Get started

This tab takes you from an empty machine to a running API that answers for all ten brokers. It is written for someone who has the broker accounts and wants the system running, and it assumes no knowledge of how the project is built inside.

What you need before you start

The project runs on one Linux machine. The table below lists what that machine needs, and why each piece is there.

You need	Why
Python 3.14	The virtual environment in .venv is built with it, and every script in bin/ re-executes itself under .venv/bin/python
Docker with Compose	docker-compose.yml runs Redis, MongoDB and TimescaleDB, so none of them has to be installed on the host
Google Chrome and chromedriver	Zerodha and Shoonya log in by driving a headless Chrome through Selenium
The TA-Lib C library	The TA-Lib package in requirements.txt needs it to install
Accounts at the brokers you want to use	Every broker script logs in to a real account; there is no sandbox mode
Each broker's credentials, stored in MongoDB	The login code reads them from the settings collection, one document per broker
The repository at ~/Projects/unified_broker_interface	The systemd unit files point at that path

These are live trading accounts

Every script under bin/<broker>/ logs in to a real broker account. Logging in is harmless in itself, but at Zerodha each new login invalidates the token that every other running process holds. Read Sessions and logins before you run logins by hand.

The path through this tab

Setting the system up happens in a fixed order, because each step needs the one before it. The numbered list below is that order, and each page of this tab covers a part of it.

1. Install the software. You create the virtual environment, start the three data stores in Docker, and create the database tables. This is on Installation.
2. Configure it. You write the .env file that tells every script where the stores are, and you put each broker's credentials into MongoDB. This is on Configuration.
3. Bring it up for the first time. You log each broker in, download the day's instrument lists, start the broker and unified services, start the REST API and make your first calls. This is on First run.

The diagram below shows the same path, with the stores each step fills.

flowchart LR
    A["Install<br/>venv + Docker"] --> B["Create tables<br/>DDL runners"]
    B --> C["Configure<br/>.env + MongoDB settings"]
    C --> D["Log brokers in<br/>session/connect"]
    D --> E["Download instruments<br/>and map them"]
    E --> F["Start services<br/>broker + unified"]
    F --> G["Start the REST API<br/>first calls"]
    B -.-> PG[("TimescaleDB")]
    C -.-> MG[("MongoDB")]
    D -.-> MG
    E -.-> RD[("Redis")]
    F -.-> RD

The pages

Each card below opens one page of this tab.

• Installation

  ---

  The virtual environment, the three Docker containers, the database tables in the right order, the detail collections and the systemd units.

  Install it

• Configuration

  ---

  Every environment variable with its default and effect, and the MongoDB documents each broker needs.

  Configure it

• First run

  ---

  Bringing everything up for the first time, in order, with a checklist and your first API calls.

  Run it