Forven is a free, open-source, self-hosted autonomous crypto-trading research & operations workspace. It pairs a team of AI agents with a backtesting engine, a robustness "gauntlet," paper trading, and an operator dashboard — so idea generation, validation, and monitoring all live in one repo you run on your own machine.

⚠️ Paper + testnet by default. Not financial advice. Forven ships in paper-trading mode with Hyperliquid testnet as the supported default. A live/mainnet execution engine exists in the code but is unsupported, disabled by default, and reachable only via deliberate opt-in — enabling real-money trading is entirely at your own risk. Trading crypto carries a substantial risk of total loss; backtest and paper results do not predict live performance, and the software's own metrics can be wrong. Use entirely at your own risk. See DISCLAIMER.md.

• Autonomous research agents — a strategy-developer / quant-researcher / risk / execution agent team that generates hypotheses, builds strategies, and runs them through validation.
• Backtesting engine — bar-by-bar execution with vectorized signal generation.
• The Gauntlet — a robustness battery (walk-forward analysis, Monte-Carlo, parameter-jitter, cost-stress) that gates strategy promotion.
• Paper trading on Hyperliquid testnet, with real risk controls: stop-losses, a drawdown kill-switch, fill reconciliation, and liquidation-distance monitoring.
• Operator dashboard (SvelteKit) plus an in-process MCP server, so you can also drive it from Claude, Codex, and other MCP clients.
• Bring your own keys — your LLM provider key and your exchange (testnet) keys stay local; nothing is sent to any Forven server. There is no account and no sign-up.

• Backend: Python 3.11+, FastAPI, uvicorn
• Frontend: SvelteKit 2, Svelte 5, Tailwind CSS, Vite
• Database: SQLite under FORVEN_HOME (defaults to ~/.forven)
• Memory: ChromaDB
• Backtesting: built-in bar-by-bar engine with vectorized signal generation
• Exchange layer: CCXT adapters under forven/exchange/
• Default local URLs: frontend http://127.0.0.1:5173 · backend http://127.0.0.1:8003 · health http://127.0.0.1:8003/api/health

Requirements: Python 3.11+, Node.js, and git.

git clone https://github.com/judder659/Forven.git
cd Forven

The PowerShell launcher creates .venv, installs backend + frontend dependencies, initializes the database, and starts everything:

$env:START_BOT = '0'
$env:START_DAEMON = '0'
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\start_all.ps1

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -e .
cd frontend && npm install && cd ..
cp .env.example .env
START_BOT=0 START_DAEMON=0 bash start_all.sh

Then open http://127.0.0.1:5173.

Forven uses your LLM provider and your exchange — configured locally and never sent to any Forven server. Two ways to connect an LLM provider:

• API key (recommended): add it in the dashboard under Settings → Agents, or export the provider's env var before starting (e.g. OPENAI_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_API_KEY).
• OAuth sign-in: python -m forven auth login openai connects your ChatGPT/provider account via OAuth. python -m forven auth status shows what's configured.

Add your Hyperliquid testnet credentials in the dashboard under /settings. No Forven account is required, and credentials never leave your machine.

• Full docs: https://forven.app
• In-repo: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md · docs/FIRST_RUN_CHECKLIST.md · docs/USER_MANUAL.md

• GitHub: https://github.com/judder659/Forven
• Discord: https://discord.gg/vzSQTneq6a
• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Forven/
• X: https://x.com/forvenapp

# Run the full stack
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\start_all.ps1     # Windows
bash start_all.sh                                            # macOS / Linux

# Backend only
python -m uvicorn --app-dir . forven.api:app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8003 --reload

# Frontend only
cd frontend && npm run dev

# CLI
python -m forven --help

# Tests / checks
python -m pytest tests -q
python -m ruff check forven tests
cd frontend && npm test && npm run check

Start from .env.example and set only what you need. Useful values:

• FORVEN_EXECUTION_MODE=paper — the default and only supported mode. live exists but is unsupported; a real-money order additionally requires FORVEN_ALLOW_MAINNET=1 and mainnet credentials, and is entirely at your own risk.
• START_BOT=0 / START_DAEMON=0 — leave the Discord bot / autonomous trading daemon off unless you want them.
• FORVEN_BIND_HOST=127.0.0.1 — localhost only by default. Exposing the API (0.0.0.0 / a LAN IP) requires setting FORVEN_API_KEY, or the app refuses to start.
• FORVEN_API_KEY / FORVEN_OPERATOR_KEY — set these if the API will be reachable beyond localhost.
• FORVEN_ENABLE_SHELL_TOOL=0 — the agent's raw shell tool is off by default (prompt-injection risk); enable only at your own risk.
• FORVEN_ENCRYPTION_KEY — for portable encrypted credentials.
• FORVEN_HOME — to put runtime state outside the default ~/.forven.

Never commit .env, *.db, auth tokens, or API keys (they're gitignored). The default configuration is paper + testnet and makes no real-money trades; enabling live/mainnet is unsupported and entirely at your own risk.

Forven is not yet accepting external code contributions — a contributor agreement isn't in place yet, so pull requests from outside contributors won't be merged for now. Issues, ideas, and discussion are very welcome (GitHub issues, Discord, r/Forven). See CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md.

Found a security issue? Please report it privately — see SECURITY.md. Don't open a public issue for vulnerabilities.

Copyright (C) 2026 Judder judder@forven.app

Forven is free software, licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3 or (at your option) any later version. It is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY. Because it's AGPL, if you run a modified version as a network service you must make the corresponding source available to its users (AGPL §13). Full text in LICENSE; see also NOTICE and TRADEMARK.md.

Forven is experimental software provided AS IS for educational and research use, and is not financial advice. Paper trading + Hyperliquid testnet only; substantial risk of total loss. You are solely responsible for any orders placed and for safeguarding your own credentials. See DISCLAIMER.md for the full terms.