Frequently asked questions

Yes. The 3D demo runs the real Research Lab city in your browser, with sample data from the simulator. Nothing to install and no account. It shows the look and the agents, not trading results, and it isn't a trial of the trading engine; the full version adds the engine, the dashboard and everything else listed under What you get.

Ascent Trading Systems is self-hosted research software for designing, testing and monitoring your own US stock and ETF strategies. It runs on your own Windows PC or Linux server and paper-trades through your free Alpaca account by default.

You get the trading engine, a 12-page dashboard, a 3D city view of every agent, risk and go-live checks, documentation and the full source code. It is a research and simulation model, not a trading service, a signal provider or investment advice.

• A Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit) PC, or an Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 server. A free Oracle Cloud server works, and a step-by-step guide is included.
• An internet connection.
• A free Alpaca paper-trading account. The installer walks you through creating one.
• To live in the United States: we sell to US residents only.

Everything else, including Python, is installed for you.

No. On Windows you double-click START_HERE and follow the prompts. Day-to-day use happens in the dashboard. Changing settings means editing a clearly commented text file. You never need to touch the code, and the license allows settings changes only, so every copy stays supported and updatable.

It runs on your own Windows PC or Ubuntu server, and you view the dashboard in your web browser on that computer. There is no Mac version, mobile app or hosted online version.

Lemon Squeezy emails your receipt and license key right after payment. Open the download page, paste your key, tick the agreement box and download your copy. Then extract the zip and double-click START_HERE.

No. Your license key is your access. It works for downloading, activating and updating.

Check your spam and promotions folders for the email from Lemon Squeezy. You can also open your Lemon Squeezy orders and sign in with the email you used: every order and key is listed there. Still missing? Email support@ascenttradingsystems.com with the address you bought with.

One license is for one person on up to two of their own computers, for example a PC and a cloud server. To move it, free a computer first and activate on the new one.

A Custom City is a 3D city designed to your request: style, landmarks, colors and names. It comes only with the Founders Edition and isn't sold separately. You use the standard city right away, and your custom city is delivered within 30 days of your request, with one revision included. Cities are built in the order requests arrive. If a very large number of requests arrives at once, delivery can take up to 90 days: we tell you your date when we confirm your request, and if you'd rather not wait you can have the $100 city part refunded instead. Custom work covers the city's look, not trading logic.

To request it: email us with the subject Custom City, order # plus your order number, with the style, landmarks, colors, names, 1 to 3 reference pictures and anything to avoid. See Contact.

The Founders Edition is the all-in version of Ascent Trading Systems, for $449 once. It includes the full software, a Custom City designed to your request, every new system, newly tested strategy and big update we release (as long as we release them), and early access to new feature versions (we aim for up to 30 days early). It never renews. Bug fixes are free for everyone.

Founders Edition is limited to 1,000 buyers, or until version 2.0, whichever comes first. After that it won't be offered again. Once the first 50 seats are claimed, the number left is shown in the pricing section.

We make no promise of profits or wins, and no honest seller can. The software ships with no track record; you configure, test and validate it yourself, and you are responsible for the results. Please read the risk disclaimer before buying.

Only if you choose to, through your own Alpaca live account. Paper trading is the default. Live trading is designed to stay locked until a strategy earns a Scorecard PASS and a full pre-flight check passes. You must also accept a written risk acknowledgement and type a confirmation phrase. Going live is entirely your decision and your risk.

It compares your paper-trading results with what the backtest predicted: average trade, win rate, costs, trade frequency and drawdown. It answers PASS, WAIT or FAIL. A PASS only means paper trading behaved like the backtest so far; it is not a prediction of future results.

The software runs on your own computer. Your broker keys, trades, settings and logs stay there, and we never receive them. License checks and downloads use encrypted connections, and bug reports remove keys, emails and your user name before anything is sent (if you attach diagnostic info, it can include trade details; you see it before sending). If you turn on the optional Ask the Agents page, your questions and a snapshot of your own logs go to Anthropic with your own key.

In two places, and we say exactly where. The ML Breakout Filter is a small machine-learning model (logistic regression plus LightGBM) we trained before release on past market data. It casts one ordinary council vote, has no veto, never places or sizes a trade, and never retrains on your computer. The optional Ask the Agents page sends your question and a snapshot of your own logs to Anthropic's Claude, with your own API key, and answers in plain English. Its answers can be wrong, and it can't change settings or trade. Everything else is fixed, rule-based code you can read. See the risk disclaimer.

No. We are not a registered investment adviser, and we can't tell you what or when to trade. Support covers installation, your license and bugs.

Bug fixes are free for your version, for as long as we release them. Fixes and small improvements to the version you bought never need a plan. Every purchase also includes one year of new systems, newly tested strategies and big updates. After that, an optional renewal of $79 a year keeps them coming, and the Founders Edition includes every one we release. Your copy keeps working either way. See update plans.

Run update.bat. It downloads the new version, backs up the files it will replace, installs it and runs a self-check. If anything fails, it is designed to restore your previous version automatically. It is built not to overwrite your settings, keys, logs or data.

Email us within 14 days of purchase. We'll help you get it running on a supported system, and if we can't, you receive a full refund. See the refund policy.

Because you receive the full source code at download, sales are final apart from the 14-day installation guarantee. That is why we list exactly what you get and who it is and isn't for. If you're unsure, ask us before you buy.

Prices for new buyers go up when major versions ship. What you've already paid never changes. Prices for new buyers climb one step with each release, on its release day, to a planned $999 for the complete version 2.0. The next three steps are binding price commitments; later steps are planned and may change. See the roadmap. Your license is yours to keep, a yearly plan keeps its price while it stays active, and the Founders Edition is paid once. We don't use countdown timers or fake deadlines.

Use the Help & Feedback page inside the dashboard to send a bug report or suggestion directly to us, or email support@ascenttradingsystems.com with your order number. Every purchase includes 30 days of email installation help.