🤖 Claude API Setup Guide

Complete guide to configure Claude AI validation for Quantum Edge Trader

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Why Claude AI Validation?

The Claude AI integration provides an additional layer of trade validation:

• ✅ Analyzes market context beyond technical indicators
• ✅ Evaluates chart patterns and support/resistance
• ✅ Considers news sentiment and market conditions
• ✅ Filters out low-probability setups
• ✅ Improves win rate by 5-15% (historical data)

How it works: Before executing a trade, the EA sends trade details to Claude AI for analysis. Claude responds with “APPROVE” or “REJECT” based on market context. Only approved trades are executed.

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Step 1: Create Anthropic Account

1. Go to console.anthropic.com
2. Click Sign Up
3. Register with:
   • Email address (verify via link sent to inbox)
   • Or sign up with Google/GitHub
4. Complete account verification

Note: Anthropic account is separate from your Claude.ai chat account (if you have one).

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Step 2: Add Payment Method & Credit

1. Log in to console.anthropic.com
2. Go to Settings > Billing
3. Click Add Payment Method
4. Enter credit card details (Visa, Mastercard, Amex accepted)
5. Add initial credit:
   • Testing/Demo: $5 (enough for 100-500 validations)
   • Light Trading: $10-15/month
   • Active Trading: $20-30/month

💰 Pricing Breakdown

Model	Cost per Request	Recommended For
Claude 3.5 Sonnet	~$0.01-0.02	Production trading (default)
Claude 3 Haiku	~$0.001-0.003	Budget option (lower accuracy)

Example monthly cost:

• 50 trades/month × $0.015 = $0.75
• 200 trades/month × $0.015 = $3.00
• 1000 trades/month × $0.015 = $15.00

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Step 3: Generate API Key

1. In console, go to API Keys section
2. Click Create Key
3. Enter a descriptive name: QuantumEdgeTrader-Production
4. Click Create
5. Copy the generated API key (format: sk-ant-api03-...)

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Step 4: Configure EA with API Key

1. Open MetaTrader 5
2. Right-click on the chart with Quantum Edge Trader attached
3. Select Expert Advisors > Properties
4. Go to Inputs tab
5. Find parameter InpClaudeAPIKey
6. Paste your API key (entire string, no spaces)
7. Verify other AI settings:
   • InpEnableAI: true
   • InpClaudeModel: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
   • InpAIConfidenceThreshold: 70 (0-100 scale)
8. Click OK

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Step 5: Verify API Connection

Check Experts Journal

1. Open Toolbox panel (Ctrl+T)
2. Click Experts tab
3. Look for confirmation message:

   Claude AI initialized
   API key validated
   Model: claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022
   AI validation: ENABLED
         

Check Visual Panel

The visual panel should show:

• AI Status: “Connected” (green)
• API Credits: Remaining balance
• AI Approval Rate: % of approved vs rejected signals

Test API Connection (Manual)

You can test the API connection manually:

1. Open Anthropic Workbench
2. Send a test message: “Hello, Claude!”
3. If you get a response, your API is working
4. Check Usage tab to see API calls being logged

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Step 6: Monitor Usage & Costs

Track API Usage

1. Go to console.anthropic.com
2. Navigate to Usage & Billing
3. View:
   • Total API calls this month
   • Cost breakdown by model
   • Current balance remaining

Set Up Usage Alerts (Recommended)

1. Go to Settings > Notifications
2. Enable Billing Alerts
3. Set thresholds:
   • Warning at 75% of monthly budget
   • Alert at 90% of monthly budget
4. Add your email for notifications

Set Monthly Budget Limit

1. Go to Settings > Billing
2. Set Monthly Limit (e.g., $50)
3. Enable Hard Cap (stops API after limit reached)

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Troubleshooting

Error: “Invalid API key”

Solutions:

• Verify key starts with sk-ant-api03-
• Check for extra spaces or characters
• Ensure key wasn’t revoked in console
• Try regenerating a new key

Error: “Insufficient credits”

Solutions:

• Add more credit in console billing section
• Check if monthly limit was reached
• Verify payment method is valid

Error: “Rate limit exceeded”

Solutions:

• Default limit: 50 requests/minute (sufficient for most)
• Reduce EA trade frequency temporarily
• Wait 60 seconds for rate limit reset
• Contact Anthropic for higher limits (if needed)

Error: “WebRequest not allowed”

Solutions:

• Go to MT5: Tools > Options > Expert Advisors
• Enable Allow WebRequest for listed URL
• Add to whitelist: https://api.anthropic.com
• Restart MT5

AI Not Approving Any Trades

Possible causes:

• InpAIConfidenceThreshold set too high (try lowering to 60-70)
• Market conditions are genuinely poor (AI is being cautious)
• Check Experts Journal for Claude’s rejection reasons

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Advanced Configuration

Adjust AI Confidence Threshold

Threshold	Effect	Recommended For
50-60	More trades, lower quality	Aggressive traders, scalping
65-75 ✅	Balanced trade frequency and quality	Most traders (default)
80-90	Fewer trades, higher quality	Conservative, prop firms

Disable AI (Fallback Option)

If you want to trade without AI validation temporarily:

1. Set InpEnableAI to false
2. EA will use only technical indicators
3. No API costs incurred
4. Lower win rate expected (5-15% drop historically)

Switch to Budget Model (Haiku)

For lower costs with slightly reduced accuracy:

1. Change InpClaudeModel to: claude-3-haiku-20240307
2. Cost: ~70-80% cheaper than Sonnet
3. Accuracy: ~5-10% lower than Sonnet

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Best Practices

• ✅ Start with $5-10 credit for testing
• ✅ Monitor usage for first week to estimate monthly cost
• ✅ Set monthly budget limits to prevent surprises
• ✅ Keep API key secure and never share publicly
• ✅ Regenerate key if compromised
• ✅ Use Sonnet model for production (best accuracy)
• ✅ Review Claude’s rejection reasons to understand market conditions
• ❌ Don’t disable AI in volatile markets (highest value)
• ❌ Don’t set confidence threshold too high or too low

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FAQ

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