Live Migration

Switch from virtual paper trading to live trading on Polymarket.

Virtual → Live Migration

PolySimulator is designed so your entire bot codebase works unchanged when switching from virtual (paper) trading to live (real-money) trading on Polymarket.

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Comparison

Aspect	Virtual Mode	Live Mode
Money at risk	None (simulated $1,000)	Real funds
Order execution	Local ledger	Polymarket CLOB
Market data	Real prices from Polymarket	Real prices from Polymarket
API surface	Full HFT API v1	Same endpoints
Settlement	Automatic on resolution	Polymarket blockchain

Live mode executes real trades with real money on Polymarket. Ensure your strategy is thoroughly tested in virtual mode before migrating.

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Migration Steps

1. Test thoroughly in virtual mode

   Run your bot through multiple market cycles. Verify:

   • Order placement works correctly
   • Error handling covers all edge cases
   • P&L tracking is accurate
   • WebSocket reconnection is stable
2. Get Polymarket API credentials

   Obtain your Polymarket CLOB API credentials:

   • API Key
   • API Secret
   • API Passphrase

   See Polymarket’s documentation for credential setup.

3. Update environment variables

   Change only the environment variables — no code changes required:

   # Before (virtual mode)
   TRADING_MODE=virtual
   
   # After (live mode)
   TRADING_MODE=live
   POLYMARKET_API_KEY=your_api_key
   POLYMARKET_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
   POLYMARKET_API_PASSPHRASE=your_api_passphrase
   
4. Use CLOB-compatible endpoint (optional)

   For bots already targeting the Polymarket CLOB API, use the CLOB compatibility endpoint which mirrors Polymarket’s schema:

   # PolySimulator CLOB-compat endpoint
   POST /v1/clob-compat/order
   
   # Same request body works on both:
   {
     "token_id": "71321045...",
     "side": "BUY",
     "price": "0.50",
     "size": "10"
   }
   

   This means you can swap only the base URL to switch between virtual and live:

   # Virtual
   BASE_URL = "https://api.polysimulator.com"
   
   # Live — same code, different URL
   BASE_URL = "https://clob.polymarket.com"
   
5. Verify with small orders

   Start with minimal order sizes to verify live execution:

   # Start with quantity=1 to verify connectivity
   place_order(market_id, "BUY", "Yes", quantity=1)
   

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CLOB Compatibility Layer

The CLOB-compat endpoint translates between PolySimulator’s virtual ledger and Polymarket’s CLOB schema:

PolySimulator Field	CLOB Field	Notes
market_id	token_id	Same underlying identifier
side	side	BUY / SELL
quantity	size	String numeric
price	price	0–1 range
order_type	type	market / limit / GTC / GTD

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Rollback

To return to virtual mode:

TRADING_MODE=virtual
# Remove or comment out Polymarket credentials
# POLYMARKET_API_KEY=...

Restart the API server and your bot resumes paper trading with the simulated balance.

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Checklist

• Bot tested across multiple market scenarios in virtual mode
• Error handling verified (network errors, rate limits, slippage)
• Polymarket API credentials obtained and secured
• Environment variables updated
• Initial live test with minimal order size
• Monitoring and alerting configured for live trading