# Getting started with Relay2Trade The whole first path for a new customer, step by step: creating your account, confirming your email, the demo day and choosing a plan, getting the app running, signing in MetaTrader 5 and Telegram, adding your first listener on Watch, a dry run, and switching to Auto. Each step links to the article with the details. ## Before you start Have these at hand. With them, nothing stops you on the way: - **A MetaTrader 5 account** at any broker, live or demo: the account number, its trading password and the exact server name your broker gave you. Start on a demo account; you can move to a live one whenever you like. - **Your Telegram account**, already a member of the signal groups or channels you want to copy, and your phone with Telegram on it. - **A device with a browser.** Any computer, tablet or phone works for the Desk. For running the app you choose between a VPS (set up from the Desk) and your own Windows PC or Linux machine. The whole set-up takes about ten minutes. What Relay2Trade is and the words used below: https://relay2trade.com/help/what-is-relay2trade.md. ## Step 1: Create your account 1. Open the Desk at relay2trade.com/control and choose "No account yet? Create one" (the website's "Get started" leads to the same form). The page is "Create your account". 2. Fill in the form: - "Name" and "Email". - "Password": "At least 12 characters. A few unrelated words work well." Leave your name, your email and the name Relay2Trade out of it; a password found in known data breaches is refused. - "Invite code (optional)": a code from someone who already uses Relay2Trade. While the invite offer runs, the form says what it gives you off your first monthly subscription payment. - "Coupon code (optional)": a code from a promotion. It applies once you confirm your email. - Tick "I agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy." - Optionally tick "Send me occasional product news and offers by email." 3. Press "Create account". **With Google:** on the Desk's "Sign in" page press "Continue with Google" instead. For a new account a short page "Almost done" opens. Check your name, accept the Terms and press "Open my account". Your email is already confirmed, so you can skip step 2. You can set a password later under Account → Security → "Sign-in methods". ## Step 2: Confirm your email 1. The page "Check your inbox" names the address the link went to. Open the email "Welcome: confirm your email" and press "Confirm email". 2. Press "Confirm my email". You go on to your Desk. The link is good for 30 minutes. If it has run out, log in and a new one is sent. If the email is not there after a minute, check your spam folder, or press "Resend the email". If you open the link on another device, it confirms your email all the same: go back to the Desk page where you opened your account, and it carries on by itself. Until your email is confirmed, the Desk shows "Check your inbox", and the app answers "Confirm your email address first: open the link we sent you." ## Step 3: Your demo day, or a plan A new account gets a demo day when it confirms its email: a full day of the Basic plan, with no bank card. It waits in your inventory and starts when your app is first signed in, so nothing of it is lost while you set things up. It includes "VPS: Quick install", a VPS created for you with the app already on it. The first time you open the Desk, the welcome guide "Welcome to the Relay2Trade Desk" walks you through. With a demo day it offers: - "Activate my demo day with the VPS now": the quickest way. It leads to "Create it now" (step 4). - "I want to buy a licence": it points you to the plans. - "I just want to look around": the guide steps aside. "Start the guide" brings it back; it is also in Help (the ? at the top) as "Welcome guide". **Choosing a plan.** In the Desk open Account → "Plan & billing". The plans are "7 days" (9.99 EUR), "Basic" (19.99 EUR a month), "Advanced" (34.99 EUR a month) and "Pro" (49.99 EUR a month), prices with VAT included; Basic, Advanced and Pro can also be paid yearly where offered. When you pick one and the VPS is offered, the Desk asks "Where should the app run?": "VPS: Quick install" adds the VPS beside your plan, "Your own device/VPS" takes the plan alone. You pay by card on Stripe's page, and your licence starts right after payment. A welcome or invite discount comes off by itself: nothing to type. Free time you still have (what is left of your demo day, free days) is added after the paid period. After the demo day, the 7-day plan is the cheapest way to keep testing. Plans, limits and billing: https://relay2trade.com/help/plans-licence-billing.md. ## Step 4: Choose where the app runs The app does the trading, and it trades only while it runs. The Desk shows "Get Relay2Trade running" with a card for each way: - **"VPS: Quick install"**: press "Create it now". Ready in under a minute, with the app signed in. Included in your demo day; a paid extra with a plan ("Add it to my plan"). - **"On a VPS in your own DigitalOcean account"**: press "Set it up" and follow the steps. About ten minutes, as you register at DigitalOcean and add a payment method there, and about 6 USD a month paid to DigitalOcean. - **"On a VPS or a Linux computer you already have"**: "Linux: get the command" (one command, pasted as root or with sudo) or "Windows: sign in with a code". - **"On your Windows computer"**: "Download the app", run the setup and sign in. It trades while that computer is on. On a Mac or with only a phone, choose a VPS. How to choose: https://relay2trade.com/help/where-the-app-runs.md. The details of each: https://relay2trade.com/help/vps-setup.md, https://relay2trade.com/help/installing-on-linux.md, https://relay2trade.com/help/installing-on-windows.md. ## Step 5: Sign the app in - **On a VPS set up from the Desk, or with the Linux command:** done for you. The app signs in by itself, and the Desk says "Your VPS is running the app. One thing is left: sign in to MetaTrader on it." - **On Windows:** the app opens relay2trade.com in your browser (or press "Sign in through the website" in the app); press "Continue to the app" there and the app signs itself in. Or type your email and password in the app (and the two-factor code if you turned it on), or use "Sign in with a code from the Desk". Your demo day starts at this moment, if it was still waiting. The Desk now shows "Three steps and it trades" ("Four steps and it trades" while no plan runs): "Your app is signed in", "MetaTrader is signed in", "Connect Telegram, then choose the chat to read" (once Telegram is connected: "A listener reads a chat"), and "A plan is running". "Walk me through it" starts the set-up tour. When every step is done the card says "All set. From here on your signals are traded for you." ## Step 6: Connect MetaTrader 5 1. In the Desk open Connections (or the Connections page in the app's window on Windows). 