Quick Start | Build & Test your First Trading Robot
All you need is to add three (3) Lines of code to your existing Python project.
01: Import the VirtualMetaTrader5 class
from strategytester5.MetaTrader5.api import VirtualMetaTrader5
02: Assign the parent (MetaTrader5) initialized instance to the VirtulMetaTrader5 object
if not mt5.initialize():
raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to initialize mt5. Error = {mt5.last_error()}")
virtual_mt5 = VirtualMetaTrader5(parent_mt5=mt5)
Optional : Choosing the right MT5 instance
Since the VirtualMetaTrader5 object has similar methods and constants to MetaTrader5 API.
To keep all the code in a single file, introduce if statements to check for passed arguments from the script.
Rule of Thumb
For instance, if a user has passed --backtesting when calling the main script the script should use a simulated MetaTrader5 rather than the actual one.
script_argument = sys.argv[1:]
if "--backtesting" in script_argument:
mt5 = VirtualMetaTrader5(parent_mt5=parent_mt5) # Assign parent MetaTrader5 to the virtual MetaTrader5 class object
else:
mt5 = parent_mt5
Always use the virtual MetaTrader5 object for backtesting and visualization purposes and stick to the original one for live trading. That's all
03: Backtesting your Python Trading Strategies
To Backtest your trading systems call the function run_backtesting.
if "--backtesting" in script_argument:
stats = run_backtesting(
main_function=main,
tester_config=tester_config,
virtual_mt5=mt5,
logging_level=logging.DEBUG
)
else:
# run the script on the market (realtime)
while True:
main()
Tester Configurations
The so-called tester_config is supposed to be a dictionary with a set of key, and value pairs that resemble MetaTrader5's strategy tester section.
tester_config = {
"bot_name": "RSI Strategy Bot",
"symbols": ["EURUSD"],
"timeframe": "H1",
"start_date": "01.01.2026",
"end_date": "01.06.2026",
"modelling" : "open price only",
"deposit": 1000,
"leverage": "1:100"
}
Rule of Thumb
Storing tester configuration in a JSON file is the best way forward. It helps adjust the values without changing the original code :)
A complete Trading robot Example.
import logging
from strategytester5.MetaTrader5.api import VirtualMetaTrader5
from strategytester5.tester import run_backtesting
from strategytester5.trade_classes.Trade import CTrade
import MetaTrader5 as parent_mt5
import sys
if not parent_mt5.initialize():
raise RuntimeError(f"Failed to initialize mt5. Error = {parent_mt5.last_error()}")
script_argument = sys.argv[1:]
if "--backtesting" in script_argument:
mt5 = VirtualMetaTrader5(parent_mt5=parent_mt5) # Assign parent MetaTrader5 to the virtual MetaTrader5 class object
else:
mt5 = parent_mt5
# ---------------------- inputs/global variables ----------------------------
symbol = "EURUSD"
timeframe = mt5.TIMEFRAME_H1 # This should be an integer so you should convert timeframe in string into integer
MAGIC_NUMBER = 1001
# ---------------------------------------------------------
m_trade = CTrade(terminal=mt5, symbol=symbol, magic_number=MAGIC_NUMBER, deviation_points=100)
def pos_exists(magic: int, pos_type: int) -> bool:
"""Checks if position exists"""
positions_found = mt5.positions_get()
if positions_found:
for position in positions_found:
if position.type == pos_type and position.magic == magic:
return True
return False
def main(stop_loss: float=500,
take_profit: float=700
):
symbol_info = mt5.symbol_info(symbol) # Symbols information
if symbol_info is None:
return
pts = symbol_info.point
lot_size = symbol_info.volume_min # use the minimum volume (lot size)
ticks = mt5.symbol_info_tick(symbol)
if ticks is None:
return
ask = ticks.ask
bid = ticks.bid
# print(f"ask: {ask}, bid: {bid}, pts: {pts}")
if not pos_exists(magic=MAGIC_NUMBER, pos_type=mt5.POSITION_TYPE_BUY): # if a buy position doesn't exist
m_trade.buy(volume=lot_size,
price=ask,
sl=ask-stop_loss * pts,
tp=ask+take_profit * pts,
comment="Simple bot Buy Trade"
) # open a new buy position (trade)
if not pos_exists(magic=MAGIC_NUMBER, pos_type=mt5.POSITION_TYPE_SELL): # if a sell position doesn't exist
m_trade.sell(volume=lot_size,
price=bid,
sl=bid + stop_loss * pts,
tp=bid - take_profit * pts,
comment="Simple bot Sell Trade"
) # open a new sell position (trade)
tester_config = {
"bot_name": "RSI Strategy Bot",
"symbols": ["EURUSD"],
"timeframe": timeframe,
"start_date": "01.01.2026",
"end_date": "01.06.2026",
"modelling" : "1 minute ohlc",
"deposit": 1000,
"leverage": "1:100"
}
if "--backtesting" in script_argument:
stats = run_backtesting(
main_function=main,
tester_config=tester_config,
virtual_mt5=mt5,
logging_level=logging.DEBUG
)
else:
# run the script on the market (realtime)
while True:
main()
And that’s it: Calling a script with — backtesting will start backtesting (simulation) in the web browser.
python bot.py --backtesting
To backtest your strategies in MetaTrader5’s StrategyTester App, add visual_mode to tester configurations.
tester_config = {
"bot_name": "RSI Strategy Bot",
"symbols": ["EURUSD"],
"timeframe": timeframe,
"start_date": "01.01.2026",
"end_date": "01.06.2026",
"modelling" : "1 minute ohlc",
"deposit": 1000,
"leverage": "1:100",
"visual_mode": True
}
This time, when you run the script using the same command, backtesting will take place inside the MetaTrader5 App (terminal)🤯
More examples and Python files used in this article are found here: GitHub repo.