Quant Async

An Interactive Brokers Async Trading Framework for Python 3.12+

Quant Async is a high-performance, production-ready framework for algorithmic trading with Interactive Brokers. It provides real-time market data streaming, persistent data storage, and a clean async API for building sophisticated trading strategies.

🏗️ Architecture Overview

┌─────────────────┐    ZeroMQ     ┌─────────────────┐
│   Algorithm 1   │◄──────────────┤                 │
└─────────────────┘               │                 │
┌─────────────────┐    Pub/Sub    │     Blotter     │    IB API    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Algorithm 2   │◄──────────────┤  (Data Stream)  │◄─────────────┤ Interactive     │
└─────────────────┘               │                 │              │ Brokers         │
┌─────────────────┐               │                 │              │ TWS/Gateway     │
│   Algorithm N   │◄──────────────┤                 │              └─────────────────┘
└─────────────────┘               └─────────────────┘
                                           │
                                    PostgreSQL
                                  ┌─────────────────┐
                                  │  Market Data    │
                                  │   Database      │
                                  │                 │
                                  │ • Ticks         │
                                  │ • Bars          │  
                                  │ • Quotes        │
                                  │ • Greeks        │
                                  │ • Trades        │
                                  └─────────────────┘

Core Components

• Blotter: Continuous market data collector and broadcaster
• Algo: Base class for trading algorithms with real-time data consumption
• Broker: Interactive Brokers connection and order management
• Database: PostgreSQL storage with asyncpg for historical data and backtesting
• Streaming: ZeroMQ pub/sub for real-time data distribution
• Dashboard: FastAPI web interface for monitoring and control

🚀 Features

• ✅ Continuous Data Collection: 24/7 market data capture independent of strategy execution
• ✅ Real-time Streaming: ZeroMQ pub/sub architecture supports multiple concurrent algorithms
• ✅ Database Persistence: All tick, bar, quote, and Greek data stored in PostgreSQL
• ✅ Hot Symbol Management: CSV-based symbol management with live reload
• ✅ Async Architecture: Built on asyncio for high-performance concurrent operations
• ✅ Production Ready: Comprehensive error handling, logging, and monitoring
• ✅ Web Dashboard: FastAPI interface for system monitoring and control
• ✅ Historical Analysis: Efficient data retrieval for backtesting and research

📋 Requirements

• Python: 3.12+
• Interactive Brokers: TWS or IB Gateway
• PostgreSQL: 12+ (for data persistence)
• Operating System: macOS, Linux

🛠️ Installation

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/kelvingao/quant_async.git
cd quant_async

2. Install Dependencies

Using uv (recommended):

uv sync
uv sync --group dev  # Include development dependencies

Using pip:

pip install -e .
pip install -e .[dev]  # Include development dependencies

3. Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your specific configuration

4. Setup PostgreSQL Database

# Connect to PostgreSQL as superuser
psql -U postgres

# Create database and user
CREATE DATABASE quant_async;
CREATE USER quant_async WITH PASSWORD 'quant_async';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE quant_async TO quant_async;

# Connect to the new database  
\c quant_async

# Grant schema permissions
GRANT CREATE ON SCHEMA public TO quant_async;

5. Run Database Migrations

uv run alembic upgrade head

6. Setup Interactive Brokers

TWS (Trader Workstation)

1. Download and install TWS from Interactive Brokers
2. Enable API access: Configure → API → Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients
3. Set API port (7497 for live, 7496 for paper trading)
4. Disable "Read-Only API"

IB Gateway (Recommended for Production)

1. Download IB Gateway
2. Configure API settings (port 4001 for live, 4002 for paper)
3. Enable API access and disable read-only mode

🏃‍♂️ Quick Start

1. Configure Symbols

Edit examples/symbols.csv to specify instruments to monitor:

symbol,sec_type,exchange,currency,expiry,strike,opt_type
NVDA,STK,SMART,USD,,,
AAPL,STK,SMART,USD,,,
ES,FUT,CME,USD,20250919,,
EURUSD,CASH,IDEALPRO,USD,,,

