Get help with SIQ — guides for AI investing, strategy creation, paper trading, live trading with Zerodha, and account management.
Getting Started
SIQ is your AI-powered investment partner. We validate ideas with real data, backtest strategies against historical performance, and execute trades within your defined constraints. Every recommendation is transparent—you see the thinking, the data, and the rationale.
What is SIQ and how is it different from other AI finance tools?
SIQ is an AI-native investing platform that validates your investment ideas with real data, then manages portfolios within constraints you define.
Unlike general AI chatbots that pattern-match financial advice, SIQ:
- **Shows the work** — You see the thinking process, backtests, and data behind every recommendation
- **Uses real data** — Every claim is backed by actual market data and quantitative analysis, not hallucinated
- **Respects your constraints** — You set position limits, risk thresholds, and cash reserves; SIQ operates within them
- **Executes autonomously** — Once you're comfortable, SIQ can manage your portfolio daily within your rules
What is 'Agentic Investing'?
Agentic Investing means AI agents that act on your behalf within boundaries you set.
Traditional investing requires you to research, decide, and execute every trade. With SIQ:
1. You describe your investment thesis in plain English
2. SIQ's AI agent validates it with backtests and risk analysis
3. You set constraints (max position size, drawdown limits, etc.)
4. The agent makes daily trading decisions within those constraints
5. You stay in control — review decisions, provide feedback, or take over anytime
Think of it as having a quantitative analyst who works 24/7, shows you their reasoning, and never acts outside your rules.
How do I create my first strategy?
The easiest way is to start a conversation with SIQ describing your investment idea.
For example, you might say:
- "I want to build a momentum strategy focused on large-cap tech stocks"
- "Create a dividend income portfolio with low volatility"
- "I want to invest in companies with strong earnings growth in the S&P 500"
SIQ will:
1. Ask clarifying questions about your goals and risk tolerance
2. Backtest your thesis against historical data
3. Show you the expected risk/return profile
4. Propose position limits and constraints
5. Create the strategy when you're satisfied
You can then activate it to start paper trading immediately.
*Alternatively, you can use the Strategy Wizard if you prefer a structured step-by-step form.*
What's the difference between paper trading and live trading?
**Paper trading** uses simulated money to test your strategies risk-free. **Live trading** uses real money through your connected brokerage account.
| | Paper Trading | Live Trading |
|---|---|---|
| **Capital** | Simulated ($100K default) | Your real money |
| **Risk** | None — it's practice | Real gains and losses |
| **Broker needed?** | No | Yes (Zerodha) |
| **Trade execution** | Automatic during market hours | Every trade requires your manual approval |
**We recommend paper trading for at least 2 weeks** before going live. This lets you:
- Validate your strategy performs as expected
- Understand how SIQ makes decisions
- Build confidence in the system
**How live trading works:**
When you Go Live, you're not giving the AI direct control of your money. Instead:
1. The AI agent manages a "primary" paper portfolio — making all trading decisions there
2. Your live portfolio **follows** the primary portfolio's trades
3. Positions are scaled proportionally to your investment amount
4. Every trade requires your explicit approval before execution
This design keeps the agent focused on consistent trading decisions with a clean P&L history, while giving you the freedom to link or unlink from any strategy you choose.
What assets can I trade on SIQ?
SIQ supports a wide range of assets and markets, depending on whether you're paper trading or live trading.
**Paper Trading** (simulated):
- **Markets**: US, UK, Europe, India
- **Asset Classes**: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Crypto, Mutual Funds
**Live Trading** (real money):
- **Markets**: India only (NSE, BSE via Zerodha)
- **Asset Classes**: Stocks
*We're actively working on expanding live trading support to more markets and brokers.*
Is there a minimum investment required?
**For paper trading, there's no minimum** — you can practice with simulated capital immediately.
**For creating strategies**, you need at least **$1,000 USD** (or equivalent) in your SIQ account.
**For live trading**, the practical minimum depends on your strategy:
- Your live portfolio scales positions proportionally from paper trading
- If your paper portfolio holds 50 shares of a $200 stock, and your live portfolio is 10x smaller, you'd need 5 shares
- Very small portfolios may encounter "less than 1 share" errors for some positions
*We recommend starting live trading with at least $5,000-$10,000 to avoid fractional share issues.*
Strategies & Trading
Strategies are the heart of SIQ. Define your investment thesis, set your constraints, and let our AI agents do the heavy lifting. They analyze markets daily, generate recommendations, and learn from your feedback.
Why should I resume my strategy?
Resuming a strategy tells SIQ to start making daily trading decisions based on your investment thesis and constraints.
