DEXBot2← Homepage
Browse documentation
Docs›DEXBot2 Documentation

DEXBot2 Documentation

This directory contains the comprehensive technical documentation for the DEXBot2 trading bot. It is designed to guide developers from high-level architecture down to the nuances of fund accounting and state management.

Version context: v1.6.11 (released).

User-Facing Workflows

🎓 BitShares Onboarding

Beginner tutorial for new BitShares users getting started with DEXBot2.

  • Account Setup: Register and fund a BitShares account
  • Keys Explained: Owner vs active vs memo vs login key — and which one the bot needs
  • First Bot: Import keys, create a bot config, and run a dry run
  • Troubleshooting: The most common first-run mistakes and how to fix them

📡 Market Adapter

Live AMA pricing, dynamic weights, and recalc trigger orchestration.

  • Quick Start: Enable AMA, set the per-bot adapter flags in dexbot bot, and start DEXBot2
  • Settings: Global, pair, and bot-specific adapter overrides
  • Dynamic Weights: How adapter signals write live weight snapshots
  • Troubleshooting: Common adapter startup and trigger issues

💳 MPA and Credit Usage

User-facing MPA and credit offer workflow guide.

  • Debt Policy: Per-bot debtPolicy.lending configuration where each item declares its own collateralAsset
  • Credit-Only Mode: Run credit runtime without grid trading (creditOnly: true, dexbot start credit runs just that worker as a background daemon)
  • MPA Borrowing: Call-order updates with debt-first CR planning
  • Credit Offers: Accept/repay with auto-reborrow and LP-backed collateral valuation
  • Watchdog Timing: Dedicated credit deal renewal interval and expiry threshold settings

📈 Analysis

Research runners, chart generators, and tuning helpers.

  • Trend Detection: Hurst, Kalman, and regime analysis tools
  • AMA Fitting: Parameter fitting, comparison charts, and LP data workflows
  • Bot Fitting: Grid parameter sweep backtests for AMA winners
  • TradingView Exports: Chart export utilities for visual analysis
  • Trade Profitability: FIFO-based PnL analysis from Kibana fill data (trade_profitability.ts), plus the self-contained HTML report behind dexbot pnl (pnl_report.ts) with a per-account month-shard fill cache (fills_cache.ts)
  • Bot Usage Discovery: On-chain bot account finder and Kibana query helpers (bot_usage/)

🦀 Claw

Bridge between DEXBot2 and external runtimes.

  • Purpose: Exposes BitShares capabilities and DEXBot2 infrastructure through JSON/CLI bridges, MCP, and runtime-native skill packaging for OpenClaw and compatible runtimes (see claw/README.md for the full list).
  • API Boundary: Responsibility split between the AI decision layer and the DEXBot2 execution substrate (AI_BOT_LIBRARY_API.md)
  • Tuning Reference: Practical grid-tuning baselines (DEXBOT2_TUNING_CHEAT_SHEET.md)
  • Position Management: Short-position tracking, position health monitoring (3-zone CR model), and shared CR planning via cr_planner.ts
  • Skills: Presentation-only, concept-reference, and launcher-orchestration skill packs for bitshares-guide, margin-trading, launcher-ops, and shared references

Operational & Security

🔐 Credential Security

How private keys are protected at rest, in transit, and in RAM.

  • Vault v2: scrypt (N=2¹⁷) key derivation, per-record HKDF isolation, AES-256-GCM encryption
  • Daemon-backed signing: primary bot flow uses signing tokens; all signing happens inside the daemon, raw keys never exported
  • Session cache: encrypted HKDF re-encryption with a random salt that is never persisted
  • Runtime hardening: lstat + owner/mode/type checks on all sockets and ready files; bootstrap socket destroyed after first use

📊 Grid Recalculation

When and why the grid resets.

  • Reset Sources: Market-adapter bootstrap, AMA delta, AMA-slope range reset, RMS divergence correction, and fund regeneration
  • Configuration: Per-source thresholds, whitelist requirements, and defaults
  • Trigger Execution: How profiles/recalculate.<botKey>.trigger is consumed under the fill-processing lock

🔁 Grid Reconciliation

How the bot re-aligns its intended grid with on-chain reality at startup.

