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Virtual → Live Migration

PolySimulator is designed so your entire bot codebase works unchanged when switching from virtual (paper) trading to live (real-money) trading on Polymarket.

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Comparison

AspectVirtual ModeLive Mode
Money at riskNone (simulated $1,000)Real funds
Order executionLocal ledgerPolymarket CLOB
Market dataReal prices from PolymarketReal prices from Polymarket
API surfaceFull HFT API v1CLOB trading API (different endpoint paths)
SettlementAutomatic on resolutionPolymarket blockchain
Live mode executes real trades with real money on Polymarket. Ensure your strategy is thoroughly tested in virtual mode before migrating.

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Migration Steps

1

Test thoroughly in virtual mode

Run your bot through multiple market cycles. Verify:
  • Order placement works correctly
  • Error handling covers all edge cases
  • P&L tracking is accurate
  • WebSocket reconnection is stable
2

Get Polymarket API credentials

Polymarket uses two-layer authentication — both are required for live trading:L1 (wallet-level): Your Polygon wallet’s private key signs an EIP-712 message to derive L2 credentials. Each order also requires an EIP-712 signature from this key.L2 (API-level): HMAC credentials derived from L1 — used to authenticate all CLOB requests:
  • API Key (POLY_API_KEY)
  • API Secret (used to generate POLY_SIGNATURE)
  • API Passphrase (POLY_PASSPHRASE)
Prerequisites:
  • A Polygon wallet (MetaMask, Rabby, etc.) with a funded private key
  • USDC.e tokens on Polygon for trading capital
  • Token approval on the Polymarket Exchange contract
Use the Polymarket SDK to derive credentials automatically:
from py_clob_client.client import ClobClient

client = ClobClient("https://clob.polymarket.com", key=PRIVATE_KEY, chain_id=137)
api_creds = client.create_or_derive_api_key()
See Polymarket’s authentication docs for full details.
3

Update environment variables

Change your credentials and client configuration for live mode. Order payload structure stays highly portable, but endpoint paths/auth handling differ:
# Virtual mode (PolySimulator) — your current config
POLYSIM_BASE_URL="https://api.polysimulator.com/v1"
POLYSIM_API_KEY="ps_live_kJ9mNx2p..."

# Live mode (Polymarket) — swap these values
POLYMARKET_BASE_URL="https://clob.polymarket.com"
POLY_API_KEY="your_polymarket_api_key"
POLY_API_SECRET="your_polymarket_api_secret"
POLY_PASSPHRASE="your_polymarket_api_passphrase"
There is no single TRADING_MODE flag. Migration is achieved by switching to Polymarket credentials/client setup and routing order placement through Polymarket’s CLOB API flow.
4

Use CLOB-compatible endpoint (recommended for migration)

The CLOB-compatible endpoint mirrors Polymarket’s real CLOB API schema. Your bot code stays identical — only the base URL and auth header change:
import requests, os

BASE_URL = os.environ["POLYSIM_BASE_URL"]  # https://api.polysimulator.com/v1
headers = {"X-API-Key": os.environ["POLYSIM_API_KEY"]}

order = requests.post(f"{BASE_URL}/clob/order", headers=headers, json={
    "token_id": "71321045679252...",
    "side": "BUY",
    "price": "0.65",
    "size": "10",
    "order_type": "GTC",
})
order.raise_for_status()
print(order.json())
Auth difference: PolySimulator uses X-API-Key header. Polymarket uses L2 HMAC headers (POLY_ADDRESS, POLY_SIGNATURE, POLY_TIMESTAMP, POLY_API_KEY, POLY_PASSPHRASE) plus EIP-712 signing for each order. The Polymarket SDK handles the complexity — only the client initialisation changes, not the order fields.
5

Verify with small orders

Start with minimal order sizes to verify live execution:
import os
from py_clob_client.client import ClobClient
from py_clob_client.clob_types import ApiCreds, OrderArgs, OrderType
from py_clob_client.order_builder.constants import BUY

creds = ApiCreds(
  api_key=os.getenv("POLY_API_KEY"),
  api_secret=os.getenv("POLY_API_SECRET"),
  api_passphrase=os.getenv("POLY_PASSPHRASE"),
)
client = ClobClient(
  "https://clob.polymarket.com",
  chain_id=137,
  key=os.getenv("PRIVATE_KEY"),
  creds=creds,
)

# 1. Place a small test limit order
signed = client.create_order(
  OrderArgs(token_id="71321045679252...", side=BUY, price=0.10, size=1)
)
posted = client.post_order(signed, OrderType.GTC)
print("Posted order:", posted)

# 2. Verify open orders
open_orders = client.get_orders()
print("Open orders:", len(open_orders))

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CLOB Compatibility Layer

The POST /v1/clob/order endpoint accepts the same request body as Polymarket’s POST /order:
FieldTypeDescription
token_idstringCLOB outcome token ID
sidestringBUY or SELL (uppercase)
pricestringLimit price as decimal string (“0.01”–“0.99”)
sizestringNumber of shares as decimal string
order_typestringGTC (default), FOK, IOC, GTD
All numeric fields (price, size) must be strings (e.g., "0.65" not 0.65). side must be uppercase ("BUY" not "buy"). order_type must be a CLOB type ("GTC", "FOK", "IOC", "GTD") — not "market".
See CLOB Compatibility for full schema details and response format.

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Rollback

To return to virtual mode, change your bot’s environment variables back: 
POLYSIM_BASE_URL="https://api.polysimulator.com/v1"
POLYSIM_API_KEY="ps_live_kJ9mNx2p..."
# Remove or comment out Polymarket credentials
Restart your bot and it resumes paper trading with the simulated balance.

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Checklist

  • Bot tested across multiple market scenarios in virtual mode
  • Error handling verified (network errors, rate limits, slippage)
  • Polymarket API credentials obtained and secured
  • Environment variables updated
  • Initial live test with minimal order size
  • Monitoring and alerting configured for live trading