How to deploy Polymarket trading bot on VPS

#polymarket #trading #bot #deploy

Deploying a Polymarket trading bot on a VPS ensures 24/7 operation with low latency—critical for catching fleeting arbitrage opportunities. Here's a professional, step-by-step guide optimized for Python bots.

VPS Requirements & Recommendations

Choose low-latency providers near Polygon RPC hubs (NYC/Chicago):

QuantVPS: $59-99/mo (pre-configured, 0-1ms to APIs)
DigitalOcean: $20-40/mo (NYC regions)
AWS Lightsail: $10-20/mo (t3.micro/t3.small)

Minimum specs:

2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, 50GB SSD
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
Unmetered bandwidth (bots poll aggressively)

Step-by-Step Deployment

1. Provision & Secure VPS

# SSH as root
ssh root@your-vps-ip

# Update system
apt update && apt upgrade -y

# Create non-root user
adduser trader
usermod -aG sudo trader
su - trader

# Secure SSH (edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config)
nano /etc/ssh/sssd_config
# Set: PermitRootLogin no, PasswordAuthentication no

# Generate SSH keypair locally first
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "polymarket-bot"
ssh-copy-id trader@your-vps-ip

2. Install Python Environment

# Python 3.11+ & essentials
sudo apt install python3.11 python3.11-venv python3-pip git htop -y

# Create project directory
mkdir ~/polymarket-bot && cd ~/polymarket-bot
python3.11 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Core dependencies
pip install requests websocket-client web3 py-clob-client asyncio aiohttp python-dotenv

3. Transfer & Configure Bot

# From local machine - secure file transfer
scp -r /path/to/local/bot trader@your-vps-ip:~/polymarket-bot/

# On VPS - create environment file
nano ~/polymarket-bot/.env

POLYMARKET_PRIVATE_KEY=your_wallet_private_key
POLYGON_RPC_URL=https://polygon-mainnet.g.alchemy.com/v2/YOUR_KEY
API_KEY=your_polymarket_api_key
MAX_POSITION_USD=1000
MIN_ARBITRAGE_PCT=0.02
TELEGRAM_TOKEN=your_bot_token
TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID=your_chat_id

4. Test Local Execution

# Test run (never with real funds first)
python bot.py --dry-run --log-level=DEBUG

# Verify:
# ✅ API connectivity
# ✅ Wallet balance detection  
# ✅ Edge detection logic
# ✅ Order simulation

5. Production Deployment

# Create service file
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/polymarket-bot.service

[Unit]
Description=Polymarket Arbitrage Bot
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=trader
WorkingDirectory=/home/trader/polymarket-bot
Environment=PATH=/home/trader/polymarket-bot/venv/bin
ExecStart=/home/trader/polymarket-bot/venv/bin/python bot.py
Restart=always
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

# Enable & start
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable polymarket-bot
sudo systemctl start polymarket-bot

# Monitor
sudo systemctl status polymarket-bot
sudo journalctl -u polymarket-bot -f

6. Monitoring & Alerts

# Live logs
tail -f bot.log

# Resource monitoring  
htop

# Service health
sudo systemctl status polymarket-bot

Common Pitfalls & Fixes

Issue	Solution
invalid signature	Check private key format, timestamp sync
High gas fees	Add maxFeePerGas controls
Rate limited	Implement exponential backoff
Wallet banned	Rotate IPs, lower trade frequency
Service crashes	Check journalctl, increase RAM