  • 3-Phase Plan-then-Execute: Phase 1 pure in-memory planning under _gridLock, Phase 2 blockchain execution outside the lock, Phase 3 fresh re-read and stale surplus cleanup
  • Safety Guardrails: Fresh-grid matchedOnGrid > 0 guard, exact slot-price duplicate cancel, freshly-assigned deferral, and truncated-read ambiguity handling
  • Partial Failure State: No rollback on partial Phase 2 success; remaining mismatches caught by the next maintenance or startup cycle
  • Lock Hierarchy: Canonical _syncLock/_gridLock level reference and the 1.4.6 ABBA deadlock correction

📝 Logging System

Configuration reference for log levels, rotation, JSON output, and categories.

  • 5 Severity Levels: debug, info, warn, error, critical.
  • Rotation: Size-based (1.1GB total budget default), auto-prune (10 rotated files).
  • JSON Output: Structured lines for log aggregators (opt-in).
  • Categories: 6 independently enablable category groups.
  • Change Detection: Skips redundant logs (40-50% reduction).
  • Batch Processing Logs: Fill batching, recovery retry, and orphan-fill deduplication messages.
  • Fill History Scans: The Subscriptions logger emits fetchFillHistoryEntries: maxPages (X) reached at debug level when the history scan hits its page cap — normal on busy accounts; see LOGGING.md for the --partial-operations diagnostic.

🐳 Docker

Container build, release images, and secure startup.

  • Build Flow: Docker-based packaging for the bot runtime
  • Release Images: Container release and startup guidance
  • Security: Notes on secure container launch behavior

🛠️ Scripts

CLI maintenance and diagnostic utilities.

  • Update: Safe production update via dexbot update
  • Reset & Cleanup: Log/order wipes, settings resets, and market-adapter/claw state cleanup
  • Diagnostics: Configuration audit, grid divergence/trading analysis, and candle/pool history checks

Reference Docs

🏛️ Architecture

The blueprint of the system.

  • Design Philosophy: Simplicity, constant spread, minimal blockchain interaction, and closed-loop market dynamics.
  • System Design: High-level overview of how the bot components interact.
  • Module Responsibilities: Detailed breakdown of the Manager, Accountant, Strategy, SyncEngine, Grid, FillRuntime, and MaintenanceRuntime modules.
  • Copy-on-Write Pattern: Safe concurrent rebalancing with isolated working grids (see COPY_ON_WRITE_MASTER_PLAN.md)
  • Fill Processing Pipeline: Fixed-cap batch fill processing (gapSlots+1 fills per broadcast; documented Feb 7 29-fill scenario: ~24s)
  • Spread Correction: Conservative, fund-aware maintenance of constant spread width
  • Periodic Market Price Refresh: Background 4-hour price updates
  • Pipeline Safety & Diagnostics: 5-minute timeout safeguard and health monitoring
  • Data Flow: Visualization of how market data becomes trading operations and then blockchain transactions.
  • Zero-Dependency Policy: Formal policy rationale, trading-bot special-case justification, and practical implications (native blockchain client, crypto, testing, persistence)
  • Market Adapter Signal Pipeline: AMA center, dynamic weights, regime detection, and collateral advisories
  • Credit/Debt Runtime: Native MPA and credit offer workflows with CR planning and grid reset coupling; creditOnly mode for runtime-only operation without grid trading

🧬 Lifecycle

The end-to-end walkthrough (start here for the big picture).

  • System Context: What DEXBot2 talks to (chain, market data, storage, operator).
  • Startup / Bootstrap: Decrypt keys → load metadata → rebuild master grid → sync → runtime loops.
  • Lifecycle A (Fill-Driven): Reactive path from an on-chain fill to a single atomic rebalance + broadcast.
  • Lifecycle B (Maintenance / AMA-Driven): Periodic path from _performPeriodicGridChecks → executeMaintenanceLogic.
  • Cross-Cutting Invariants: COW boundary, fund SSOT, replay-safe fills, lock ordering.

