Tradovate Sim account: testing Autoview before you trade live
Before anything else: Tradovate gates API Access, the add-on that lets Autoview (or any external tool) place orders at all, behind a live, funded Tradovate brokerage account holding at least $1,000 -- even if every order you place afterward stays in Simulation. That's Tradovate's own account-eligibility rule, not Autoview's, and it applies to Sim credentials the same as live ones. If you haven't cleared that bar yet, read the section below before you register or connect anything.
The one catch: Sim still needs a funded live account. There is no way around this on Autoview's side -- it's a Tradovate account-tier requirement, enforced before a key is ever issued, not something Autoview's exchange config or integration code touches.
- API Access and the $1,000 eligibility gate
- Brokerage Sim vs. prop-firm simulation
- What Tradovate Sim is
- Get a Simulation account
- Connect it to Autoview
- Sending commands: what changes, what doesn't
- What a Sim order and close actually look like
- Resetting your Sim balance
- Once Sim looks right, and the risks of moving to live
API Access and the $1,000 eligibility gate
This is the part that trips people up, and it's worth reading before you start: Tradovate's API Access add-on only unlocks once you've funded a live Tradovate account with at least $1,000. That requirement applies even if you have zero intention of ever trading live and only want to automate Simulation. You have to clear that bar first to generate any API key, Sim included. Tradovate doesn't say what happens if your balance falls under $1,000 after you subscribe, so ask Tradovate support before you withdraw.
Account eligibility matters here too, and it's a separate question from the $1,000 minimum: the key you generate has to come from an actual Tradovate brokerage account, live or Sim. A prop-firm evaluation or funded account is a different account type, and Tradovate users on Tradovate's own community forum report that prop firms disable personal API keys on eval and funded Tradovate accounts (community.tradovate.com, checked 2026-09-11) -- so an eval or funded prop account is not a path to connecting Autoview directly, Sim included. More on that distinction below.
Brokerage Sim vs. prop-firm simulation
These two get confused because both trade fake money against Tradovate's platform, but they aren't the same product, and Autoview only connects to one of them.
- Tradovate's own Sim (brokerage Simulation) is a demo account under your own Tradovate brokerage login, funded with demo money Tradovate credits you, using the exact same order-placement code and the same API as live Tradovate. This is what this page, and Autoview's Tradovate Sim connection, are about.
- Prop-firm simulation is a funded-trader-challenge account, offered through a prop firm and often running on Tradovate's platform under the hood, but governed by that firm's own evaluation rules (profit targets, daily loss limits, trailing drawdown) rather than a personal brokerage account. Passing the challenge can move you into a funded payout account, but it's still the firm's account, not your own Tradovate brokerage account.
The practical difference for Autoview: a personal API key from your own funded live Tradovate brokerage account works for both Live and Sim once issued. A prop-firm eval or funded account generally does not give you that key -- per the community reports above, prop firms disable personal API access on those account types. If you're trading a prop-firm challenge, check with that firm directly about whether and how they support external automation; it isn't the same setup as connecting Tradovate Sim on this page.
What Tradovate Sim is
Tradovate Simulation is a first-class connection on Autoview, separate from live Tradovate, priced at $0. It isn't a stripped-down copy of the live integration -- the Sim connection literally wraps the same order-placement function live Tradovate calls, and only swaps two things: the API endpoint (Tradovate's demo host instead of its live one) and the exchange aliases you reference it by. Every parameter, every order type, every bracket shape documented on the Tradovate command reference behaves identically on Sim.
Tradovate credits a Simulation account with demo funds automatically. Orders fill against Tradovate's real market data and matching engine, so fills and rejections behave like a live account would -- only the money isn't real.
Get a Simulation account
If you don't already have a Tradovate account, sign up at tradovate.com/signup and create a free Simulation account at demo.tradovate.com to practice with before you touch the funded-account requirement above.
Generating an API key is the same process either way: fund a live account with at least $1,000, subscribe to API Access under Application Settings, then generate a key -- you'll get a CID and a Secret, usable for both Live and Simulation once issued. The Connect Tradovate guide's Step 2 walks through that flow in full; this page doesn't repeat it.
