Mt5 Trading

MetaTrader 5 Python Algotrading

Knowledge base for building production-grade algorithmic trading systems with MetaTrader 5 Python API.

When to Use

• Connecting to MT5 terminal via the official Python API
• Building polling-based event systems (ontick, onnewcandle, onposition)
• Executing orders with correct fill modes (FOK, IOC, Return)
• Downloading historical data (copyrates, copyticks)
• Handling MT5 disconnections and terminal restarts
• Deploying MT5 bots on Windows with process monitoring
• Choosing between official API, aiomql, and ZeroMQ bridge

Quick Start

For 80% of use cases, start with:

1. Library: pip install MetaTrader5 (official) or pip install aiomql (async wrapper)
2. Connection: mt5.initialize(path=..., login=..., server=..., password=...)
3. Event system: polling loop with candle/tick/position change detection
4. Orders: order_check() before order_send(), always detect fill mode dynamically
5. Risk: server-side SL/TP on every position (non-negotiable)
6. Resilience: health check every 30-60s, psutil process monitoring, exponential backoff

Then harden incrementally:

• Silent errors -- wrap every API call with None check + last_error()
• Fill mode rejections (10030) -- dynamic filling_mode detection per symbol
• Terminal crashes -- psutil watchdog + subprocess restart
• Weekend handling -- datetime.weekday() sleep mode

Reference Materials

• api-architecture.md -- MT5 Python API architecture, 32 functions, named pipes IPC, MQL5 EA vs Python, library comparison
• event-system-polling.md -- polling patterns, new candle detection, tick monitoring, position tracking, concurrency rules
• order-execution.md -- order_send, fill modes (FOK/IOC/Return), hedging vs netting, retcodes, risk checks, magic numbers
• data-feed-historical.md -- copyrates, copyticks, depth, timezone caveats, caching, data quality, broker differences
• production-resilience.md -- disconnection handling, reconnection, weekend management, Windows deployment, community resources

Key Decision Points

| Decision | Default | Upgrade When | |----------|---------|-------------| | Library | Official MetaTrader5 | Need async: aiomql. Need true streaming: ZeroMQ bridge | | Event model | Polling (1-5s interval) | Tick-sensitive: poll 100-250ms. True events: ZeroMQ EA bridge | | Fill mode | Detect dynamically per symbol | Never hardcode -- changes between brokers/symbols | | Account mode | Hedging (most forex brokers) | Check accountinfo().marginmode at startup | | Data caching | Parquet + Zstandard | Tick data -- partition by day/month | | Concurrency | asyncio (single thread) | Multi-account -- separate processes per terminal | | Backtesting | Python framework (Backtrader, Backtesting.py) | Need MT5 tester -- MQL5 EA wrapper | | SL/TP | Server-side always | Python trailing only as supplement, never as sole protection |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: acaprino
• Source: acaprino/claude-code-daodan
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.