🧩 Copy-on-Write Master Plan

COW design, phases, and state machine details.

  • Architecture: Master-grid projection model and rebalance flow
  • Lifecycle: State machine, rebalance/fill data flows, fill handling strategy, and operational rules
  • Safety: Invariants and guardrails for concurrent updates

🔒 COW Invariants

Stable theory contract for COW pipeline.

  • Non-negotiable invariants: Master immutability, commit atomicity, projection rules, accounting separation
  • Subsystem Scope: 13 INV-* prefix groups mapping each invariant to its runtime subsystem
  • Change Policy: Required steps for an intentional invariant change — same-PR doc update, rationale, and regression tests

📐 Grid-Price Invariant

Why a slot's emitted price must equal its genesis level — and how that failed.

  • The invariant: order.price === priceForSlot(idx, genesis), and why range guards cannot substitute for it
  • Failure mechanism: Chain price overwriting slot identity, pre-broadcast substitution, untrusted fill-guard pivot
  • Enforcement: The six emission sites, the blocking rejection of off-grid emissions, the final pre-broadcast pivot gate, and the fail-open policy on unjudgeable inputs
  • Out-of-bounds policy: Hold and surface; refill in-grid slots at their genesis price
  • Status: Landed enforcement map, key constants, and why the removed 5% sanity gate must not be naively re-landed

💰 Fund Movement & Accounting

The most critical part of the bot: safe capital management.

  • Single Source of Truth: How the bot avoids double-spending and out-of-sync balances.
  • Optimistic ChainFree: The mechanism that allows the bot to trade with fill proceeds before they are finalized on-chain.
  • Fill Batch Processing: Fixed-cap batching for efficient fill processing (1..gapSlots+1 unified, deeper queues chunked at gapSlots+1)
  • Partial Order Consolidation: Simplified, direct consolidation through grid rebuilding (no merge/split mechanics)
  • Dust Detection & Management: Partials below the dust threshold are cancelled on-chain immediately on detection (no delay, no timer)
  • BTS Fee Object Structure: netProceeds field for accounting precision
  • BUY Side Sizing & Fee Accounting: Correct fee application by order side
  • Mixed Order Fund Validation: Separate validation for BUY vs SELL order fund checks
  • Fee Management: Detailed logic for BTS fee reservations and market fee deductions.

📖 Developer Guide

Your daily companion for coding.

  • Quick Start: How to get the development environment running.
  • Module Deep-Dive: In-depth analysis of the internal logic of each primary module.
  • Copy-on-Write Pattern: How to work safely within the COW rebalance pipeline; WorkingGrid usage and master-grid commit rules (see COPY_ON_WRITE_MASTER_PLAN.md)
  • Startup Sequence & Lock Ordering: Consolidated startup with deadlock prevention
  • Zero-Amount Order Prevention: Validation gates for healthy order sizes
  • Configurable startPrice & gridPrice: Fixed numeric, pool, book-derived, or AMA keyword pricing modes
  • Pool ID Caching: Optimization for price derivation
  • Order State Helper Functions: Centralized predicate functions for state checking
  • Signal Concepts: Dynamic weights, regime detection, and market adapter integration
  • Debt Policy: Native MPA and credit offer configuration and runtime rules
  • Practical How-Tos: Adding features step by step, common pitfalls to avoid, and useful debugging commands.
  • Glossary: Definitions of project-specific terminology (e.g., "Virtual Orders", "Rotation", "Pipeline Safety", "WorkingGrid", "COW Commit", "Dynamic Weight", "Regime Detection").

🔄 Workflow

How we build and release.

  • Branching Strategy: Explanation of the test → dev → main lifecycle.
  • CI/CD Patterns: Standards for merging and ensuring code quality across branches.

🧪 Test Suite

Test organization, categories, and key architectural patterns tested.

