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How to Set Up Your First Option Bot

Walk through connecting a broker, configuring Roger, and running your first automated trade.

This guide walks you through getting Roger running — from connecting your broker to watching your first automated trade execute.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have:

  • An active Tiblio subscription
  • A brokerage account with options trading approval
  • A funded account (or a TradeStation Sim account for paper trading)

Step 1: Connect Your Broker

Go to Settings > Brokers and connect your brokerage account. Roger supports Schwab, Tradier, TradeStation, TradeStation Sim, tastytrade, and Alpaca.

If you're testing for the first time, start with TradeStation Sim — it's a full paper trading environment so you can see how Roger works without risking real money.

Once your broker is connected, a Roger bot is automatically created for you. Navigate to Option Bot in the sidebar to find it.

Step 2: Add Your Equities

Go to the Equities tab and add the stocks you want Roger to trade. For each symbol:

  • Set a weight — the percentage of your allocated capital for this stock
  • Choose whether to write puts, write calls, or both
  • Optionally set per-symbol overrides for DTE, delta, or strike limits

Start with 2-3 stocks you know well. Make sure your weights add up to 100%.

Step 3: Configure Strategy Settings

Go to the Configuration tab. The key settings to review:

  • Put/Call DTE — How far out to target (default: 35 days). Shorter DTE = faster decay but more management. Longer DTE = more premium but slower cycle
  • Put/Call Delta — How aggressive (default: 0.40). Lower delta = less premium but lower assignment risk. Start around 0.20-0.30 if you're conservative
  • Target Profit — When to auto-close positions (default: 90%). Many traders prefer 50% to lock in gains faster

Step 4: Set Order Sizing

Still in the Configuration tab, review the order sizing section:

  • Per Order — How much of your target allocation to put on in a single trade (default: 10%)
  • Per Day — Daily cap on new exposure (default: 20%)
  • Per Week — Weekly cap on new exposure (default: 50%)

These defaults scale in gradually. If you want to be more conservative while testing, lower these values.

Step 5: Review Advanced Options

Check the advanced settings — the defaults are conservative, but worth understanding:

  • Avoid Assignment is on by default — Roger will close ITM options on expiration day rather than risk assignment
  • Earnings/Dividend toggles are off by default for puts and calls over earnings, on for dividends — adjust based on your comfort level
  • Order offset at 0.5 means limit orders go at the bid-ask midpoint

Step 6: Test with a Manual Run

Before turning on automation, do a manual test:

  1. Go to the Dashboard tab
  2. Make sure the market is open (the status indicator shows "Open")
  3. Click Run Bot
  4. Watch the live execution screen — it shows each step Roger takes with streaming logs

This lets you see exactly what Roger would do: which contracts it finds, whether they match your criteria, and what orders it would place. If you're in paper mode, orders are simulated.

Step 7: Go Live

Once you're comfortable with how Roger is behaving:

  1. In the Configuration tab, toggle Live Mode on
  2. Make sure your bot status is Active (you can change this from the bot list page)
  3. Roger will now run automatically: trade discovery every 10 minutes, take-profit checks every 5 minutes, during market hours

After Activation

First Few Sessions

Stay attentive during the first couple of market sessions:

  • Check the Dashboard to see positions building
  • Check Orders to verify orders are being placed and filled correctly
  • Check History to review execution logs if anything looks off

Ongoing Monitoring

  • Review the Orders tab daily to see what trades Roger made
  • Watch the Dashboard positions table for current exposure
  • If you need to pause new trades but keep managing existing positions, set the bot to Paused

Tips

  1. Paper trade first — Use TradeStation Sim until you trust your settings
  2. Start conservative — Low delta (0.20-0.30), few equities, small order sizing
  3. Scale gradually — Increase delta, add equities, or widen order sizing as you gain confidence
  4. Use manual runs — The "Run Bot" button lets you trigger a pass anytime during market hours to test changes immediately
  5. Watch the logs — The History tab is your best debugging tool if Roger isn't doing what you expect

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