# Multi-Broker Spread Platform — Admin Guide (AI assistant reference) > **HOW TO USE THIS FILE:** Paste this whole document into any AI chatbot > (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc.), then ask your question. Start with: > *"Use the document below to answer my questions about the Spread Platform. I am a company Admin."* > The AI will answer using only the information here. --- ## What the platform is The Multi-Broker Spread Platform connects to several brokers at once and shows, for every instrument, the **spread** — the gap between the **bid** (sell) and **ask** (buy) price — in real time, side by side. A tighter spread is cheaper to trade; wider is more expensive. It also records spread history for charting and analysis. Everything is isolated by **company**: your company only sees its own brokers, symbols, history and users. ## Your role: Admin (manages your company) You have full control of **your own company**: brokers, symbols, name mappings, API presets, recorded history, and your company's users. You do **not** see other companies, and you don't manage the platform itself (that's the platform super-admin). Pages you have: Home, Live, History, Analytics, **Admin**, **Users**, **Audit**, Account, Help. ## How the data gets in (so you can reason about problems) - **MT5 brokers:** a small "worker" program runs on a Windows machine (or VM) where that broker's MetaTrader 5 terminal is installed and logged in. It reads the live quotes and streams them to the backend. The terminal must stay open and logged in. - **API brokers** (crypto exchanges, OANDA, etc.): the system reads quotes straight from the broker's web API — no MT5 needed. - **cTrader brokers:** the worker connects to the cTrader Open API over TLS using your app's Client ID/secret + an access token. Changes you make (enable/disable, add symbols) take effect within ~2 seconds with no restart. ## Signing in & your account - Log in with email + password. Sessions don't time out automatically. - **Change your password:** click your email (top-right) → **Account**. - **Forgot it?** The platform super-admin can reset your company's admin password to a temporary one. ## Admin page — brokers **Add a broker:** Admin → **+ Add broker**, choose the Type. - **MT5:** set Name, the MT5 **Login**, **Password**, **Server** (exactly as the broker lists it), and the **Terminal path** to that broker's `terminal64.exe`. Created **disabled** — tick **Enabled** to start its worker. The 👁 eye reveals the password; it's stored encrypted. - **API:** pick a **Preset** (Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin, OKX, Bybit, OANDA…) to auto-fill the quote URL, auth and bid/ask paths. Put any key in **Login**, set the **Auth** type, click **Test** (it can auto-detect bid/ask), then Enable. - **cTrader:** set **Client ID**, **Client secret**, **Access token** (👁 eye to reveal each), leave **Account ID** blank (auto-detected), and choose **Host = Demo or Live** to match the account. Per-symbol "broker name" must match cTrader's exact symbol name. **Save your own API preset:** filled in a working API broker not in the list? Click **Save as preset** to store it (shared in your company). Saved presets show with a ★. **Broker status** shows on the cards/badges: connected / offline / error / disabled, plus the source badge (mt5 green, api blue, ctrader violet, sim). ## Admin page — symbols & mapping The platform uses **canonical names** (EURUSD, XAUUSD, BTCUSD) so every broker lines up in the same row, but each broker may name an instrument differently. - **Add a symbol:** type a name → **Add symbol**. - **Rename a symbol:** **Rename** on its row keeps its id and all mappings. - **Per-broker names:** when editing a broker, each assigned symbol has a "this broker's name" box — leave blank to use the canonical name, or type the broker's own name (e.g. gold = `XAUUSD.r`). Once a broker has connected once, the box offers a searchable list of that broker's real instruments. - **Asset class:** auto-detected (Forex/Metals/Indices/Crypto/Stocks/Other); override from the Class dropdown. Live and Analytics have a class quick-filter. ## Admin page — history clean-up - **🗓 Delete old history:** permanently remove your company's recorded history older than a chosen age (7/30/90/180 days, 1 year, a custom date, or **Everything** — which requires typing `DELETE ALL`). The live feed and newer data are untouched. **Every deletion is recorded in the audit log** (who, when, how much). - **🧹 Orphaned history:** clean up data left behind by symbols you've deleted. Recording happens on the server continuously, so history accumulates whether or not a screen is open — you don't need a browser left running to collect it. ## Users page (👥) - **Add a user** with a role (Viewer or Admin). The password is shown **once** with a Copy button — capture it then, because passwords are stored hashed and can't be shown again. - **Reset password** sets a new one for a locked-out user (shown so you relay it). - **Log out** ends a user's sessions immediately (force re-login). - **♾️ Make permanent session** gives an account a never-expiring login — for an always-on 24/7 viewer screen. ## Audit page (🛡️) A read-only log of security-relevant actions in **your company** — logins (and failures) and every broker/symbol/user change, with who did them and when. It's tamper-evident (append-only + hash-chained). Filter by action or email. ## Live, History, Analytics You use these the same way viewers do. - **Live:** Matrix/List, best=green/worst=red, highlight vs filter, reorder, metric (points/raw), class filter, full screen (⛶/Esc), pinned header. - **Alerts (⏱ Stall/surge monitor on Live):** *Stall* warns when a symbol stops changing — modes **Average gap + grace** (adaptive), **Average gap (no grace)** (most sensitive), **Fixed idle limit** (plain timeout). *Surge* warns on a spread blow-out (auto spike + optional points limit). Each has its own brokers+symbols (a cell is watched only if both are selected; ⏱/⚡ marks show). Banner + beep (surge higher, stall lower) + amber/red cell mark; sound selectable incl. **None (visual only)**; **🔔 Test alert** demos it; **📋 Alert log** records each; settings persist per-browser. - **History:** range + brokers/symbols + bucket (Auto or fixed) + Log/Linear scale + ⬇ Excel. - **Analytics:** per-broker, time-of-day, sessions, weekday, arbitrage windows, correlation; **🤖 Ask an AI** (Claude or OpenAI-compatible, your own key, used once, never stored). ## Troubleshooting & FAQ (Admin) - **A broker's status isn't green.** MT5: the broker's terminal must be open and logged in, and its worker running; check the login/server and the terminal path. API: check the URL/key with the **Test** button. cTrader: see below. - **Everything says "stale".** No fresh ticks — usually the data-collector machine's clock is wrong (set it to sync automatically) or it lost its connection; then restart the worker. - **cTrader: "ctrader-open-api not installed".** The worker's Python environment needs the cTrader library; the worker setup installs it (cTrader needs Python ≤ 3.12 on Windows). - **cTrader: connected but "no quotes".** The per-broker symbol names don't match cTrader's exact names — edit the broker and pick names from the search box. - **cTrader: `CH_CLIENT_AUTH_FAILURE`** → the Client ID or secret is wrong/cut off (re-copy the full values). **`CH_ACCESS_TOKEN_INVALID`** → the token is stale; regenerating a token invalidates the previous one, so paste the newest one and don't regenerate again after. - **I deleted a symbol but it's still in History.** Deleting removes it from the live feed; its recorded history is kept unless you also purge it. Use Admin → 🗓 Delete old history or the per-symbol purge. - **"Auth name" when adding an API broker** = the header or URL-parameter name that carries your key (e.g. `X-API-Key`), only used for Auth = Header/Query. - **Page looks old after an update.** Hard-refresh; the version is in the top bar. - **Can I see other companies?** No — admins are confined to their own company.