Deploy live on Exness (MT5)¶

End-to-end: from cloning qkt to a paper trade on an Exness demo account, through the Docker stack.

Demo account only

Use an Exness demo account for this walkthrough. The qkt project is pre-1.0 and not yet recommended for live capital. Demo accounts let you verify the integration without risk.

What you'll need¶

Docker + Docker Compose v2
An Exness demo account (free, takes 60 seconds at exness.com)
Your MT5 login + password + server name (Exness emails them at signup)
~10 minutes

1. Clone and configure¶

git clone https://github.com/elitekaycy/qkt.git
cd qkt
cp .env.example .env
cp qkt.config.yaml.example qkt.config.yaml

Edit .env with your MT5 credentials:

.env

MT5_LOGIN=12345678
MT5_PASSWORD=your-mt5-password
MT5_SERVER=Exness-MT5Trial
VNC_PASSWORD=pickanything
EXNESS_GATEWAY_URL=http://mt5-gateway:5001

The MT5_SERVER value comes from Exness — it's usually Exness-MT5Trial for demo or Exness-MT5Real for live. Check the email Exness sent at signup.

Edit qkt.config.yaml to use the built-in Exness profile:

qkt.config.yaml

source: live

brokers:
  exness:
    type: mt5
    extends: exness          # inherits suffix, tz, defaults
    gateway_url: ${EXNESS_GATEWAY_URL}
    magic: 4242              # unique per qkt deployment; identifies your orders on restart

2. Bring up the stack¶

docker compose up -d

This starts two containers:

mt5-gateway — Wine + MT5 terminal exposing an HTTP API on port 5001
qkt — the trading daemon, waits for the gateway to be healthy before starting

Verify both are running:

docker compose ps

3. Log in to MT5 once¶

The MT5 terminal needs an interactive login the first time. Connect to it via VNC:

# Mac: brew install tigervnc-viewer ; open vnc://localhost:3000
# Linux: any VNC client → localhost:3000
# Windows: TightVNC, RealVNC, or RDP-style tools

Use the VNC_PASSWORD you set in .env.

Inside the MT5 GUI:

File → Login to Trade Account
Enter your login, password, and server name
Click "Login"

You should see your balance + a green "connected" indicator at the bottom-right of MT5.

Verify from the host:

curl http://localhost:5001/health
# {"ok": true, "account": {"login": 12345678, "balance": 10000.00, ...}}

If ok: false, the login didn't take — back into the VNC GUI.

4. Audit the tick feed first¶

Before deploying a real strategy, verify the gateway's ticks match what you expect. The audit-ticks CLI captures live ticks for a few minutes and reports any anomalies:

docker compose exec qkt qkt audit-ticks --symbol EURUSD --duration 60 --mt5-profile exness

Output:

audit-ticks EURUSD via exness
  ticks received:    312
  bid range:         1.0828–1.0834
  ask range:         1.0829–1.0835
  spread (avg):      1.2 points
  spread (max):      3.4 points
  duplicates:        0
  out-of-order:      0
  gaps > 5s:         0

If you see large gaps or out-of-order ticks, that's a feed quality problem — investigate before deploying.

5. Write a paper strategy¶

Put it in ./strategies/ (mounted into the container at /strategies):

strategies/eur-paper.qkt

STRATEGY eur_paper VERSION 1

SYMBOLS
    eur = EXNESS:EURUSD EVERY 5m

RULES
    WHEN ema(eur.close, 9) CROSSES ABOVE ema(eur.close, 21)
    THEN BUY eur SIZING 0.01
         BRACKET { STOP_LOSS BY 30 PCT, TAKE_PROFIT BY 60 PCT }
         LOG "long entry" price=eur.close

Note: SIZING 0.01 is 0.01 lots — the minimum on most MT5 accounts, ~$1000 notional on EURUSD.

6. Deploy it¶

docker compose exec qkt qkt deploy /strategies/eur-paper.qkt --as eur-paper

Output:

[INFO] deployed eur-paper
QKT_PORT=47291

Verify it's running:

docker compose exec qkt qkt list

NAME              KIND       UPTIME   PORT     TRADES   STATE
eur-paper         strategy   00:00:42 47291    0        running

7. Watch it work¶

Tail the logs:

docker compose exec qkt qkt logs eur-paper -f

You'll see ticks arrive + condition evaluations. When the EMA crosses, you'll see a BUY action and a broker submission. The fill comes back as a TradeEvent a few hundred ms later.

Check the position from the host:

curl http://localhost:5001/positions | jq

Also visible inside MT5 (via VNC) — the position appears in the "Trade" tab with the magic number 4242.

8. Stop cleanly¶

docker compose exec qkt qkt stop eur-paper --flatten

--flatten closes any open position at market before stopping. Without it, the position stays open.

To tear down the whole stack:

docker compose down            # keeps state volume
docker compose down -v         # wipes state + logs

Going to a different MT5 broker¶

Same pattern, different profile: