Now let's walk through the connection flow from beginning to end. We are describing an intentional setup, using a demonstration account. Your own setup can wait until you understand the fields. The current TraderLobby form uses exchange API credentials. It is not asking you to enter your ordinary exchange sign-in password into the API secret field.

API is a name for a way that software systems communicate. An API key identifies a particular access credential. Its matching secret or private key helps prove that a request is authorized. These values belong together. A key from one setup and a secret from another will not become a working pair just because both fields contain text.

Open the exchange's own account settings through its official site or app and follow the instructions for the supported credential type. Keep that work private. Return to TraderLobby with the correct provider selected, then enter the API key and its matching secret in the named fields. If the form offers a passphrase, use it only when the provider's credential flow requires one. Do not invent an extra passphrase or substitute a sign-in password.

Robinhood Crypto has a different branch in the desktop form. Generate secure key pair creates a public and private pair in the browser. The public part is the one the instructions tell you to copy into Robinhood's desktop Add key form. Robinhood then supplies its API key. That API key returns to the Robinhood API key field in TraderLobby; the matching private key is already filled and hidden.

Public and private do not mean two values you can swap freely. The provider needs the public part for this setup, while the private part must remain protected. Generating a different pair partway through can break the match with the public key you already registered. Follow one complete setup deliberately. The mobile form accepts the matching credentials but does not offer that desktop key-generation helper.

Before saving, inspect the account name, provider, currency, and cash limit. The desktop field says Maximum cash TraderLobby may use, with U.S. dollars as its unit. It begins at zero. This is a control for the app's trading budget, not a transfer of funds. Leave it unchanged for the lesson. We will explain its relationship to the reported balance on a later page.

When you intentionally submit a real setup, Validate and save sends the connection for validation. Read the result and check that the intended connection appears in the list. A message may say that it was validated and saved, and it may also say it became the default Live connection. That last part matters: inspect the default label rather than assuming saving only added an unused item.

If validation fails or times out, read the message before trying again. If the result is unclear, inspect the connection list before creating another entry. Do not keep submitting credentials just because the button is still visible. A visible card, its status, and the returned message together give you a better picture of the outcome.

For your check, describe the path from choosing a provider to confirming a saved connection. Include the special public-and-private-key steps for Robinhood if that is your provider. Keep every real credential hidden. The skill we are practicing is recognizing a complete setup, not collecting screenshots of sensitive fields.