Paper Mode Testing

Paper Mode Testing

Paper mode is Gridera’s built-in simulation environment. It runs your grid bot against live market data sin placing real orders or risking any capital. Piensa en it as a practice round that uses real prices but fake money.

How to Enable Paper Mode

Enabling paper mode requires a single configuration change. In tu bot’s YAML configuration file, set the dry run flag:

execution:
  dry_run: true

That is it. Every other setting in tu configuracion stays the same. El bot will start normally, connect to real price feeds, and run its full trading cycle. The only difference is that order placement goes a traves del simulation engine en lugar de the real exchange.

You tambien puede enable paper mode a traves del dashboard when creating or editing a bot configuration. Toggle the “Paper Mode” or “Dry Run” switch to on.

What Gets Simulated

Paper mode simulates the complete trading lifecycle:

Order placement: When el bot decides to place a orden de compra, the simulation records it as a virtual orden pendiente. No real order reaches el exchange.

Order fills: When the real market price reaches your virtual order’s price, the simulation marks it as filled. A buy at $95 fills when the real market price touches or drops below $95.

Take-profit orders: After a simulated buy fills, el bot places a simulated TP orden de venta at el siguiente nivel de grid. This fills when the real price rises to that level.

Position tracking: The simulation maintains a virtual account with tracked positions, margin usage, and available balance. These update with each simulated fill.

PnL calculation: Realized profit from completed round trips and PnL no realizado from open positions are calculated using real market prices, giving you accurate performance metrics.

What Is Not Simulated

Some real-world factors are not captured in paper mode:

Trading fees: The simulation may not apply the exact same fee structure as the live exchange. Siempre account for fees when evaluating paper mode results.

Slippage: In real markets, tu orden may fill at a slightly different price than specified, especially during fast moves. Paper mode fills at exactly la orden price.

Order book depth: Real orders compete with other traders for fills. Paper mode assumes tu orden always fills cuando el precio condition is met, independientemente de available liquidity.

Funding rates: Perpetual futures charge funding every 8 hours. Paper mode does not deduct these costs from your virtual balance.

What to Watch For

During your paper mode testing period, pay attention to these indicators:

Trade frequency: How many buy-sell round trips complete per day? If the answer is zero or one over several days, your grid spacing may be too wide or el precio may not be oscillating within your range.

PnL trajectory: Is la ganancia line trending upward? Flat or declining PnL suggests la configuracion is not capturing enough spread per trade to be profitable.

Grid utilization: How many of your nivel de grids have been touched? If only the top 3-4 levels see action, the lower levels are not contributing. Consider tightening your range or adjusting el grid low.

Grid break events: Did el precio exit your range during testing? If yes, note when and why. You may need a wider range or different grid break settings.

Maximum drawdown: What was the deepest unrealized loss during the test? This tells you the worst-case scenario deberias be prepared for when going live.

Recommended Testing Duration

Run paper mode for a minimum of 3-5 days. This duration should expose tu configuracion to:

• At least one significant price move (5%+ daily change).
• Multiple complete oscillation cycles within your grid.
• Different trading sessions (weekday vs weekend activity levels).
• Enough trades to judge frequency and profitability statistically.

If el mercado was unusually calm or unusually volatile during your test period, consider extending the test or running a second test period to get a more representative sample.

Evaluating Results

Despues der test period, review the following:

Total net profit: Subtract estimated fees (round-trip fee x number of completed trades) from the reported profit. Is el resultado still positive and meaningful?

Risk-reward ratio: Divide your drawdown maximo by total profit. A ratio below 2 is good. Above 5 means el riesgo may not justify the return.

Annualized return: Extrapolate your daily or weekly return to an annual figure. Does it meet your expectations? Recuerda that paper mode results tend to be 10-20% higher than live results.

Consistency: Were profits distributed evenly over the test period, or did one big day account for most of the gains? Consistent daily profits indicate a robust configuration.

Making Adjustments

If paper mode results are not satisfactory, adjust one parameter at a time and retest:

• Baja trade frequency: Tighten the range or add more nivel de grids.
• Baja profit per trade: Widen the spacing between levels.
• Frequent grid breaks: Widen the range or add more buffer.
• Large drawdowns: Reduce leverage or tamano de orden.

Changing multiple parameters simultaneously makes it impossible to know which change had which effect. Adjust one, test for 2-3 days, evaluate, and repeat.

Resumen

• Paper mode runs tu bot with real prices and simulated orders by setting dry_run: true in tu configuracion.
• It simulates order placement, fills, positions, and PnL but does not capture slippage, tasa de financiacions, or libro de ordenes competition.
• Test for 3-5 days minimum, then adjust one parameter at a time if results are not satisfactory.

Siguiente Paso

Learn how to read and use el dashboard in Dashboard Usage.