How to load a bot on Deriv using the Bot Forge
How to load a bot on Deriv step by step: open the Bot Forge, sign in with Deriv, import an XML bot file, check the settings and run it on a demo account.
Here is how to load a bot on Deriv, step by step, on the screen you will actually be looking at. You open the Bot Forge, sign in with your own Deriv account, bring in a bot file or pick one from the free library, read what the blocks say, set your limits, and press run. The whole thing takes a few minutes the first time and less than a minute after that.
Before anything else: trading loses money for a lot of people, and a bot does not change that. It places the trades you told it to place, at the speed a machine works. Start on a demo account and stay there until the behaviour is boring and predictable.
A bot file is just a file, and the Bot Forge reads it
A Deriv bot is a set of blocks saved to a file, usually an XML file. The blocks say which market to trade, which contract type to use, how big the stake is, what to do after a win and what to do after a loss. Nothing is hidden inside it. If you open the file in the builder, every rule is visible as a block you can read and change.
The Bot Forge is a block based builder with a library of free bots already in it. It reads bot files made in the older Deriv builders, so an XML file you already have on your machine, or one someone sent you, can usually be dropped straight in. If you are not sure what the older builders were or how the files relate, that is covered in the note on Binary Bot and DBot.
Signing in with Deriv comes first
You can open the builder and look around without an account, but a bot cannot place a trade until it is attached to one. Signing in happens through Deriv's own OAuth screen. You type your Deriv details on Deriv's page, not on ours, and you come back with the account connected.
The permission asked for is trading only. That lets the tool read your account balance and place trades. It cannot withdraw, it cannot move money anywhere, and it never sees your password. Real and demo accounts both work, and the account selector sits where you can see which one is live before you press anything.
If you do not have an account yet, or you want a demo one to practise on, the walkthrough for creating a Deriv account covers opening it and switching between real and demo.
Loading the bot file, step by step
- Open the Bot Forge and sign in with Deriv.
- Switch the account selector to demo. Do this before you load anything, not after.
- Choose the source. Either pick a bot from the free library, or use the import option to load your own XML file from your computer.
- Wait for the blocks to appear on the canvas. A loaded bot fills the workspace with connected blocks. If nothing appears, the file did not load.
- Read the top blocks. They name the market and the contract type. This is where you find out whether the bot is set for a volatility index, a forex pair or something else.
- Find the stake block and set the number yourself. Never run a bot on a stake that arrived with the file.
- Set the stop loss and the take profit. If the bot has no limit blocks, that is a thing to fix before you run it, not after.
- Press run and watch the first few trades in the log.
That last point matters more than it sounds. The log is where you see what the bot decided and why it entered. Watching ten trades on demo tells you more about a bot than reading its description ever will.
What to check in the blocks before you press run
The blocks are the bot. Reading them takes a couple of minutes and it is the only way to know what you are about to run.
- Market. Volatility 10, 25, 50, 75 or 100, or one of the one second versions, or a forex pair, or gold. A bot written for one volatility index will behave differently on another.
- Contract type. Rise and fall, higher and lower, or one of the digit contracts. Digit bots behave nothing like rise and fall bots.
- Stake. The amount per trade, in your account currency.
- What happens after a loss. Some bots increase the stake after a losing trade. Find that block and look hard at it. A stake that doubles gets large fast, and the size of the account is what runs out first.
- Stop loss and take profit. The two numbers that decide when the bot stops on its own.
If you want a longer version of that checklist, the page on what a Deriv bot is goes through what to look at before letting one run unattended.
Common reasons a bot file will not load
Most failures are dull and fixable. The file is not an XML file, because it was saved as something else or renamed. The download is incomplete. The file was edited in a text editor and a tag got broken. The browser blocked the file picker.
Try a bot from the free library first. If a library bot loads and yours does not, the problem is the file, not the builder. If nothing loads at all, reload the page and sign in again.
Changing a loaded bot and saving your own version
Once a bot is on the canvas it is yours to edit. Drag blocks, change numbers, delete the parts you do not want. The builder keeps the structure connected, so a block that does not belong somewhere will not snap into place.
Save your edited version to your own machine as a new file. Keep the original untouched. When you want to compare two settings, load them as two separate files rather than editing one back and forth, because it is very easy to forget what you changed.
Bots are one way to trade on Deriv and not the only one. If you would rather see a read on a market and decide yourself, the AI Signals screen shows one call per market with the reasoning behind it, and you do what you like with it.
Open the free Deriv bots library, load one on a demo account, and watch the log for ten trades before you change a single number.
Questions
Do I need a Deriv account to load a bot?
You can open the Bot Forge and load a bot file to look at the blocks without trading. To actually run it, you sign in with your own Deriv account through Deriv's OAuth screen. Real and demo accounts both work, and demo is the sensible place to start.
What file type does a Deriv bot use?
Bots are saved as XML files. The Bot Forge reads bot files made in the older Deriv builders, so a file you already have will usually load without changes. If a file will not load, check that it really is an XML file and that the download finished.
Can a bot take money out of my Deriv account?
No. The permission asked for when you sign in is trading only, which lets the tool read your balance and place trades. It cannot withdraw, it cannot move money, and it never sees your password.
How do I stop a bot once it is running?
You stop it from the builder screen, and you also set a stop loss and a take profit in the blocks so it stops on its own when either is hit. Set both before the first run rather than during it. Watching the log for the first few trades is the fastest way to catch a setting you got wrong.
Trading on Deriv puts your money at risk, and automation does not change that. Practise on a demo account first and only trade money you can afford to lose.
Try this on your own account
Every tool in this post is free on a Deriv demo account. Log in with Deriv and nothing else is needed.
