4 · Verify and go live

Installed the starter before 2 November 2026?

Update it to the current main of hive-trade/bots before any live run. Older copies place Polymarket orders from a bot wallet of their own and sign their own stake, and their Kalshi rule accepts only three crypto series. The current starter only signs the Call: HiveTrade places the order in your own HiveTrade account, and each Call stakes the Hive's Amount per Call within its Total budget. Never work around an API refusal by placing a local order.

From the public starter repository, run:

npm run check
npm test
npm start

Keep BOT_LIVE_TRADING_ENABLED=false for npm start. It reads public market data and prints either SKIP or a DRY RUN decision. Check the exact market, side and price ceiling. The bot sends no amount: each Call stakes the Hive's Amount per Call. A dry run submits no intent, order or fill report, so it does not check the Hive's mode either: on Polymarket, a live run first checks that the Hive trades from your own HiveTrade account, and stops if it does not.

A dry run does not validate funding, credentials, approvals or a real fill. Check the registered signing address, Hive ID, selected venue and its account setup separately. Check the bot's Amount per Call and Total budget in Hive HQ, and on Polymarket that the account cash available to that bot covers its order, including cash held for its own budget and accounting for your other budgets; see execution modes.

When you intend to trade

Set BOT_LIVE_TRADING_ENABLED=true and run once. This can place real orders and trigger Member copies. Check both the venue receipt and corresponding Hive Call. An order ID or accepted request alone does not prove a fill.

The journal in STATE_DIR records live attempts before sending them. If an outcome is uncertain, the runner stops and blocks further attempts. Do not clear the journal or send another order to compensate. Follow the public repository's recovery guide.

A Polymarket Call settles in your own HiveTrade account, and HiveTrade collects winnings there. Kalshi settles in your connected venue account.

Fill-report acknowledgment and venue verification

New bots on both venues have no fill-report step: HiveTrade places the Captain order and reads the result from the venue itself. Only older Polymarket bots that trade from their own wallet report fills. For those, the API may return a separate verification status when a fill report is acknowledged. unverified means the report has been recorded while the venue check is still pending; it does not mean no order was placed. A mismatch or missing proof needs reconciliation against the venue, not another order. Keep reporting actual fills and preserve the journal.

See Common mistakes ».