Installation

Get started with alphabench in minutes. Install the package and configure your API key.

Install alphabench

pip install alphabench

Get Your API Key

Get your API key from alphabench.in/developers (opens in a new tab)

Configure Your API Key

Set your API key as an environment variable:

export ALPHABENCH_API_KEY=albk_sk_your_key_here

Or set it programmatically in your Python code:

import alphabench
 
# Set API key for this session
alphabench.api_key = "albk_sk_your_key_here"

Verify Installation

Test that everything is working:

import alphabench
 
# Simple test
result, error = alphabench.chat("test strategy")
if error:
    print(f"Setup issue: {error}")
else:
    print("✅ alphabench is ready!")

Requirements

Python: 3.10 or higher
Dependencies: Automatically installed with pip
API Key: Required for all operations

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Import Error: Make sure alphabench is installed correctly

pip install --upgrade alphabench

API Key Error: Verify your API key is set correctly

echo $ALPHABENCH_API_KEY  # Should show your key

Network Issues: Ensure you have internet access and can reach alphabench servers

Environment Setup

For persistent API key configuration, add to your shell profile:

Bash/Zsh (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):

export ALPHABENCH_API_KEY="albk_sk_your_key_here"

Python virtual environments: Set the API key in your virtual environment's activation script or use a .env file:

# .env file
ALPHABENCH_API_KEY=albk_sk_your_key_here

# Load from .env file
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv()

Next Steps

Now that alphabench is installed and configured:

Quickstart - Try your first natural language strategy
Features - Learn what alphabench can do
Advanced Usage - Error handling and custom configurations

Visit alphabench.in (opens in a new tab) for more resources and examples.

Overview Quickstart