| name | Creating Alphapoly Experiments |
| description | Scaffolds a standalone experiment script in experiments/ using shared backend dependencies. Use when creating a new experiment or prototype outside the main backend. Also use when the user says "prototype", "try something", "test an idea", "spike", "scratch script", "quick experiment", or wants to explore something without modifying the main codebase. |
Creating Alphapoly Experiments
Scaffold a new standalone script in experiments/.
Rules
- Completely standalone — no shared modules; no imports from
backend/ or other experiments/ files
- Sequential numbering — check existing files in
experiments/ and use the next number
- Dependencies from backend — experiments share
backend/pyproject.toml deps (httpx, polars, etc.); no inline PEP 723 headers needed
- Run with
uv run experiments/<script>.py from the project root
Template
"""NN: What this experiment explores.
WHAT IT DOES
Brief description of what the script does.
WHY WE NEED THIS
What question or hypothesis this experiment addresses.
"""
import json
import logging
from pathlib import Path
import httpx
DATA_DIR = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "data"
log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
Scripts needing API keys should load .env with an explicit path:
from dotenv import load_dotenv
load_dotenv(Path(__file__).parent.parent / ".env")
Naming
experiments/NN_short_description.py — e.g. experiments/09_test_llm_model.py
Subdirectories (e.g. experiments/trading/) have their own numbering sequence.
Running
uv run experiments/NN_script.py
Run from the project root. Dependencies resolve from backend/pyproject.toml via uv.
