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Documentation/Install and connect

Install Lightwick and connect your account.

Go from download to a live chart: install the app, sign in, and connect Rithmic, TopstepX, or Propr. Until you connect, the built-in simulator runs the workspace.

Before you begin

  • A Mac with Apple siliconmacOS 15 Sequoia or later. Intel Macs aren’t supported yet.
  • A Lightwick accountThe beta is free. Create an account if you haven’t yet.
  • A Rithmic, TopstepX, or Propr accountRithmic credentials come from your prop firm or broker. TopstepX also needs Topstep’s API access subscription. Propr needs an API key, which you create yourself.

Install the app

  1. Download Lightwick.Create your account and the download is in the Mac App section of your account.
  2. Install it.Open the downloaded disk image and double-click Lightwick. It offers to move itself into your Applications folder; you can also drag it there. Run from the disk image or Downloads, macOS uses a temporary copy, and anything that launches the app by its location, such as the MCP server, can’t find it later.
  3. Open Lightwick.The app is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other Mac app.

Sign in

On first launch, Lightwick asks you to accept the terms once, then to sign in with the Lightwick account you created on the website.

Connect Rithmic

Your prop firm or broker gives you a Rithmic username, password, and system. These are your trading credentials, which can differ from your firm’s dashboard login.

  1. Choose Connect Rithmic.Open the workspace’s connection menu, which shows Simulator until you connect, and choose Connect Rithmic. You can also set it up in Settings → Connections.
  2. Pick your system and gateway.Choose the System your firm assigned, such as Rithmic Paper Trading or your firm’s own system, then a Gateway. Lightwick includes 26 systems from Rithmic’s connection catalog.
  3. Enter your username and password.Lightwick saves the password in your Mac’s Keychain.
  4. Choose a mode.Manual Trading sends orders. Market Data Only streams prices and charts with order entry turned off.
  5. Connect and select your account.Your accounts on that system appear in the account menu once the connection has synced.
Changing gateways

Disconnect first. Accounts are kept separately for each Rithmic system, so switching systems shows that system’s accounts.

For which system your firm uses and what to ask them, read Rithmic on Mac or find your firm in the prop firm guides.

Connect TopstepX

Lightwick connects to TopstepX with an API key from TopstepX API access, which Topstep sells separately. The connection runs directly from your Mac to TopstepX.

  1. Subscribe to TopstepX API access.Follow Topstep’s setup instructions to subscribe and link it to your TopstepX profile.
  2. Generate an API key.In TopstepX, open Settings → API.
  3. Choose Connect TopstepX.Use the workspace’s connection menu, or Settings → Connections → TopstepX.
  4. Enter your username and API key.Use your TopstepX username, not your email address. Lightwick saves the key in your Mac’s Keychain.
  5. Connect and select your account.Start with a Practice account while you learn the workspace.
Turn on Auto OCO Brackets

TopstepX allows one stop and one target per entry, and only when Auto OCO Brackets is selected in TopstepX Risk Settings. With Position Brackets selected, TopstepX rejects orders that carry brackets. Lightwick shows the rejection and never resends the order without its protection.

Simulated accounts, such as the Trading Combine and Express Funded Accounts, can connect. Topstep doesn’t allow Live Funded Accounts through the API. Footprint and order-flow data start with the current session. More in TopstepX on Mac.

Connect Propr

Propr’s challenges trade Hyperliquid perps. Lightwick connects with an API key you create in Propr, and takes prices from Hyperliquid’s public feed. Both connections run directly from your Mac.

  1. Generate an API key.Sign in to Propr’s Trading Terminal and open Settings. Live keys begin with pk_live_. A key gives full access to your account, so keep it like a password.
  2. Choose Propr.Pick it on Lightwick’s sign-in screen, from the workspace’s connection menu, or in Settings → Connections → Propr.
  3. Pick Live or Beta and paste the key.Beta is Propr’s test environment at app.beta.propr.xyz, and its keys begin with pk_beta_. A Beta connection is marked BETA throughout the app. Lightwick saves the key in your Mac’s Keychain.
  4. Connect and select your challenge.Each active challenge is its own account, named after the challenge and phase with the last four characters of its ID.
No key yet?

Choose Market Data Only to watch Hyperliquid’s markets with no key or Propr account. When you add a key later, your watchlist and charts carry over.

Funded Propr accounts aren’t listed yet, so keep trading those in Propr’s Trading Terminal. Lightwick shows one net position per market, and because Propr has no order modify, moving a stop or target places the new one before cancelling the old. More in Propr on Mac and the Propr setup guide.

Practice in the simulator

Until you connect, the built-in simulator drives quotes, charts, and paper orders, so you can set up charts and try order entry without a broker. Disconnecting a broker returns the workspace to the simulator.

Updates

Lightwick updates itself during the beta. See what changed in the changelog.

  • Checks every hourNew builds download in the background and install the next time you quit. An update never restarts Lightwick while you’re using it.
  • Check nowChoose Lightwick → Check for Updates…. If you choose Install and Relaunch while a broker is connected, Lightwick asks before restarting.
  • Your settingsSettings → About shows the build you’re running. Settings → General → Updates turns automatic checks or downloads off.

Troubleshooting

Rithmic rejects my login

Check the username, password, and System against your firm’s onboarding email. If they match, ask your firm to confirm the trading credentials are active on that system and that third-party platforms are allowed.

My firm’s Rithmic system isn’t listed

Email hello@lightwick.trade with the exact system name your firm gave you.

Connected, but no account appears

On Rithmic, confirm with your firm that the account is assigned to the system you chose. On TopstepX, only simulated accounts are available through the API, and the API access subscription must be linked to the same TopstepX profile. On Propr, only active challenges appear, and the key must come from the Propr account that holds them.

TopstepX rejects orders with a stop or target

Select Auto OCO Brackets in TopstepX Risk Settings, and use one stop and one target per entry.

Propr rejects my API key

Check that the key matches the environment you picked: Live keys begin with pk_live_, Beta keys with pk_beta_. Propr gives you one key at a time, so if you generated a new one in Settings, paste that.

Something else went wrong

Use the feedback button in the workspace and tick “Attach the connection log”. Passwords and API keys are removed from the log before it’s saved. You can also email hello@lightwick.trade.