First Run

Now that TWS is configured, let’s start OptionsRealTime and connect to your account.

Step 1: Start Rover

Rover manages an account analyzer process for each account and ensures these analyzers stay available if issues occur. Analyzers compute real-time analytics from TWS market data and publish them through NATS, the messaging server, where any number of processes can subscribe.

1. Open the OptionsRealTime folder on your desktop
2. Double-click Rover

Rover opens on the Configuration view:

• A Web UI button at the top, showing the address browsers use to reach OptionsRealTime (e.g., http://MyMachineName.local:5000)
• The IBKR Gateway Connections table, with + Add TWS App, + Add Account, Remove Selected, and Reset Tests above it
• One TWS App 1 group row holding the connection defaults (localhost, port 7496), with a single account row beneath it, pre-filled with a placeholder account ID and the name IBKR_ACCT_1
• Start Account Analyzers at the bottom
• A status bar reading NATS: Disconnected, Uptime: --:--:--, and Accounts 0/0 until you start

TWS Apps and Accounts

The first column is TWS App / Account ID. Each bold TWS App row is one TWS Desktop session, identified by the Host and Port on that row, and the accounts reached through that session are listed beneath it. The setup here — one session, one account — is a single group with a single row.

Use + Add Account to add another account to a session, covered in Multiple Accounts. Use + Add TWS App when a login needs its own TWS session on a different port, covered in Multiple TWS Instances.

Note

Rover starts NATS automatically in the background. No separate step required. NATS shuts down cleanly when you quit Rover.

Step 2: Enter Account Details

1. Click the account row’s TWS App / Account ID field and enter the IBKR account ID (e.g., U1234567)
2. Edit the Account Name in the next column (e.g., PAPER)

The Host and Port on the account row match the TWS App 1 row above it: both point at the same TWS session.

Note

Each account row already has a name, defaulting to IBKR_ACCT_1, IBKR_ACCT_2, and so on; names must be unique. Set it to something short and meaningful that describes the account. The Account Name is sent to connected browsers, where accounts can be displayed by name instead of by account ID. The display options are described in Step 6 below.

Note

Adding multiple accounts is covered in Multiple Accounts. Use + Add Account to append a row under a TWS App, and Remove Selected to delete one.

Why the account ID looks masked

A fresh install displays account IDs in Mask mode at depth 4, so the last four characters appear as asterisks (e.g., DU699****). This affects only how the ID is drawn in Rover’s table, not what you typed or what Rover connects to. Change it under Settings > Account ID Privacy; see Rover Settings.

Step 3: Test and Save

1. Click the Test button in your account’s row
2. The View column turns green and reads PASS on success, and the Result column reads Valid IP:Port
3. Go to File > Save (Ctrl+S) to save your configuration

Reset Tests clears the results for every row so you can re-run them after changing TWS settings.

Connection Failed?

If the test fails, verify:

• TWS is running and logged in
• API settings are correct (port 7496, sockets enabled)
• No firewall blocking localhost connections

See Troubleshooting for more help.

Step 4: Activate License

When you click Start Account Analyzers for the first time, you’ll see:

Click OK, then go to File > License…:

Click Request 14-Day Trial:

Enter your email (optional - for backup copy of trial key) and click Start Trial:

Click OK and you’re ready to publish.

Step 5: Start Account Analyzers

1. Click Start Account Analyzers
2. Rover will begin streaming data from TWS

Once running, the table keeps its TWS App grouping but swaps the setup columns (Test, View, Result) for live ones:

• % — current throughput as a percentage of the configured Throughput Baseline
• Data Flow — a live bar showing data moving from the analyzer to connected clients
• Status — uptime for that analyzer, green when healthy

A green LIVE badge appears below the table, and the status bar now reads NATS: Connected, an application uptime, and Accounts 1/1.

Note

Most settings lock once analyzers are running, so data isn’t disturbed mid-flight. To change them, exit Rover — it stops all analyzers gracefully — then reopen it.

Step 6: Launch OptionsRealTime

Click the Web UI button at the top of Rover, or open any browser on your network and type the address shown on the button. For example: http://MyMachineName.local:5000

OptionsRealTime reflects:

• All your positions, loaded from TWS
• Live market data for all underlyings and options

Account Display

Accounts can be displayed in several forms. Click the settings gear in the upper right corner and choose how accounts appear:

• Full account ID (e.g., U1234567)
• Masked, showing a chosen number of leading characters with the rest replaced by asterisks, or none at all (e.g., U123***** or *********)
• Account name (e.g., PAPER_ACCT)
• Obfuscated, replacing real IDs with sequential placeholders (e.g., U0000000000, U0000000001)

The same formats can also be cycled directly from the menu bar: click the account display toggle in the upper right (next to the clock). The button itself shows the account in the current format and advances to the next on each click, stepping through the full ID, masked, account name (shown as My Account), and obfuscated forms.

Multiple Windows, Multiple Monitors

Because of the browser-based architecture, you can open OptionsRealTime in as many windows as you need, on any machine on your network. Reports on one screen, charts on another, quotes on a third.

Optional: Developer Tools

The default Rover view is deliberately minimal. If you want more visibility while getting set up, open Settings > Developer Tools and enable any of:

• Show Monitoring tab — live portfolio metrics aggregated across accounts
• Show Configuration logs pane — an integrated log console, with a tab per analyzer
• Show throughput columns — per-row Acct Time and byte counters
• Show Restart buttons — Test and Reboot controls on each row while running
• Show Client ID column — the client ID Rover assigned to each connection

These toggles are saved with the configuration and restored the next time Rover launches. Full detail in Rover.

Next Steps

Learn about Components
Every metric, chart, quote, report, and table can be tailored to your workflow.

Multiple Accounts
Add more IBKR accounts.

Rover Reference
Every setting, column, and menu item in Rover.