2. Start the Blotter

# Start continuous market data collection
uv run python examples/blotter.py

# With custom configuration
uv run python examples/blotter.py --ibport=4002 --dbname=quant_async_paper

3. Start the Dashboard

# Launch web interface (http://localhost:5002)
uv run python examples/dashboard.py

4. Run an Algorithm

# Run example trading strategy
uv run python examples/strategy.py

📊 Usage Examples

Basic Blotter Usage

import asyncio
from quant_async import Blotter, util

class MyBlotter(Blotter):
    pass

if __name__ == "__main__":
    util.logToConsole("INFO")
    
    blotter = MyBlotter(
        symbols="symbols.csv",
        ibhost="localhost", 
        ibport=4001,
        dbname="quant_async"
    )
    
    asyncio.run(blotter.run())

Algorithm Development

from quant_async import Algo

class MovingAverageStrategy(Algo):
    
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            instruments=[("AAPL", "STK", "SMART", "USD")],
            ibclient=998
        )
        self.sma_short = 10
        self.sma_long = 20
    
    def on_start(self):
        print("Strategy starting...")
    
    def on_quote(self, instrument):
        # Process real-time quotes
        quote_data = self.quotes[instrument.symbol]
        print(f"Quote for {instrument.symbol}: {quote_data}")
    
    def on_tick(self, instrument):
        # Process tick data
        print(f"Tick for {instrument.symbol}")
    
    def on_bar(self, instrument):
        # Process bar data for strategy logic
        print(f"Bar for {instrument.symbol}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    strategy = MovingAverageStrategy()
    asyncio.run(strategy.run())

Multiple Algorithm Example

# Run multiple strategies consuming the same data stream
from quant_async import Algo
import asyncio

class MomentumStrategy(Algo):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            instruments=[("NVDA", "STK", "SMART", "USD")],
            ibclient=999
        )
    
    def on_quote(self, instrument):
        # Momentum strategy logic
        pass

class MeanReversionStrategy(Algo):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__(
            instruments=[("AAPL", "STK", "SMART", "USD")],
            ibclient=1000
        )
    
    def on_quote(self, instrument):
        # Mean reversion strategy logic  
        pass

async def run_multiple_strategies():
    momentum = MomentumStrategy()
    mean_reversion = MeanReversionStrategy()
    
    # Run both strategies concurrently
    await asyncio.gather(
        momentum.run(),
        mean_reversion.run()
    )

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(run_multiple_strategies())

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

The framework supports configuration via environment variables. Copy .env.example to .env and customize:

# Interactive Brokers
IB_HOST=localhost
IB_PORT=4001
IB_CLIENT_ID=996

# Database
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_NAME=quant_async
DB_USER=quant_async
DB_PASS=quant_async

# ZeroMQ
ZMQ_PORT=12345

# Logging
LOG_LEVEL=INFO

Command Line Arguments

All components support command-line configuration:

# Blotter options
python examples/blotter.py \
    --ibhost localhost \
    --ibport 4001 \
    --ibclient 996 \
    --dbhost localhost \
    --dbname quant_async \
    --zmqport 12345 \
    --symbols symbols.csv

# Algorithm options  
python examples/strategy.py \
    --ibhost localhost \
    --ibport 4001 \
    --ibclient 998 \
    --blotter auto-detect

🗄️ Database Schema

The framework uses PostgreSQL with the following tables:

• symbols: Instrument definitions and metadata
• bars: OHLCV bar data with volume
• ticks: Real-time tick data (bid/ask/last)
• greeks: Options Greeks (delta, gamma, theta, vega)
• trades: Executed trade records

Database Queries

# Historical data retrieval
from quant_async import Blotter

blotter = Blotter(dbskip=False)
await blotter.postgres_connect()

