How to Get Your TopstepX (ProjectX) API Key

How to subscribe to ProjectX API access, link it to TopstepX, and generate the API key that lets a bot, bridge or script trade your Topstep account. Plus what it costs and the rules that come with it.

Short answer: create a ProjectX Dashboard account, subscribe to API access ($29/month, or $14.50 with the code topstep), link it to TopstepX under Settings → API, then click Add API Key. Four parts, about ten minutes. The key works on the Trading Combine, the Express Funded Account and Practice accounts. It does not work on a Live Funded Account.

What the key actually is

The API key authenticates your requests to the ProjectX Gateway API, the interface TopstepX runs on. Every automated order, position read and cancel goes through it.

Topstep's own warning, verbatim:

"Your API key grants full trading access to every eligible account under your profile."

Not one account. Every eligible account. Treat it like your account password, or more carefully, because a leaked key can be scripted against faster than anyone could log in by hand.

What it costs

From Topstep's API access page:

"API Access is $29/month. Topstep Traders get 50% off with code topstep — that's $14.50/month, valid every month with no end date."

One subscription covers all your accounts. The charge shows up on your statement as Sim2Funded Solutions, not Topstep, so don't mistake it for fraud.

Getting the key, step by step

These are Topstep's documented steps.

Part 1: create a ProjectX Dashboard account

1. Go to dashboard.projectx.com and click Register.
2. Enter your email, create a username and password, and click Create Account.

Part 2: subscribe to API access

3. In the ProjectX Dashboard, go to Subscriptions → ProjectX API Access.
4. Enter payment details and the promo code topstep for the 50% discount, then confirm.

Part 3: link TopstepX to the dashboard

5. In TopstepX, click the Settings gear and open the API tab.
6. Under ProjectX Linking, click Add Link and confirm.
7. Check the ProjectX Dashboard: your account should now appear there.

Part 4: generate the key

8. In TopstepX, go to Settings → API and click Add API Key.
9. Copy it straight away and store it somewhere secure.

If you get "Error creating key: User lacks subscription," Part 3 didn't finish. The subscription isn't linked to your TopstepX profile yet. Link it and try again.

Where the key is allowed to run

Three rules decide this, and all three are on the same Topstep page.

Not on Live. "Live funded accounts are not allowed to trade through the ProjectX API. The API Gateway is built for the simulated environment and isn't available on Live." The key covers the Combine and the Express Funded Account. The full stage-by-stage breakdown is in does Topstep allow automated trading.

Only from your own machine. "All trading activity must originate from your personal device. The use of VPS, VPNs, and remote servers is prohibited by Topstep's Terms of Use. Running automation on a VPS can result in account suspension or removal from the program." A server can store data, backtest and show a read-only dashboard. It cannot place, modify, cancel or relay an order. Topstep puts it in one line: "your server can watch and record, but it cannot trade."

No sandbox. "There is currently no sandbox environment available. To test your strategy, use a Practice account instead." The Practice account uses the same endpoints, so test there first.

The rule that matters more than the setup

Topstep is blunt about errors: "Orders executed via the API are final — no review, adjustment, or reversal." A bug in your code is your loss.

So two habits before the key touches anything that counts:

• Keep it out of your code. Use an environment variable or a password vault. Never paste it into a script you might push to GitHub. A key in a public repo belongs to the whole internet.
• Revoke on any doubt. Pasted it in the wrong window? A machine you don't trust? Delete it and make a new one. It takes two minutes. Not doing it can cost you every account on the profile.

Next

• Sierra Chart to TopstepX: the free trade copier →: where the key goes, set up step by step.
• What is ProjectX? →: the gateway your key authenticates against.
• Does Topstep allow automated trading? →: which accounts the key is allowed on.

Topstep quotes retrieved 2026-11-05. Prop rules change; check the linked page before you act on them.

---

Wiring up a TopstepX account? The newsletter below covers the parts nobody puts in the setup guide. Not signals, not hype.