Keel

Keel is the order entry desk I built for my own trading on Interactive Brokers. It is designed to slow me down in the right places: every trade goes in as a bracket with its stop attached, risk comes from three preset sizes, and once an order fills the position locks before it can be changed.

• Trade lock

  A position locks for a set time from its first fill. Changes after that need a written note and a cooldown.

• Preset risk

  Defense, Mid and Attack sizes, each a fixed share of the account, under a hard ceiling.

• Playbook on the ticket

  Every order records its setup and entry tactic, and the watchlist closes before the open.

• Break-glass

  An override exists for emergencies, and it costs a long written reason and a wait.

Keel is a Python and FastAPI backend that talks to Interactive Brokers through ib_async, with SQLite for storage and a plain JavaScript front end that needs no build step. All rule logic runs on New York time against the real exchange calendar, including holidays and half days. It runs locally on my trading PC, and the tests concentrate on the time and rules logic.

Broker

Interactive Brokers, through IB Gateway and ib_async

Back end

Python, FastAPI, APScheduler

Data

SQLite, no ORM

Front end

Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript. No framework, no build step

Runs on

A local Windows PC, with optional remote access behind a PIN

Connects to

TraderBase, as an optional sync

Tested with

pytest