HomeGithubDiscordBlog

Action Center

What is Action Center?

Action Center is like a "shopping cart approval system" for your trading orders. Instead of orders executing immediately, they wait in a queue for you to manually review and approve them before they go to your broker.

Think of it as a safety checkpoint between your trading strategy and your real money.

Why Would You Use It?

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Testing a New Strategy

  • You wrote a Python trading bot that generates buy/sell signals

  • You're not 100% confident it works correctly yet

  • Instead of letting it trade automatically, you enable Action Center

  • Now every order waits for your approval - you can catch mistakes before they cost you money

Example 2: High-Risk Trades

  • Your strategy generates a signal to buy 1000 shares of a volatile stock

  • You want to review the order before it executes

  • Action Center lets you verify quantity, price, and timing before confirming

Example 3: Learning and Monitoring

  • You want to understand what signals your strategy is generating

  • Action Center shows you every order before execution

  • Great for learning how your algorithm behaves in real market conditions

How It Works

Two Modes

1. Auto Mode (Default) - Fully Automated

Trading Signal → OpenAlgo → Broker → Order Executed
                (instant)

Orders execute immediately without any manual intervention.

2. Semi-Auto Mode - Manual Approval Required

Trading Signal → OpenAlgo → Action Center (WAIT) → You Approve → Broker → Order Executed
                            (paused here)              ↓
                                                 You Reject → Order Cancelled

Orders wait in Action Center for you to review and approve.

Step-by-Step Setup

Step 1: Enable Semi-Auto Mode

  1. Go to Profile → API Key page

  2. Find "Order Execution Mode" section

  3. Turn ON the toggle switch (it will turn orange)

  4. Status changes from "Auto Mode" to "Semi-Auto Mode"

Step 2: Send Orders from Your Strategy

Your Python code stays exactly the same:

api.placeorder({
    "apikey": "YOUR_API_KEY",
    "symbol": "SBIN",
    "action": "BUY",
    "quantity": "10"
})

But now the response will be different:

{
    "status": "success",
    "message": "Order queued for approval in Action Center",
    "mode": "semi_auto"
}

Step 3: Review Orders in Action Center

  1. Click "Action Center" in the main menu

  2. You'll see a badge showing how many orders are pending

  3. Click on "Pending" tab to see orders waiting for approval

Step 4: Approve or Reject

For each order, you can:

  • Approve: Click green "Approve" button → Order sends to broker

  • Reject: Click red "Reject" button → Order cancelled, never sent to broker

What You Can See in Action Center

For each pending order:

  • Symbol (e.g., "SBIN")

  • Action (BUY or SELL)

  • Quantity (e.g., 10 shares)

  • Price (e.g., ₹625.50)

  • Order Type (MARKET, LIMIT, etc.)

  • When it was created (e.g., "2 minutes ago")

  • Current status (Pending, Approved, Rejected)

Tabs in Action Center

  1. Pending - Orders waiting for your action

  2. Approved - Orders you approved and sent to broker

  3. Rejected - Orders you declined

  4. All Orders - Complete history

Special Features

Auto-Refresh

The "Pending" tab refreshes every 30 seconds automatically, so you always see the latest orders.

Statistics Dashboard

At the top, you see:

  • Pending Approval: 5 orders

  • Buy Orders: 3

  • Sell Orders: 2

  • Approved: 15

  • Rejected: 2

Audit Trail

Every action is logged:

  • Who approved/rejected

  • When it was approved/rejected

  • Rejection reason (if you provide one)

Common Questions

Q: Do I need to change my trading code?

A: No! Your API calls stay exactly the same. Just toggle the mode in settings.

Q: What happens if I don't approve/reject orders?

A: They stay in the Pending queue indefinitely. Your strategy will keep generating signals, but they won't execute until you approve.

Q: Can I switch back to Auto Mode anytime?

A: Yes! Just toggle the switch OFF in API Key settings. New orders will execute immediately again.

Q: Does this work with all order types?

A: Yes! Works with:

  • Regular orders (placeorder)

  • Smart orders (placesmartorder)

  • Basket orders (basketorder)

  • Split orders (splitorder)

  • Options orders (optionsorder)

Q: Can I see which orders my strategy generated vs which I approved?

A: Yes! Each order shows:

  • Created time (when strategy sent it)

  • Approved time (when you clicked Approve)

  • Broker order ID (after execution)

Quick Comparison

Feature
Auto Mode
Semi-Auto Mode

Order Execution

Immediate

After approval

Your Involvement

None

Review each order

Safety

High risk (no checks)

Low risk (manual review)

Speed

Very fast

Slower (manual)

Best For

Proven strategies

Testing, learning

When to Use Which Mode

Use Auto Mode When:

  • Your strategy is proven and tested

  • You need high-frequency trading

  • You trust the strategy 100%

  • Speed is critical

Use Semi-Auto Mode When:

  • Testing a new strategy

  • Learning algorithmic trading

  • High-risk trades need verification

  • You want full control over every order

Example Workflow

Scenario: You're testing a new momentum strategy

  1. Morning 9:00 AM

    • Enable Semi-Auto mode in settings

    • Start your Python trading bot

  2. 9:30 AM - Market opens

    • Your bot generates BUY signal for RELIANCE

    • Order appears in Action Center "Pending" tab

  3. 9:31 AM - You review

    • Symbol: RELIANCE ✅ (Correct)

    • Quantity: 10 ✅ (Looks good)

    • Price: ₹2,500 ✅ (Reasonable)

    • Click "Approve"

  4. 9:31 AM - Order executes

    • Sent to broker

    • Shows "Approved" status

    • Broker order ID: 240612000123456

  5. 10:00 AM - Another signal

    • Your bot wants to SELL 100 shares of INFY

    • Wait... 100 shares seems too much!

    • Click "Reject" with reason: "Quantity too large"

  6. End of Day

    • Review statistics: 10 approved, 2 rejected

    • Adjust your strategy code to fix the quantity issue

Tips for Success

  1. Start with Semi-Auto when testing new strategies

  2. Switch to Auto only when you're confident

  3. Monitor the Pending tab regularly (it auto-refreshes)

  4. Use rejection reasons to track why you rejected orders

  5. Review history in "All Orders" tab to learn from patterns

Remember: Action Center gives you control. Use it wisely to protect your capital while testing new strategies!

PreviousChartink IntegrationNextResponsibilities

Last updated

Was this helpful?