# Get historical bars
bars = await blotter.history(
    symbols=["AAPL_STK"], 
    start="2024-01-01",
    end="2024-12-31",
    resolution="1D"
)

# Get tick data
ticks = await blotter.history(
    symbols=["EURUSD_CASH"],
    start="2024-08-01", 
    resolution="1T"  # 1 tick resolution
)

📊 Monitoring & Dashboard

Web Dashboard

Access the web interface at http://localhost:5002:

• Real-time market data display
• System health monitoring
• Connection status indicators
• Performance metrics
• Historical data charts

Health Checks

# Check system status
curl http://localhost:8080/health

# Get metrics
curl http://localhost:8080/metrics

Logging

The framework uses structured logging:

import logging
from quant_async import util

# Configure logging
util.logToConsole("INFO")

# Custom logger configuration
logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.INFO,
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s',
    handlers=[
        logging.FileHandler('trading.log'),
        logging.StreamHandler()
    ]
)

🧪 Testing

The project includes comprehensive unit tests and integration tests.

Unit Tests

Run unit tests (no external dependencies required):

# Run all unit tests (excludes integration tests)
uv run pytest tests/ -m "not integration" -v

# Run specific test modules
uv run pytest tests/test_blotter.py -v
uv run pytest tests/test_streaming.py -v
uv run pytest tests/test_database.py -v

# Run with coverage and update badge
./scripts/update_coverage.sh

# Or run coverage manually
uv run pytest tests/ -m "not integration" --cov=src/quant_async --cov-report=html --cov-report=json

# Update coverage badge in README
python scripts/generate_coverage_badge.py

Integration Tests

Integration tests require a real PostgreSQL database. Set up the test environment:

# 1. Copy environment template
cp .env.example .env

# 2. Create test database (as postgres user)
sudo -u postgres psql -f setup_integration_tests.sql

# 3. Configure .env file with test database settings:
# TEST_DB_HOST=localhost
# TEST_DB_PORT=5432
# TEST_DB_USER=quant_async
# TEST_DB_PASS=quant_async
# TEST_DB_NAME=quant_async_test

# 4. Run integration tests
uv run pytest tests/ -m integration -v

# 5. Run all tests (unit + integration)
uv run pytest tests/ -v

Integration Test Markers:

• @pytest.mark.integration - Requires real PostgreSQL database
• Tests are automatically skipped if database is not available

🚨 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

IB Connection Failed

Error: Cannot connect to Interactive Brokers

Solutions:

• Verify TWS/Gateway is running
• Check API settings are enabled
• Confirm correct port (7497/4001 live, 7496/4002 paper)
• Ensure client ID is unique
• Check firewall settings

Database Connection Error

Error: Cannot connect to PostgreSQL

Solutions:

• Verify PostgreSQL is running
• Check database credentials in .env
• Ensure database exists and user has permissions
• Test connection: psql -U quant_async -d quant_async -h localhost

ZeroMQ Port Conflict

Error: Address already in use

Solutions:

• Change ZMQ_PORT in .env
• Kill existing process: lsof -ti:12345 | xargs kill -9
• Use different port for each Blotter instance

Symbol File Issues

Error: Symbol file not found or invalid

Solutions:

• Verify symbols.csv exists and is readable
• Check CSV format matches expected columns
• Ensure file permissions (0o666)
• Review example symbols.csv for format

Debug Mode

Enable verbose logging for troubleshooting:

from quant_async import util
util.logToConsole("DEBUG")

Performance Tuning

For high-frequency trading:

# Optimize database connections
blotter = Blotter(
    dbhost="localhost",
    # Increase connection pool size
    # Configure in get_postgres_connection()
)

# Reduce ZeroMQ latency
# Use dedicated network interface
# Increase system buffer sizes

🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/new-feature
3. Make changes and add tests
4. Run tests: uv run pytest tests/
5. Run linting: uv run ruff check src/ tests/
6. Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add new feature'
7. Push to branch: git push origin feature/new-feature
8. Submit a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.