> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.surgecardano.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.surgecardano.com/getting-started/first-strategy-walkthrough.md). # Your first strategy, step by step This walkthrough takes you from a fresh login to a running strategy. It uses a Grid as the example because it exercises every part of the app; the other strategies follow the same shape. ### 1. Sign in Connect your browser wallet and sign the login message. The dashboard opens with a four-step welcome tour: Overview, How it works, Your wallets, and Safety. The Safety step includes an interactive demo of the **Pause All** button. ### 2. Create a strategy wallet Automated strategies do not trade from your browser wallet. They trade from a **strategy wallet**, a separate wallet whose key is generated and stored in your browser. Go to **Wallets** and click **Generate**. Give it a label. You can create up to 20. Before funding it, **export the wallet**. Use **Back up** to download its key file and save it in a secure location on your device. If you lose the browser profile and the key file, the funds in that wallet are unrecoverable. See [Wallets in Surge](/core-concepts/wallets-in-surge.md). ### 3. Fund the strategy wallet Click **Fund** on the wallet. Choose how much ADA (and, if the strategy sells a token, how many tokens) to send from your browser wallet. Your browser wallet asks you to confirm. A "funding settling" banner shows for about two minutes while the transaction lands. How much to send: every strategy builder has a **Required balance** panel that adds up the trade budget, the DEX order deposits, batcher fees, network fees and Surge fees. Send at least that. Keep a few extra ADA on top; a wallet with less than about 10–12 ADA of spare ADA cannot pay for its next order and the strategy pauses. ### 4. Open the builder Click **New strategy** in the sidebar or on the dashboard and choose **Grid**. The builder is a two-column form: your inputs on the left, a live preview on the right. ### 5. Fill in the form For a grid: 1. **Trading pair** — pick a token. Only ADA pairs are supported. Verified tokens show a badge. 2. **DEX** — Surge lists only the DEX's that have a pool for that pair. 3. **Total investment** — the ADA the grid may use. **Max** fills in your strategy wallet's balance. 4. **Price range** — either absolute prices or a ± percentage around the current price. **Suggest** proposes a range from the last 7, 30 or 180 days of prices. 5. **Grid count** — how many rungs. The slider's maximum is what the pool can support; the preview also shows a recommended count. 6. **Slippage tolerance** — default 0.5%. 7. **Co-sign wallet** — pick the strategy wallet you funded (or generate one here). 8. Tick the **risk acknowledgement**. The preview updates as you type. Deploy is enabled only when the preview says the grid is launchable — if not, it lists exactly what is blocking it (for example "investment below minimum" or "price outside the range"). Every field is explained on the [Grid](/strategies/grid.md) page. ### 6. Deploy Click **Create**. Surge saves the strategy, and the strategy's detail page opens. If your wallet does not yet hold the required balance, a funding prompt appears. ### 7. Watch it run The detail page has tabs for **Overview** (status, P\&L, chart), **Rungs** (each price level and its state), **Trade log**, **Linked wallet** and **Configuration**. The header status badge tells you whether the strategy is running or why it is paused. When a rung fires, your browser checks the transaction against the guard and signs it automatically. **Automate signing** is on by default, so you do not need to be at the keyboard. Turn it off in **Settings → General** if you want to approve every trade. See [Signing and approvals](/core-concepts/signing-and-approvals.md). ### 8. Keep the tab open Surge trades only while this tab is open and connected. Turn on **Keep screen awake** in Settings if you want to leave the laptop unattended, and watch the socket pill in the header. See [How non-custodial works](/getting-started/how-non-custodial-works.md). ### 9. Stop, archive, or delete Use the strategy header to pause or stop. A stopped strategy can be **archived** (kept read-only in the Archived list) or **deleted**. Funds stay in the strategy wallet either way; move them back with **Send** or **Sweep** on the Wallets page. See [Managing strategies](/strategies/managing-strategies.md). --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.surgecardano.com/getting-started/first-strategy-walkthrough.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.