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Paper Trading with Futu OpenD

The Trading tab in the Streamlit dashboard lets you connect to a running Futu OpenD gateway and execute orders in paper (simulate) or live mode — directly from your backtest results.

Prerequisites

  1. Install Futu OpenD — download from futunn.com
  2. Launch Futu OpenD — open the desktop app and log in. The gateway must be running whenever you trade.
  3. Enable API access — in Futu OpenD settings, ensure the API server is enabled (default port: 11111).
  4. Set env vars in .env: 
    FUTU_HOST=127.0.0.1
FUTU_PORT=11111

Paper Trading Walkthrough

  1. Launch the dashboard: cd src && streamlit run app.py
  2. Go to the Trading tab
  3. Configure:
    • Futu Symbol — use Futu format: US.AAPL, US.WEAT, HK.00700
    • Quantity — number of shares per order
    • Paper Trading — toggle ON (enabled by default)
  4. Click Connect to Futu OpenD

Placing Orders

Manual orders:

  • Select Side (BUY/SELL), Type (MARKET/LIMIT), and optionally a Limit Price
  • Click Place Order — routes to Futu's paper trading environment

Strategy-driven orders:

  • Set Window and Signal parameters
  • Click Generate Signal & Execute — the dashboard runs the pipeline on latest data, reads the position signal, and places orders to match

From Python (without the dashboard)

from trade import FutuTrader

with FutuTrader(paper=True) as trader:
    result = trader.place_order("US.AAPL", 10, "BUY")
    print(result)

    print(trader.get_positions())

    trader.apply_signal("US.AAPL", signal_value=1, qty=10)  # go long

    trader.cancel_all_orders()

Tip

Futu's paper trading environment simulates realistic fills during market hours. Outside trading hours, market orders will queue until the next session opens.