Connect an exchange: the API key, step by step

The key you make lets A9 place orders in your own account and nothing else. It cannot withdraw or transfer, and it is bound to A9's server addresses, so it is useless to anyone else even if it leaks. A9 connects to OKX and Binance; you can add a key for either or both.

What the key may and may not do

• Trade: on. On OKX tick Trade (and Earn if you want the Flywheel); on Binance tick "Enable Spot, Margin & Stock Trading", plus Enable Futures if a bot will short.
• Withdraw: off. A key that can withdraw is refused when you save it, and nothing is stored.
• A read-only key is refused too: a bot has to be able to place orders.
• IP list: A9's addresses only. The key then works only from A9's servers.

A9 stores the key encrypted. After you save it, the secret and passphrase are never shown again, and the list shows the key only as its first and last four characters.

Before you create it

1. OKX: switch the account to one-way position mode (Trade → Futures → ··· → Settings → Position mode → One-way).
2. OKX: accept both stock risk notices, Spot and Perpetual. The simplest way is to place a limit order far below the market on xSOXL/USDT and on SOXLUSDT, accept the notice each one shows, then cancel the orders. A sub-account must do this on its own.
3. Binance: set one-way mode in Futures settings. On a classic account, futures use a separate wallet, so move USDT there if a bot will short.
4. Put USDT in the trading account. The ready-made bots on the getting-started panel need about 500 USDT.

OKX, in short

1. Profile menu → More → API → Create API Key. Name it (for example a9) and choose API trading.
2. Tick Trade and Earn and nothing that moves money; leave Transfer and Loan off. Markets: Spot & Margin and Perpetual.
3. Add every crypto with + Add → Select all → Confirm.
4. Turn on Trusted IP addresses and paste A9's line in one go.
5. Set a passphrase (8 to 32 characters, with upper and lower case, a number and a symbol) and submit. You will need this passphrase again on A9; it is not your login password.
6. Enter the email code, open the key's row and use Copy credentials, or take a screenshot of that page.

Binance, in short

1. Search "api" → API Management → Create API → Self-generated. A9 accepts only self-generated Ed25519 keys; a system-generated key is refused.
2. On A9, press "Generate an Ed25519 key" on the Exchange keys page and use Copy public key. Paste the whole public key into Binance, give the key a label and confirm with your codes.
3. Copy the API key Binance shows back into A9. There is no secret and no passphrase on Binance. The private key is shown once on A9; it is stored with the key when you save.
4. A new Binance key is read-only, so press Edit: tick "Enable Spot, Margin & Stock Trading" (and Enable Futures to short), leave Enable Withdrawals off, choose "Restrict access to trusted IPs only", paste A9's addresses and save.

A9's addresses

Production calls the exchanges from a fixed block of 16 addresses, 4.144.67.208/28, plus one more address. Use Copy all on the keys page and paste the whole line: OKX takes the block as one range entry, while Binance needs every address written out, which is how A9 shows it there. A missing address is the most common reason a key fails.

Save and check it

1. Me → Trading → Exchange keys. Pick OKX or Binance and an Account: the main account or a sub-account. Choosing a slot that already has a key replaces it.
2. Paste the key and secret (OKX's Copy credentials text fills both boxes; the passphrase is always typed), then press "Verify & store".
3. A9 runs its checks and lists them with a tick, a "!" when something needs fixing, or a "?" when it could not be read: withdrawals disabled, trade permission, one-way position mode, USDT available and, on Binance, the derivatives permission and IP list.
4. Fix any "!" item on the exchange and press Re-check. When everything passes the key reads "Ready to trade: every check passed."

Two OKX items cannot be read through the API, so A9 asks you to confirm them yourself: both stock risk notices accepted, and every crypto added with Select all.

If something goes wrong

• "Wrong passphrase": it is the passphrase you set on the key, not your OKX login password.
• OKX refused our address, or Binance error -2015: the key's IP list is missing some of A9's addresses. Edit the key, paste the full line again and save.
• The signature failed: the secret was copied wrongly. OKX shows the secret only once; if it is lost, create a new key.
• Binance says the key is not Ed25519: delete it on Binance and create a Self-generated key as above.
• A bot on an OKX stock stops with "Action required… accept the disclaimer": a stock risk notice has not been accepted on that account or sub-account.
• To retire a key, press Remove on its row. It is deleted at once. Stop the bots that use it first, and delete the key on the exchange as well.

Pick your exchange below and follow the screens; the last step takes you to the keys page to enter it.