Bots Overview

Bots are Docker containers running Hummingbot instances for long-running automation tasks. They execute Scripts for simpler tasks or Controllers for algorithmic trading strategies.

Bots vs Executors

Aspect	Executors	Bots
Lifecycle	Short-lived (minutes to hours)	Long-running (days to weeks)
Scope	Single operation	Complex strategies
Control	Agent-controlled	Autonomous or supervised
Use Case	Individual trades	Continuous market making

When to Use Bots

Scenario	Use	Reason
Single directional trade	Executor	Short-lived, defined outcome
Continuous market making	Bot	Long-running, complex logic
One-time swap	Executor	Simple, immediate
Multi-leg arbitrage	Bot	Requires coordination
LP position with time limit	Executor	Self-contained lifecycle
24/7 grid trading	Bot	Persistent, adaptive

Bot Lifecycle

Creation

Create a bot via Telegram or API: Telegram:

/bots → Create New Bot → Select one or more controller configs

API: Deploy a bot from existing controller config files (without .yml). Pass several configs to run multiple controllers in one bot:

curl -u admin:admin -X POST http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/deploy-v2-controllers \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "instance_name": "my-market-maker",
    "credentials_profile": "master_account",
    "controllers_config": ["conf_market_making.pmm_simple_1"]
  }'

Starting and Stopping

Telegram:

/bots → Select bot → Start/Stop

API: Start and stop take the bot name in the request body.

# Start
curl -u admin:admin -X POST http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/start-bot \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"bot_name": "my-market-maker"}'

# Stop
curl -u admin:admin -X POST http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/stop-bot \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"bot_name": "my-market-maker"}'

# Stop and archive
curl -u admin:admin -X POST http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/stop-and-archive-bot/my-market-maker

Monitoring

Telegram: /bots shows:

Bot status (running/stopped)
Uptime and resource usage
Recent P&L
Active orders and positions

API:

# Status of all bots
curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/status

# Status of a single bot
curl -u admin:admin http://localhost:8000/bot-orchestration/my-market-maker/status

The Hummingbot API also records a snapshot of every running controller every 5 minutes, so you get a time series of P&L and volume rather than a single point. Query it with /bot-orchestration/controller-performance-history (see Monitoring Controllers), or view it in Condor under Bots → Runs. When a bot runs multiple controllers, Bots → Active charts their combined P&L with toggles to isolate each one.

Logs

Telegram:

/bots → Select bot → View Logs

Each bot runs in its own Docker container, so you can also read logs directly:

docker logs hummingbot-my-market-maker

Container Isolation

Each bot runs in an isolated Docker container:

Separate filesystem
Independent network
Own log streams
Can be started/stopped individually

# List bot containers
docker ps --filter "name=hummingbot"

# View container logs
docker logs hummingbot-my-market-maker

Integration with Agents

Agents can deploy and manage bots programmatically: The manage_bots MCP tool handles the full lifecycle through a single action parameter (deploy, status, logs, stop_bot, start_controllers, stop_controllers, get_config, update_config):

# Agent deploys a bot from one or more controller configs
result = await mcp_tools.manage_bots(
    action="deploy",
    bot_name="eth-mm",
    controllers_config=["conf_market_making.pmm_simple_1"],
)

# Agent checks bot status
status = await mcp_tools.manage_bots(action="status", bot_name="eth-mm")

Condor

Getting Started

Trading Agents

Executors

Routines

Bots

Other Condor Features

Bots vs Executors

When to Use Bots

Bot Lifecycle

Creation

Starting and Stopping

Monitoring

Logs

Container Isolation

Integration with Agents

​Bots vs Executors

​When to Use Bots

​Bot Lifecycle

​Creation

​Starting and Stopping

​Monitoring

​Logs

​Container Isolation

​Integration with Agents

Bots vs Executors

When to Use Bots

Bot Lifecycle

Creation

Starting and Stopping

Monitoring

Logs

Container Isolation

Integration with Agents