2. Type your broker's name or its server and choose your server from the list ("MetaTrader needs its exact name"). Enter the "Account number" and "Password", and press "Log in". 3. The app gives the profile a MetaTrader 5 of its own, logs in and attaches its trading bridge. This can take up to a minute. On Windows, if MetaTrader has never looked up your broker's server, the app shows "One thing only you can do": in MetaTrader choose File → Open an Account, type your broker's name or the server name, click "Find your company", wait until your broker appears, then click "Cancel". Then "Check again". Use the trading password, not the read-only investor password. Details and problems: https://relay2trade.com/help/connecting-metatrader.md. ## Step 7: Connect Telegram 1. In Connections, under Telegram, choose "Log in with a QR code" (recommended). 2. On your phone, open Telegram → Settings → Devices → "Link Desktop Device" and point the camera at the code. 3. If your Telegram account has a two-step password, type it to finish. Or log in with your phone number (under the QR button on a computer, first on a phone): type the number of your Telegram account and the code Telegram sends you. Telegram then lists a new device called Relay2Trade. Details: https://relay2trade.com/help/connecting-telegram.md. ## Step 8: Add your first listener, on Watch 1. In Connections, under "Listeners", press "+ Add" (the box is "Add a listener"). It shows once Telegram is connected. 2. "Search your chats" and pick your signal group or channel. For a group with topics, choose the topics where signals are posted. 3. Give it a "Name". 4. Under "How it trades", choose "Watch — record only". 5. Press "Add listener". On Watch the app reads every message and shows what it understood and what it would have done, and places nothing. Leave it there for a while and read each signal's story in Signals ("What happened"). Modes and listener settings: https://relay2trade.com/help/listeners-and-modes.md. ## Step 9: Set your limits Open Settings in the Desk. Not sure what to pick: press "Set up with a few questions". The app asks about your account and how much you want to risk, fills the settings in for you and shows what changes before anything is saved. Look at least at: - how big each signal is (a percentage of the account, an amount of money at risk, or fixed lots); - the most lots one signal may use and how many trades may be open at once; - a daily loss limit; - what happens with several take-profits; - whether a signal without a stop-loss is refused. "Restore default settings" puts everything back. See https://relay2trade.com/help/settings-overview.md and https://relay2trade.com/help/sizing-and-risk.md. ## Step 10: Try a dry run A dry run shows what a group would have done with your settings, placing nothing. 1. On the listener, press "Dry runs". 2. Press "Run it on the last … messages" (25 on the 7-day plan, 25 on Basic, 50 on Advanced, 100 on Pro). 3. Read the result: "Messages read", "Signals found", "Would trade", "Would skip" and "Replayed result", and each message with what would have happened. The app reads the chat, so it has to be running, with Telegram connected, the listener and trading on, and MetaTrader logged in to your broker. The run goes on if you close the window. Your plan sets how many dry runs you get a month. ## Step 11: Manual, then Auto When the readings match what you would have done yourself: 1. Open the listener and set it to "Manual — wait for my approval". Each signal now waits ten minutes for you to press "Trade it" or "Dismiss", in the Desk or in the app. 2. When you trust it, set it to "Auto — trade immediately". The Desk asks you to confirm: tick "I understand that orders will be placed on my account automatically, and that the results are my responsibility." and press "Turn on auto". Not sure yet: "Keep …" leaves it as it was. Your risk limits are the brake on every signal the app places. ## Step 12: Follow it from anywhere - In the Desk turn on "Notifications on this device": trades opened and closed, MetaTrader or Telegram down, signals waiting for you, and replies from support. - On a phone, install the Desk on the home screen, where it opens like an app: on Android, in the browser's menu choose "Install app" or "Add to Home screen"; on an iPhone or iPad, open the Desk in Safari, tap Share, then "Add to Home Screen". Proper Android and iOS apps with the Desk inside are coming soon. - The guided tours ("Set up", "A look around", "Progression") are in Help, the ? at the top. See https://relay2trade.com/help/the-desk-and-phone-app.md. ## If something goes wrong - **The confirmation email does not arrive.** It can take a minute; check your spam folder, then press "Resend the email". - **"This link no longer works".** A confirmation link is good for 30 minutes. Log in and a new one is sent. - **"We do not know this invite code."** Check it with the person who sent it, or leave the field empty. - **"Nothing shows here until your app runs."** Positions, Signals and Connections fill in once your app runs. Finish step 4 and step 5. - **"Your app is offline".** The app is closed, its computer is off, or its VPS is stopped. Start it again, or run it on a VPS. - **"No plan is running, so nothing is traded."** Your demo day ended or has not started. Choose a plan under Account → "Plan & billing". - **Signals arrive but nothing is traded.** Check, in this order: the listener is on Auto (Watch and Manual do not trade by themselves), trading is on for the profile, and none of your limits has been reached today. Each signal's story names the rule that stopped it. See https://relay2trade.com/help/why-a-signal-was-skipped.md. - **MetaTrader will not sign in.** Almost always the server name. Pick it from the list, or do the File → Open an Account step above. More: https://relay2trade.com/help/troubleshooting.md and the full setup guide at https://relay2trade.com/guide.