When your strategy is **Paused**:
- You can edit the thesis, constraints, and universe
- No trading decisions are made
- Your portfolio remains unchanged
When you **Resume** your strategy:
- SIQ's AI agent analyzes markets daily
- The agent generates trade recommendations based on your thesis
- Trades appear in your "Pending Trades" queue for review
- Your portfolio starts building positions according to your strategy
You can pause your strategy at any time from the strategy detail page.
What does 'Pending Trades' mean?
Pending trades are trade recommendations that SIQ has generated but haven't been executed yet.
When SIQ's agent makes a trading decision, it creates trades with one of these statuses:
- **Awaiting Approval**: You need to review and approve before execution (live trading)
- **Pending**: Approved and waiting for market hours to execute
- **Executing**: Currently being processed
For **paper trading**: Trades typically execute automatically when markets open.
For **live trading**: Every trade requires your explicit approval before SIQ places orders with your broker.
You can view and manage pending trades from your Portfolio Dashboard.
Do I have to approve every trade manually?
**For live trading, yes — every trade requires your approval.** This is a deliberate safety design.
| Trading Mode | Approval Required? |
|--------------|-------------------|
| Paper Trading | No — trades auto-execute during market hours |
| Live Trading | Yes — every trade needs manual approval |
**Why require approval for live trades?**
- Your real money is at stake
- You maintain full control over what executes
- You can review the reasoning before committing
- Prevents unexpected trades during volatile markets
When you see pending trades, you can:
- **Approve** to send to your broker for execution
- **Cancel** to skip that trade (you can provide feedback on why)
What if I disagree with a suggested trade?
You can cancel any trade you disagree with — and your feedback helps SIQ improve.
When you cancel a trade, SIQ asks why:
- "I don't believe in this stock"
- "Position size too large"
- "Bad timing / market conditions"
- Custom reason
**Your feedback matters**: SIQ's agent considers your previous decisions when making future recommendations. Over time, it learns your preferences and risk tolerance.
Canceling a trade doesn't affect the rest of your portfolio — only that specific trade is skipped.
When do trades execute?
SIQ runs your strategy on a daily schedule. Trades execute when markets open.
**The daily cycle:**
1. **Daily schedule** — Your active strategy is analyzed automatically
2. **Agent analysis** — AI reviews holdings, market data, and your constraints
3. **Trades queued** — Recommendations appear in "Pending Trades"
4. **Market open** — Trades execute during market hours
**Need trades sooner?**
Use the **"Execute Now"** button in your strategy settings to run the agent on demand. This is useful when:
- You're tracking something in the market and want immediate action
- You've just updated your strategy and want to see new recommendations
- You want to test how the agent responds to current conditions
For **live trading (India via Zerodha)**: Trades are placed as GTT orders that trigger during NSE/BSE market hours (9:15 AM - 3:30 PM IST).
How does SIQ decide what trades to make?
SIQ's AI agent analyzes your strategy's thesis, current holdings, and market data to determine the optimal allocation.
**What the agent considers:**
- Your investment thesis (the strategy you described)
- Your constraints (max position size, drawdown limits, cash reserve)
- Current portfolio holdings and performance
- Recent market data and price movements
- Your past feedback on trades
**What the agent outputs:**
- A target allocation (e.g., 25% AAPL, 20% MSFT, 55% CASH)
- Specific trades to reach that allocation (BUY/SELL with quantities)
- Reasoning for each decision (visible in the decision log)
The agent operates within your constraints — it will never exceed your max position size or violate your risk limits.
Can I edit my strategy over time?
Yes — you can ask SIQ to modify your strategy anytime via chat, and it creates a new version automatically.
**How strategy versioning works:**
1. Start a conversation about your strategy: *"Update my tech momentum strategy to exclude NVDA"*
2. SIQ makes the changes and saves a new version (v1 → v2)
3. The agent knows it's now running v2 with your updated instructions
4. Previous versions are preserved in case you want to review changes
**What you can change:**
- Investment thesis and instructions
- Stock universe (add/remove symbols)
- Constraints (position limits, risk controls)
- Rebalancing rules
Each edit creates a clear version history, so you can always see how your strategy evolved over time.
What's the difference between SIQ strategies and my own strategies?
**SIQ strategies** are managed by SIQ's team. **Your strategies** are fully under your control.
| | SIQ Strategies | Your Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| **Created by** | SIQ team | You |
| **View performance** | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| **See trading decisions** | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| **Follow with your money** | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| **Edit strategy** | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| **Pause/resume** | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| **Control trades** | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
**Following a SIQ strategy:**
When you invest in a SIQ strategy, you create a "follower" portfolio that mirrors the strategy's decisions, scaled to your investment amount. You can:
- See all trades before they execute
- Approve or reject trades (for live trading)
- Unlink from the strategy anytime
**Creating your own strategy:**
Start a conversation to build a custom strategy tailored to your investment thesis. You'll have full control to pause, edit, or stop it whenever you want.
