Connecting your Betfair account

Why you need to connect Betfair

Horse Racing Trader is a trading interface for the Betfair exchange. Without a connected Betfair account, HRT can display market data in read-only demo mode, but you cannot place or manage orders. Connecting your Betfair account is required to trade.

The connection also lets the AI engines read live market data associated with your session — order book depth, matched volume, and price movement — which underpins the analysis they produce.

How the connection works — security first

HRT uses Betfair's official OAuth flow. This means:

• You authenticate directly on Betfair's own login page, not inside HRT.
• Your Betfair username and password are never entered into, transmitted to, or stored by HRT.
• Betfair issues a short-lived session token to HRT. This token allows HRT to read market data and place orders on your behalf, but it cannot be used to withdraw funds, change your password, or access your Betfair account settings.

Your Betfair credentials never leave Betfair's servers. The OAuth token can be revoked at any time from your Betfair account settings under **API Access**.

Step-by-step: connecting your account

1. Sign in to Horse Racing Trader.

2. Go to Settings → Betfair Connection.

3. Click Connect Betfair Account.

4. You will be redirected to Betfair's login page. Sign in with your normal Betfair credentials.

5. Betfair will ask you to grant HRT permission to access your account. Review the permissions and click Authorise.

6. You are returned to HRT. The connection status in Settings will update to Connected.

What access HRT has

HRT is granted read access to market data and the ability to place, update, and cancel orders on your Betfair account. It does not have access to your funds management, account settings, personal details held by Betfair, or withdrawal functionality.

Disconnecting

To disconnect your Betfair account, go to Settings → Betfair Connection and click Disconnect. Your HRT account remains active; you can reconnect at any time. To fully revoke access at the Betfair level, log into Betfair and remove HRT from your API application list under account settings.

Common connection issues

• "Authorisation failed" — Make sure you are logged into the correct Betfair account and that your Betfair account is in good standing (not restricted or suspended).
• Connection drops during a session — OAuth tokens expire periodically. If your connection drops, go to Settings → Betfair Connection and click Reconnect. This re-initiates the OAuth flow without requiring you to disconnect fully.
• Orders not placing after reconnection — Refresh the trading terminal page after reconnecting to ensure the new token is active in your session.