create-trading-agent

name	create-trading-agent
description	Scaffold Base trading agents from a plain-English strategy using the `agents/trading-agent` CLI. Use when asked to create a new trading agent project, choose wallet/tool/LLM combinations for a trading scaffold, or drive trading-agent creation headlessly from another agent.

Create Trading Agent

Use This Skill When

• A user wants a new trading agent scaffold on Base.
• A user has a trading strategy and wants it turned into a runnable TypeScript project.
• Another agent needs a repeatable, headless way to generate a trading agent.
• An OpenClaw or ACP-style workflow needs a trading agent that can delegate to helper agents via virtuals.

Preferred Invocation

Use the normal local package workflow:

git clone https://github.com/base/demos.git
cd demos/agents/trading-agent
npm i
npm run dev

What The CLI Does

1. Collects project name, wallet, tools, LLM, runtime posture, and strategy.
2. Critiques the strategy with the selected LLM.
3. Produces a refined strategy plus initial guardrails.
4. Generates a runnable project with wallet wiring, selected tools, .env, prompts/strategy.md, and runtime files.

Treat the generated project as editable output, not a final artifact.

Decision Guide

Wallet Choice

Wallet	Pick it when	Constraints
cdp-server-wallet	You need programmable execution and the full built-in tool surface.	Supports all built-in tools.
bankr	You want Bankr to own execution.	Only virtuals, agentcash-mcp, and nansen-mcp should be selected.
sponge	You want Sponge to own execution.	Same current tool constraint as bankr.

Tool Choice

Tool	Use it for	Notes
uniswap	Spot swaps on Base.	CDP only.
aerodrome	Spot swaps on Base.	CDP only.
avantis	Perps on Base.	CDP only.
virtuals	ACP-based helper-agent delegation.	Use for OpenClaw-style or marketplace-style helper agents.
coingecko	Lightweight market data.	x402 pay-per-request.
coinmarketcap	Market data.	x402 pay-per-request.
alchemy-x402	Chain and asset data.	x402 pay-per-request.
agentcash-mcp	Generic paid API access via MCP.	Works across wallet modes.
nansen-mcp	Rich analytics via MCP.	Requires NANSEN_API_KEY.
nansen-x402	Analytics via x402.	CDP path only.

Default posture:

• Start narrow: one execution tool and one data tool is usually enough.
• Do not add virtuals unless helper-agent delegation is part of the strategy.
• For bankr or sponge, avoid CDP-only and built-in x402 tools entirely.

Runtime Posture

• test mode is live on Base mainnet with smaller recommended balances and faster cadence. It is validation mode, not simulation.
• self-updating periodically re-evaluates strategy instructions. Use it only when adaptive behavior is desired.
• Guardrails start with slippage, stop-loss, and max position size; they can be changed later in src/guardrails.ts.

Interactive Workflow

Use interactive mode when the user wants to think through the setup once:

npm run dev

The onboarding flow is:

1. Project name
2. Wallet provider
3. Tools
4. LLM provider + model
5. Test mode
6. Self-updating strategy
7. Strategy
8. Critique + refined strategy approval/edit
9. Experimental custom tools
10. Output directory

When guiding a user through this flow, explain that:

• wallet choice changes execution semantics
• tool choice changes the agent's action surface
• critique is a fast strategy review plus guardrail generation
• custom tool generation is experimental and should be used only when built-ins are insufficient

Headless Workflow For Agents

Prefer headless mode for autonomous agents, CI, or reproducible scaffold generation.

Use flags for one-off runs:

npm run dev -- --no-interactive \
  --name market-maker \
  --wallet cdp-server-wallet \
  --tools uniswap,coingecko,virtuals \
  --llm claude \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  --strategy "Trade ETH/USDC on momentum with explicit exits and capped position sizing" \
  --test-mode true \
  --self-updating false \
  --output ./market-maker

Use --config for reproducibility or batch generation:

npm run dev -- --config ./agent.json --overwrite

Headless config rules:

• The JSON may be a single object or an array.
• Use guardrails.slippagePct, guardrails.stopLossPct, and guardrails.maxPositionPct when defaults are not acceptable.
• Use testMode, selfUpdating, and evaluationInterval when automation must fully specify runtime posture.
• Use --overwrite or --merge if the target directory may already exist.
• Headless mode still runs the critique/refinement step, so the relevant LLM API key must be available in the environment.

OpenClaw / ACP Guidance

For OpenClaw-style agents or any workflow that needs helper-agent delegation:

• Include virtuals.
• Ensure the ACP CLI is installed and accessible as acp, or set VIRTUALS_ACP_BIN.
• Treat virtuals as additive. It does not replace wallet execution; it adds delegation and marketplace/job capabilities.
• Only choose it when the user wants agent orchestration, helper-agent execution, or ACP marketplace interaction.

What To Hand Off After Generation

Tell the user to review the generated:

• .env for provider and wallet secrets
• prompts/strategy.md for strategy wording
• src/guardrails.ts for runtime risk controls
• src/tools/* for capability-specific changes

The scaffold prints the generated project path to stdout.