  • Test Layout: Directory structure, helpers, and quick-start commands
  • Categories: Core infrastructure, order management, COW rebalancing, fees/accounting, integration, edge cases, and more
  • Architectural Patterns: COW rebalancing, RMS divergence, fund invariants, and the grid-price invariant with doc cross-references

🧭 Evolution Report

Project timeline and major architecture phases.

  • Coverage: Historical milestones from bootstrap through the current stable release; per-release detail lives in CHANGELOG.md
  • Focus: Architecture evolution, release history, and test growth

⏪ Order Engine Retrospective

Why the post-1.0.0 order engine kept misbehaving — synthesis plus the incident/fix ledger.

  • Part I — Synthesis: root cause (uncertain broadcast), recurring bug families, meta-patterns, what actually fixed it, lessons
  • Part II — Incident & Fix Ledger: preserved gap-band / ladder-recenter / orphan-fill / price-first plans with LANDED/REVERTED/SUPERSEDED status and commit hashes
  • Regression gate: npm run analysis:grid-check (see analysis/README.md)

🗒️ Changelog

Release notes and documentation history.

  • Scope: Versioned notes per release

🧮 DEXBot vs DEXBot2 Comparison

Architectural, functional, and operational comparison with the original Python DEXBot.

  • Scope: Full side-by-side of technology stack, architecture, trading strategies, order management, configuration, blockchain integration, fund accounting, and concurrency safety
  • Audience: Developers and operators evaluating or migrating between the two projects

Source Code Map

While these docs explain the why, the how lives in the code. See the full module index for a complete directory walkthrough. Key source modules:

  • modules/dexbot_class.ts: Bot initialization, account setup, lifecycle orchestration, credit runtime startup, and shared runtime wiring
  • modules/dexbot_fill_runtime.ts: Fill processing, replay-safe accounting, and fill queue handling
  • modules/dexbot_maintenance_runtime.ts: Open-orders sync loop, blockchain fetch loop, grid maintenance, trigger handling, and market adapter watchdog
  • modules/order/manager.ts: Central controller with Copy-on-Write rebalancing pattern (see COPY_ON_WRITE_MASTER_PLAN.md)
  • modules/order/working_grid.ts: COW grid wrapper enabling safe concurrent rebalancing with isolated modifications
  • modules/order/grid.ts: Grid generation, sizing, divergence detection, and spread management
  • modules/order/accounting.ts: Fund tracking, available balance calculation, fee deduction, and committed fund management
  • modules/order/processed_fill_store.ts: Processed fill dedupe tracker and persistence batching
  • modules/order/strategy.ts: Grid rebalancing, order activation, consolidation, rotation, and spread management
  • modules/order/sync_engine.ts: Blockchain synchronization, fill detection, order reconciliation
  • modules/order/genesis_policy.ts: Missing-ladder refusal and the MISSING_GENESIS_POLICY rebuild/halt decision (GRID_PRICE_INVARIANT.md)
  • modules/version_notice.ts: The single version probe and status-line renderer for every entry point (stat/pm2/start/restart). Two sources (npm, then GitHub releases), a 12h cache for successes and a 15min backoff for failures, an explicit reason when it cannot answer, and a staged wait in dexbot stat ending in "no current version information" rather than silence
  • modules/credit_runtime.ts: Bot-scoped debt workflow executor (MPA and credit offer accept/repay/reborrow)
  • modules/cr_planner.ts: Shared collateral-ratio math layer for debt-first planning
  • modules/order/utils/math.ts: Precision conversions, RMS divergence calculation, fund allocation math
  • modules/order/utils/order.ts: Order state predicates, grid indexing, reconciliation helpers, delta building, index utilities
  • modules/order/utils/validate.ts: Order validation, grid reconciliation, COW action building
  • modules/order/utils/system.ts: System utilities, price derivation, fill deduplication
  • modules/order/grid_reconcile.ts: Startup grid reconciliation and offline fill detection (GRID_RECONCILE.md)
  • modules/credential_policy.ts: Signing policy validation and operation allowlists

Last synced from GitHub: 954d53557292 ↗