Live Trading & Brokers
Ready to go live? When you connect your broker, your live portfolio **follows** a strategy's trading decisions, scaled proportionally to your investment amount. The AI agent manages a primary portfolio where all decisions are made — your live portfolio mirrors those decisions. Every trade requires your explicit approval for safety.
How does live trading work in SIQ?
When you go live, your portfolio **follows** a strategy's trading decisions, scaled to your investment amount.
Here's how it works:
1. **The AI agent manages a primary portfolio** — This is where all trading decisions are made. The agent focuses on making the best decisions with a consistent P&L history.
2. **Your live portfolio follows those decisions** — When the agent decides to allocate 25% to RELIANCE, your portfolio also allocates 25% of your investment to RELIANCE.
3. **Positions are scaled proportionally** — If the primary portfolio is ₹10 lakh and yours is ₹1 lakh, you get 1/10th the number of shares.
4. **Every trade requires your approval** — Before any order is placed with your broker, you review and approve it.
**Why this design?**
- Keeps the agent focused on consistent decision-making
- Gives you freedom to link or unlink from any strategy
- Your broker account remains under your control
How do I go live with my strategy?
Use the Go Live wizard to connect your broker and start trading with real money.
**The process:**
1. **Connect your broker** — Link your Zerodha account via secure OAuth (your password never touches SIQ)
2. **Select a strategy** — Choose which strategy your live portfolio will follow
3. **Set investment amount** — Specify how much capital to allocate
4. **Confirm** — Acknowledge the risks and start live trading
**Before going live, we recommend:**
- Paper trading for at least 2 weeks to validate the strategy
- Starting with a smaller amount to build confidence
- Ensuring you understand how to approve/cancel trades
*Currently, live trading is available for Indian markets (NSE/BSE) via Zerodha.*
Why do I need to approve every live trade?
**Every live trade requires your explicit approval. This is a deliberate safety design — your real money is at stake.**
**What this means:**
- When SIQ generates a trade recommendation, it appears in your "Pending Trades"
- You review the symbol, action (BUY/SELL), quantity, and reasoning
- You click "Approve" to send the order to your broker
- Or "Cancel" if you disagree (with optional feedback)
**Why not auto-execute?**
- Prevents unexpected trades during volatile markets
- Gives you final say over every transaction
- Builds trust as you learn how SIQ operates
- Protects against edge cases or unusual recommendations
*This is different from paper trading, where trades auto-execute since no real money is involved.*
Why is my order price different from the current stock price?
SIQ places **GTT (Good Till Triggered)** orders, which require a trigger price slightly away from the current price.
**What are GTT orders?**
- Conditional orders that execute when a price condition is met
- The order type available through Zerodha's Kite Connect API
**Why the price difference?**
- **For BUY orders**: Trigger is set ~0.5% above current price, limit ~3% above
- **For SELL orders**: Trigger is set ~0.5% below current price, limit ~3% below
This buffer ensures:
- Orders are accepted by the exchange (GTT at exact current price gets rejected)
- Trades execute reliably even with small price movements
- You're protected from extreme slippage (3% limit cap)
*In practice, most orders fill close to market price when triggered.*
Why am I getting 'intended amount is less than 1 share' errors?
This happens when the scaled position size for your portfolio is less than one whole share.
**Example:**
- Strategy's primary portfolio: ₹10,00,000
- Strategy holds: 10 shares of a ₹50,000 stock (₹5,00,000 = 50% allocation)
- Your portfolio: ₹50,000
- Your scaled position: 0.5 shares (50% of ₹50,000 = ₹25,000 = 0.5 shares)
Since you can't buy half a share, SIQ shows this error.
**Solutions:**
- **Increase your investment amount** — More capital means larger position sizes
- **Wait for the strategy to rebalance** — Future allocations may have smaller position sizes
- **Choose a different strategy** — Some strategies work better with smaller portfolios
*This is more common when following strategies designed for larger portfolios with a smaller investment amount.*
Why can't I take actions when my broker is disconnected?
When your broker session expires, SIQ can't place or monitor orders on your behalf.
