all you need. Run the connection test after saving -- it's read-only, so it checks that your key authenticates without placing or touching any order.
Sending commands: what changes, what doesn't
The command syntax is identical to live Deribit, including instrument naming: a perpetual still looks like BTC-PERPETUAL, a dated future like BTC-29DEC23, an option like BTC-29DEC23-30000-C, and spot like BTC_USDC. Every parameter on the Deribit 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=deribit for e=DERIBITTESTNET (or the equivalent e=DERIBIT-TESTNET):
| Live Deribit (extension) | Deribit Testnet (extension) |
|---|---|
e=deribit s=BTC-PERPETUAL b=buy t=limit p=-5% q=1 | e=DERIBITTESTNET s=BTC-PERPETUAL b=buy t=limit 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 a useful habit to keep even on demo funds, since it's the fastest way to confirm the resolved instrument and size look right before you check the order lands correctly on testnet.
One connection, not a split by market
Some exchanges split their testnet into separate connections for perpetuals and spot. Deribit doesn't -- Deribit Testnet is a single connection that trades perpetuals, dated futures, options, and spot, matching how live Deribit already works. You don't pick a market when you connect; you just use the matching instrument name in the command, the same way you would live.
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 Deribit, so a working testnet connection doesn't skip the setup steps on live Deribit. When you're ready, follow the getting started with Deribit 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.