Rover Publisher Launcher and Monitor

Rover is the central hub for managing connections between Interactive Brokers TWS instances and the OptionsRealTime data stream. It launches and monitors publisher processes that feed real-time portfolio data to all connected clients, including the desktop application and Excel.

Overview

Rover manages the complete lifecycle of publisher processes. Each publisher connects to a TWS Desktop or Gateway instance and streams portfolio data over NATS to any listening client. A single Rover instance can manage multiple accounts across multiple TWS installations, whether those TWS instances are running locally or on remote machines. Beyond launching publishers, Rover continuously monitors each process. If any publisher dies due to data disconnections or other failures, a new instance is immediately spawned, reconnecting to TWS, downloading all positions, subscribing to feeds, and resuming analytics streaming.

The application has three main views, accessible via tabs:

Configuration — Define TWS connections, test connectivity, and control publisher startup. This is where you specify the host, port, and client ID for each account’s TWS connection.

Monitoring — View live portfolio metrics aggregated by account, including Net Liquidation Value, PnL, Greeks, and margin requirements.

Logging — Tail log files in real time for Rover itself or any individual publisher process.

Configuration

The Configuration tab is where you define and manage TWS connections before starting publishers.

Each row represents a connection to a specific account. You specify:

• Host — The machine running TWS (use localhost for local installations)
• Port — The API port configured in TWS (typically 7496 for live, 7497 for paper)
• Client ID — A unique identifier for this connection (multiple accounts on the same TWS instance must have different client IDs)

The Test button verifies connectivity to each TWS instance before you commit to starting publishers. The Reboot button restarts an individual publisher if needed.

Once connections are defined, click Start Publishers to launch all publisher processes. At this point, most configuration settings become locked to prevent changes while data is flowing. To modify settings, you must exit Rover, which gracefully stops all publishers before closing.

Data Throughput

The Configuration view displays real-time throughput metrics for each publisher:

• Bytes Security — Instantaneous bytes received for the Security table (the largest data table)
• Bytes/Sec Security — Rolling bytes per second
• Throughput — A visual bar chart showing throughput as a percentage of the configured baseline
• Acct Time — The account time reported by the TWS instance, confirming live data flow
• Status — Connection uptime, shown in green when healthy

Logging Console

Below the configuration table, an integrated logging console displays real-time log output. The console supports:

• Auto-scroll — Automatically follows new entries as they appear
• Tab selection — Switch between the main Rover log and individual publisher logs (one per account)
• Log level filtering — Filter by Debug, Info, Warn, Error, or Critical

The console tails the active log file, so you see entries as they are written.

Monitoring

The Monitoring tab provides a live dashboard of portfolio metrics across all connected accounts.

Each row displays key values for one account:

• Net Liq Calc — Calculated net liquidation value
• PnL — Daily profit and loss
• Theta — Portfolio theta (daily time decay)
• Theta2 ORT — An analytical/linear theta hybrid using internal models that better represents theta, particularly for very short-dated options
• Vega — Portfolio vega (sensitivity to implied volatility)
• Unrealized PnL — Open position gains/losses
• Excess Liquidity — Available margin cushion
• Maint Margin Req — Maintenance margin requirement

The Total row at the top aggregates values across all accounts, giving you a single view of your entire holdings.

Account IDs can be masked for privacy when sharing screens or taking screenshots.

Cross-Account Analysis

The Monitoring tab is designed for at-a-glance status across accounts. For comprehensive cross-account analysis with access to all available metrics, use the Excel RTD integration which can pull any field from any account into your custom spreadsheets.

Logging

The Logging tab provides a full-screen view of any log file. Use the account tabs to switch between the main Rover log and individual publisher logs.

Each publisher writes to its own log file, making it easy to isolate issues with a specific account or TWS connection. The display shows timestamps, log levels, and the raw data values being processed.

Settings

Access settings via Settings in the menu bar.

Display Settings

• Table Font Size — Adjust the font size for table text
• Account ID Masking — Number of characters to mask from the right (0 shows full account ID, 4 shows U264****)

Performance Settings

• Throughput Baseline — Sets the 100% reference for the throughput bar chart (in bytes per second). Adjust this based on your typical data volume.

Pricing Parameters

• Risk-Free Rate — The annualized interest rate used for options pricing calculations across all accounts. OptionsRealTime uses a flat rate model with QuantLib for all expirations, from short-dated options to LEAPS. While a full yield curve model may be added in the future, options pricing is relatively insensitive to small rate variations, and a flat rate provides consistent results.

Connection Settings

• NATS Server URL — The address of the NATS server (locked after application start; restart required to change)

File Menu

• Load Config — Load a previously saved configuration file
• Load Installation Config — Reset to the factory default configuration
• Save (Ctrl+S) — Save the current configuration
• License… — View and manage your license (see below)
• Exit — Gracefully stop all publishers and close Rover

License Management

The License Management dialog displays your current license status, including expiration date and days remaining. From here you can:

• View or copy your license key
• Copy your Machine ID (required for license activation)
• Access the license portal to purchase or manage licenses
• Refresh license status after renewal
• Deactivate this machine (to transfer a license to another computer)

Demo

Rover streaming data to connected clients.