---
name: moonpay-trading-automation
description: Set up automated trading strategies — DCA, limit orders, and stop losses — by composing mp CLI commands with OS scheduling (cron/launchd).
tags: [trading, automation]
---

# Trading automation

## Goal

Compose `mp` CLI commands with OS scheduling (cron/launchd) to run unattended trading strategies: dollar-cost averaging, limit orders, and stop losses. The agent generates shell scripts and schedules them — no new tools needed.

## Prerequisites

- Authenticated: `mp user retrieve`
- Funded wallet: `mp token balance list --wallet <name> --chain <chain>`
- `mp` binary on PATH: `which mp` (note the full path for scheduled scripts)
- `jq` installed: `which jq`

## Shell script pattern

Every strategy uses the same base pattern. Scripts live in `~/.config/moonpay/scripts/` and log to `~/.config/moonpay/logs/trading.log`.

```bash
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

MP="$(which mp)"  # absolute path for cron/launchd
LOG="$HOME/.config/moonpay/logs/trading.log"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$LOG")"

log() { echo "[$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)] $*" >> "$LOG"; }

# --- Config (agent fills these in) ---
WALLET="main"
CHAIN="solana"
FROM_TOKEN="EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v"  # USDC
TO_TOKEN="So11111111111111111111111111111111111111111"         # SOL
AMOUNT=5

# --- Execute ---
log "SWAP: $AMOUNT $FROM_TOKEN -> $TO_TOKEN on $CHAIN"
RESULT=$("$MP" --json token swap \
  --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN" \
  --from-token "$FROM_TOKEN" --from-amount "$AMOUNT" \
  --to-token "$TO_TOKEN" 2>&1) || {
  log "FAILED: $RESULT"
  exit 1
}
log "OK: $RESULT"
```

Key points:
- `mp --json` outputs single-line JSON, ideal for `jq` parsing
- Use `$(which mp)` and store as `MP` — cron/launchd have minimal PATH
- Wallet names only in scripts — `mp` handles keychain decryption at runtime
- If the user gives token names/symbols, resolve to addresses first with `mp token search`

## DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)

"Buy $5 of SOL every day at 9am"

### Script: `~/.config/moonpay/scripts/dca-sol.sh`

Use the base pattern above with the user's token, amount, wallet, and chain.

### Schedule with cron (Linux)

```bash
# Buy $5 of SOL daily at 9am UTC — moonpay:dca-sol
0 9 * * * ~/.config/moonpay/scripts/dca-sol.sh
```

Add with: `(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo '0 9 * * * ~/.config/moonpay/scripts/dca-sol.sh # moonpay:dca-sol') | crontab -`

Common intervals:
- Every hour: `0 * * * *`
- Every 4 hours: `0 */4 * * *`
- Daily at 9am: `0 9 * * *`
- Weekly Monday 9am: `0 9 * * 1`

### Schedule with launchd (macOS)

Write a plist to `~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist`:

```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>com.moonpay.dca-sol</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/bin/bash</string>
    <string>/Users/USERNAME/.config/moonpay/scripts/dca-sol.sh</string>
  </array>
  <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
  <dict>
    <key>Hour</key>
    <integer>9</integer>
    <key>Minute</key>
    <integer>0</integer>
  </dict>
  <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
  <string>/Users/USERNAME/.config/moonpay/logs/dca-sol.err</string>
</dict>
</plist>
```

Load with: `launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist`

**Important:** Tilde (`~`) does NOT expand in plist files. Always use the full path (e.g., `/Users/USERNAME/...`). Get it with `echo $HOME`.

## Limit order

"Buy SOL when price drops below $80"

### Script: `~/.config/moonpay/scripts/limit-buy-sol.sh`

```bash
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail

MP="$(which mp)"
LOG="$HOME/.config/moonpay/logs/trading.log"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$LOG")"
log() { echo "[$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)] $*" >> "$LOG"; }

# --- Config ---
WALLET="main"
CHAIN="solana"
TOKEN="So11111111111111111111111111111111111111111"
BUY_WITH="EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v"  # USDC
BUY_AMOUNT=50
TARGET_PRICE=80
SCRIPT_NAME="limit-buy-sol"

# --- Check price ---
PRICE=$("$MP" --json token search --query "$TOKEN" --chain "$CHAIN" | jq -r '.items[0].marketData.price')

if [ -z "$PRICE" ] || [ "$PRICE" = "null" ]; then
  log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME: price fetch failed, skipping"
  exit 0
fi

# --- Compare ---
if (( $(echo "$PRICE < $TARGET_PRICE" | bc -l) )); then
  log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME: price $PRICE < $TARGET_PRICE — executing buy"
  RESULT=$("$MP" --json token swap \
    --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN" \
    --from-token "$BUY_WITH" --from-amount "$BUY_AMOUNT" \
    --to-token "$TOKEN" 2>&1) || {
    log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME FAILED: $RESULT"
    exit 1
  }
  log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME OK: bought at $PRICE — $RESULT"

  # Self-disable after fill
  if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
    launchctl unload "$HOME/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.${SCRIPT_NAME}.plist" 2>/dev/null || true
  else
    crontab -l | grep -v "$SCRIPT_NAME" | crontab -
  fi
  log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME: disabled after fill"
else
  log "LIMIT $SCRIPT_NAME: price $PRICE >= $TARGET_PRICE — waiting"
fi
```

