cTrader cBots on Linux — no Windows required

Build cTrader cBots in C#, compile them to .algo files, and run/backtest them entirely on Linux — no Windows, no Wine, no cTrader desktop GUI.

This repo is a working scaffold that proves the full toolchain end to end and gives you a starting point. The build was verified on this machine: dotnet build against the official cTrader.Automate NuGet package produces a valid .algo on Linux.

TL;DR — is it really possible?

Yes, with two pieces, both officially supported by Spotware:

1. Compile on Linux (since cTrader Desktop 4.2, March 2022). A cBot is an ordinary .NET class library that references the official cTrader.Automate NuGet package. dotnet build runs the package's MSBuild targets, which emit the .algo. No Windows, no desktop app. Spotware's own words: "write code and compile it on Linux or Mac."
2. Run/backtest on Linux (since cTrader 5.4, ~Aug 2025) via the official cTrader CLI / Console Docker image ghcr.io/spotware/ctrader-console. It runs .algo cBots headless — live and backtest — without the desktop GUI.

The nuance worth knowing: step 2 is recent. Before cTrader 5.4 there was no Linux runtime, and Spotware staff said so on the forum as late as Nov 2024. Anyone working from older information will (incorrectly) tell you it's impossible.

See docs/research-findings.md for the sourced details.

Prerequisites

• The .NET SDK (6.0+). Nothing else is needed to compile. Install it locally without root: ./scripts/install-dotnet.sh (drops it into ~/.dotnet).
• Docker — only if you want to run/backtest via the official console image.

Quickstart

# 1. Install the .NET SDK locally (skip if you already have `dotnet`)
./scripts/install-dotnet.sh

# 2. Compile every cBot in src/ into dist/*.algo
./scripts/build.sh

# 3. Run / backtest headless in the official cTrader console container
#    (discover the exact flags for your image version first)
./scripts/run-console.sh --help

After step 2 you get dist/SampleCBot.algo — a ready .algo you can also import into the cTrader desktop/web app directly.

Repo layout

src/SampleCBot/         A complete example cBot (SMA crossover)
  SampleCBot.csproj     SDK-style class library referencing cTrader.Automate
  SmaCrossOverBot.cs    The Robot class
scripts/
  install-dotnet.sh     Local, root-free .NET SDK install (~/.dotnet)
  build.sh              dotnet build -> collects dist/<ProjectName>.algo
  run-console.sh        Thin wrapper over ghcr.io/spotware/ctrader-console
dist/                   Built .algo artifacts (gitignored)
docs/research-findings.md   What the research established, with sources

How it works

Build. A cBot project is a normal Microsoft.NET.Sdk class library targeting net6.0 with a single <PackageReference Include="cTrader.Automate" />. The package ships MSBuild .targets that, after a successful compile, bundle the assembly into the proprietary, encrypted .algo container (file magic: the ASCII bytes algo). The .algo lands in bin/<config>/<tfm>/; build.sh collects it into dist/.

Run. run-console.sh mounts dist/ into Spotware's official console container at /mnt/Robots and forwards your arguments to the cTrader CLI, which hosts the .algo live or in backtest without the desktop app.

To add your own cBot

1. dotnet new classlib --name MyBot --output src/MyBot
2. cd src/MyBot && dotnet add package cTrader.Automate
3. Write a class MyBot : Robot (using cAlgo.API;) — see SmaCrossOverBot.cs.
4. ./scripts/build.sh → dist/MyBot.algo.

Known quirk (handled)

cTrader.Automate 1.0.17 names the raw .algo after the project's parent folder, not the project — so multiple bots would collide on one name. build.sh works around this by renaming each collected artifact to <ProjectName>.algo. (The bot's name shown inside cTrader comes from the class metadata, not the file name, so this is cosmetic.)

Limitations

• The cTrader desktop app itself is Windows/macOS only — but you don't need it for this workflow.
• Must be a modern .NET 6 algo (cTrader 4.8+). Legacy .NET Framework cAlgo bots must be recompiled.
• Live trading requires a real broker account + cTrader ID credentials passed to the console.
• The .algo format is proprietary/encrypted by Spotware; this scaffold goes through the official package — there is no independent open-source .algo packer.