CLI Commands Overview

Introduction to Hummingbot’s command-line interface and common usage patterns

Introduction

Hummingbot’s command-line interface (CLI) provides a comprehensive set of commands for managing your trading bot. The CLI allows you to configure strategies, monitor performance, manage exchange connections, and control bot operations.

Accessing the CLI

When you launch Hummingbot, you’ll be greeted with a command prompt:

>>>

From this prompt, you can enter any of the available commands. Type help all to see a complete list of commands.

Common Command Patterns

Interactive vs Direct Input

Most commands support two input modes:

1. Interactive Mode: Enter the command name alone, and Hummingbot will prompt you for required parameters
2. Direct Mode: Provide all parameters in a single command line

Interactive

connect
# Hummingbot will prompt: "Which exchange would you like to connect to?"

Command Options and Arguments

Many commands accept optional flags and arguments to modify their behavior:

history --days 7 --verbose
balance limit binance BTC 0.1

Essential Commands

create

Create a new strategy configuration

start

Start your trading bot

status

View bot status and performance

balance

Check exchange balances

Workflow Example

Here’s a typical workflow for setting up and running a bot:

1. Connect to Exchange

   connect binance
   

   Enter your API credentials when prompted.

2. Create Strategy

   create
   

   Follow the prompts to configure your strategy.

3. Check Status

   status
   

   Verify all connections and configurations are valid.

4. Start Trading

   start
   

   Begin executing your strategy.

Getting Help

For help with any command, use:

help <command>

For example:

help balance

You can use the Tab key for auto-completion of commands and parameters.

Thread Safety

Many commands include thread-safety checks to ensure they execute on the main thread. If called from another thread, they automatically redirect to the main event loop for safe execution.

Next Steps

Explore individual command documentation to learn about specific features and options:

• balance - Manage exchange balances and limits
• config - Configure global and strategy settings
• connect - Connect to exchanges
• create - Create strategy configurations
• start/stop - Control bot execution
• history - View trade history and performance
• status - Monitor bot status