Schedule every 5 minutes:
- Cron: `*/5 * * * * ~/.config/moonpay/scripts/limit-buy-sol.sh # moonpay:limit-buy-sol`
- Launchd: use `<key>StartInterval</key><integer>300</integer>` instead of `StartCalendarInterval`

## Stop loss

"Sell all my SOL if price drops below $70"

Same structure as limit order but sells instead of buys. For "sell all", query the balance first:

```bash
# --- Config ---
SELL_TOKEN="So11111111111111111111111111111111111111111"   # SOL
TO_TOKEN="EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v" # USDC
TRIGGER_PRICE=70
SCRIPT_NAME="stop-loss-sol"

# --- Check price ---
PRICE=$("$MP" --json token search --query "$SELL_TOKEN" --chain "$CHAIN" | jq -r '.items[0].marketData.price')

if (( $(echo "$PRICE < $TRIGGER_PRICE" | bc -l) )); then
  # Get current balance to sell all
  BALANCE=$("$MP" --json token balance list --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN" \
    | jq -r --arg addr "$SELL_TOKEN" '.items[] | select(.address == $addr) | .balance.amount')

  if [ -n "$BALANCE" ] && (( $(echo "$BALANCE > 0" | bc -l) )); then
    log "STOP-LOSS $SCRIPT_NAME: price $PRICE < $TRIGGER_PRICE — selling $BALANCE"
    RESULT=$("$MP" --json token swap \
      --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN" \
      --from-token "$SELL_TOKEN" --from-amount "$BALANCE" \
      --to-token "$TO_TOKEN" 2>&1) || {
      log "STOP-LOSS $SCRIPT_NAME FAILED: $RESULT"
      exit 1
    }
    log "STOP-LOSS $SCRIPT_NAME OK: sold at $PRICE — $RESULT"
    # Self-disable (same pattern as limit order)
  fi
fi
```

## Managing automations

### List active automations

```bash
# macOS
launchctl list | grep moonpay

# Linux
crontab -l | grep moonpay
```

### Remove an automation

```bash
# macOS
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist
rm ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist

# Linux
crontab -l | grep -v "moonpay:dca-sol" | crontab -
```

### View logs

```bash
tail -50 ~/.config/moonpay/logs/trading.log
```

### Pause / resume (macOS only)

```bash
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist   # pause
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.moonpay.dca-sol.plist     # resume
```

## Platform detection

Detect the OS and use the appropriate scheduler:

```bash
if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
  # macOS: use launchd (fires even if machine was asleep)
else
  # Linux: use crontab
fi
```

## Tips

- Start with a small DCA amount to verify the setup works before going bigger
- Check logs after the first run: `tail -20 ~/.config/moonpay/logs/trading.log`
- Scripts don't contain secrets — `mp` decrypts wallets via OS keychain at runtime
- The machine must be logged in (user session active) for keychain access to work
- Price checks via `mp token search` are free; swaps cost gas
- Limit order checks every 5 minutes is reasonable — don't go below 1 minute
- Use `bc -l` for decimal price comparison (bash can't compare floats natively)
- If `bc` isn't available, use: `awk "BEGIN {exit !($PRICE < $TARGET)}"`
- Always tag cron entries with `# moonpay:{name}` so they can be found and removed

## Related skills

- **moonpay-swap-tokens** — Swap and bridge command syntax
- **moonpay-check-wallet** — Check balances before setting up automation
- **moonpay-discover-tokens** — Research tokens and resolve addresses
- **moonpay-price-alerts** — Observe-only price notifications (no trading)


---
Source attribution: jiayaoqijia
Original project: https://github.com/jiayaoqijia/cryptoskill/blob/bcc0d208deaa4f1f80aa0df7ca26c4bed6318918/skills/payments/moonpay-official-moonpay-trading-automation/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 MoonPay, Inc.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: jiayaoqijia
Original project: https://github.com/jiayaoqijia/cryptoskill/blob/bcc0d208deaa4f1f80aa0df7ca26c4bed6318918/skills/payments/moonpay-official-moonpay-trading-automation/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Source repository record

Fields of work: Marketing, Sales
Roles: Growth Marketer, Product Marketer, Sales Engineer
Specialties: API, Backend
Tools: Mp
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 719dc6893f848133670320ae3c0c130334669bf4edc541b951f239215e9e3118