**What happens:**
- Zerodha sessions expire after approximately 24 hours
- When expired, SIQ shows "Session Expired" on your connection
- Pending trades can't be sent to the broker
- Active GTT orders can't be monitored for fills
**What to do:**
1. Click "Reconnect" in your broker settings
2. Complete the OAuth flow (takes ~30 seconds)
3. SIQ automatically syncs your orders and resumes trading
**What about orders placed before expiry?**
- GTT orders already at Zerodha remain active
- Once you reconnect, SIQ checks their status and updates your portfolio
- Any fills that happened while disconnected are reconciled
Can I switch which strategy my live portfolio follows?
Yes — you can unlink from one strategy and link to another anytime.
**To switch strategies:**
1. Go to your portfolio settings
2. Click "Unlink Strategy"
3. Your existing positions remain unchanged
4. Link to a new strategy
5. The new strategy will manage your portfolio going forward
**What happens to your positions?**
- When you unlink, holdings stay as-is (nothing is sold)
- When you link to a new strategy, it may recommend trades to align with its allocation
- You'll see those as pending trades to approve or cancel
*This flexibility lets you try different strategies without liquidating your portfolio.*
Broker-Specific Questions
Why is my GTT order price higher than the last traded price (LTP)?
Zerodha doesn't accept GTT orders exactly at LTP. After testing various buffers, we found orders were only reliably accepted at +0.3% or higher. We use a 0.5% buffer above LTP for safety to ensure orders get placed successfully.
Will my Zerodha connection stay active forever?
No. Zerodha sessions expire after approximately 24 hours. You'll need to reconnect to continue managing your live portfolio. SIQ will show "Session Expired" and prompt you to reconnect when this happens.
I no longer want SIQ connected to my Zerodha account — what should I do?
Follow these steps **in order** to safely disconnect SIQ from your broker account.
**Step 1: Cancel any pending trades**
- Go to your portfolio's Pending Trades
- Cancel all trades waiting for approval
- This ensures no new orders are sent to Zerodha
**Step 2: Unlink your portfolio from the strategy**
- Go to Portfolio Settings → Unlink Strategy
- This stops the strategy from generating new trades for your portfolio
**Step 3: Disconnect your broker**
- Go to Settings → Brokers → Disconnect
- SIQ will no longer have access to your Zerodha account
**Why this order matters:**
- If you disconnect first, SIQ can't cancel any pending GTT orders still active at Zerodha
- Those orders remain active and may execute unexpectedly
- You'd need to manually cancel them in the Kite app
**If you already disconnected without following these steps:**
- **Option 1**: Reconnect temporarily, follow the steps above, then disconnect properly
- **Option 2**: Log into Kite (app or web) and manually cancel any active GTT orders
**What happens to your positions?**
- Your shares remain in your Zerodha account — SIQ never holds your assets
- Your portfolio in SIQ becomes unlinked and stops updating
- You can continue managing your holdings directly through Kite
I disconnected without unlinking first. Now I'm stuck — what do I do?
You have two options:
**Option 1: Reconnect and fix properly**
1. Reconnect to Zerodha temporarily
2. Cancel any pending trades in SIQ
3. Unlink your portfolio from the strategy
4. Then disconnect properly
**Option 2: Fix manually at broker**
1. Log into Kite (app or web)
2. Go to Orders → GTT Orders
3. Cancel any active GTT orders placed by SIQ
4. Contact support@thesiq.ai to clean up the portfolio in SIQ
*The key issue is that GTT orders remain active at Zerodha even after you disconnect from SIQ. You need to cancel them to prevent unexpected executions.*
Can I connect multiple Zerodha accounts?
Currently, you can connect **one Zerodha account per SIQ account**.
Multi-account support is on our roadmap for users who want to:
- Trade with different capital allocations across accounts
- Separate personal and family investments
- Test strategies with different risk profiles
*If you need this feature sooner, contact us to share your use case.*
Security & Account
Your security is our priority. We use bank-grade encryption, never store your broker passwords, and give you full control over connected applications. Here's everything you need to know about keeping your account secure.
How is my data protected?
SIQ uses industry-standard encryption for all data in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256). Your broker credentials are never stored—we use OAuth tokens that can be revoked at any time. All infrastructure runs on SOC 2 compliant cloud providers.
What can SIQ do with my broker account?
SIQ can only place orders and view your holdings—nothing more. We cannot withdraw funds, change account settings, or access your personal banking information. You can revoke access at any time from your broker's connected apps settings.
How much does SIQ cost?
SIQ offers a free tier for paper trading and strategy backtesting. Live trading with real money requires a subscription. Visit our Pricing page for current plans and features.
Can I cancel my subscription anytime?
Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your Account settings. Your access continues until the end of your current billing period. Before canceling, make sure to disconnect any live portfolios and cancel pending orders.