Connect it to Autoview
In Autoview, add an account and choose Tradovate Simulation from the exchange list rather than Tradovate. It takes the same four credentials as live Tradovate: your Tradovate Username and Password (the same ones you sign in with), plus the CID and Secret from the API key you generated above.
Save, then run the connection test. It's read-only -- it calls Tradovate's /v1/auth/accesstokenrequest endpoint to confirm your four credentials, and follows up with a read-only account list. It places no orders.
Sending commands: what changes, what doesn't
Command syntax is identical to live Tradovate: same symbol format (front-month futures contract names like ESZ5), same b=/q=/t= parameters, same bracket and OCO shapes. Only the account and the money behind it differ. The full parameter table lives on the Tradovate command reference; the cheat sheet has copy-ready lines for each order type.
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=tradovate for e=TRADOVATESIM (or the equivalent e=TRADOVATE-SIM):
| Live Tradovate (extension) | Tradovate Sim (extension) |
|---|---|
e=tradovate s=ESZ5 b=buy t=market q=1 | e=TRADOVATESIM s=ESZ5 b=buy t=market q=1 |
Add d=1 to any command first, on Sim the same as live, and Autoview parses it and reports what it would have done without placing anything.
What a Sim order and close actually look like
This isn't a hypothetical walkthrough. Autoview's internal verification harness runs the same execution code this connection uses, directly against Tradovate's demo API, and one of its logged runs traces a full order-and-close cycle on Sim:
- A dry run first resolved the real account (
46569848) and the contract (ESM6to internal id3570919) before anything was placed. - A live paper market buy order then filled: the
trade_livecall returned HTTP 200 with order id463970230092. - A
close_positioncall flattened it: theliquidate_livecall returned HTTP 200 with the message"Canceled and closed All on ESM6". - A follow-up order check confirmed nothing was left open:
"No open orders."
Every step of that ran against Tradovate's demo endpoint (demo.tradovateapi.com), never live Tradovate -- this confirms the order-and-close path works end to end on Sim, not that live fills behave identically (see the migration risks below).
Resetting your Sim balance
Changing or resetting a Simulation account's balance is a Tradovate account setting -- Autoview only reads whatever balance Tradovate reports when a command runs, and has no control over it. Tradovate publishes their own support article on changing a demo balance; check Tradovate's account settings or their help center directly, since the exact steps live entirely on their side.
One thing worth knowing before you build a long track record on Sim: Tradovate's own community forum has at least one report of a Simulation balance resetting unexpectedly, with no documented cause given. Treat Sim as a place to prove command syntax and alert wiring, not as a permanent paper-trading ledger.
Once Sim looks right, and the risks of moving to live
Sim proves your command syntax and your alert wiring, not your live account's credentials -- those are separate on Tradovate, so a working Sim connection doesn't skip the setup steps on live Tradovate. When you're ready, the Connect Tradovate guide walks through the live side: the same $1,000-funded-account step you've likely already cleared, generating (or reusing) your API key, and running a small real test order.
Moving from Sim to live isn't a flag you flip; a few concrete things change, and it's worth knowing them before you send the first live order:
- A separate live connection. Sim and live Tradovate are different Autoview connections pointed at different Tradovate endpoints (
demo.tradovateapi.comversuslive.tradovateapi.com). You add live Tradovate as its own account in Autoview. - Real funding behind the same $1,000 gate. The $1,000-funded live account and API Access subscription described above aren't a one-time formality; that's the actual account your live orders will trade against, with real money at risk from the first fill.
- Fills won't necessarily match. This is a reasoned inference, not a documented Tradovate claim: Tradovate's Simulation matches orders against real market data, but a demo matching engine still isn't a live order book absorbing your order alongside every other live participant. Slippage, partial fills, and rejection behavior on live Tradovate can differ from what the same command produced on Sim, especially in fast markets or on less liquid contracts. A clean Sim fill, including the order-and-close cycle traced above, is good evidence your command is built correctly. It isn't a guarantee live execution will look identical.