mt5.login() in MetaTrader5 Python: log in to a trading account

Signature

mt5.login(login, password=..., server=..., timeout=...)

What it does

Use login() after initialize() to move the terminal to another account without restarting it.

initialize() can log in too. Use login() when you want to keep the two steps apart, or switch accounts during a session.

Parameters

What it returns

• True when the terminal logged in to the account.
• False when it did not. mt5.last_error() tells you why, often an authorization failure (-6).

Example

import os
import MetaTrader5 as mt5

if not mt5.initialize():
    raise SystemExit(mt5.last_error())

if mt5.login(int(os.environ["MT5_LOGIN"]),
             password=os.environ["MT5_PASSWORD"],
             server=os.environ["MT5_SERVER"]):
    print("logged in to", mt5.account_info().login)
else:
    print("login failed:", mt5.last_error())

mt5.shutdown()

Common mistakes

• The server name must match the terminal's list exactly, suffix and all. A close guess fails.
• The terminal switches account for every script attached to it. If two scripts share one terminal, a login() in one moves the other too.
• Keep passwords out of the code and out of logs. Read them from the environment.

The same with Tickwire on Linux

The package needs a Windows terminal on the same machine. Tickwire runs the terminal for you and gives you a REST API, so the code below runs on Linux, macOS or a server.

On Tickwire you give the login, server and password once, when you add the account. The hosted terminal logs in and stays logged in. Your code only holds a Tickwire API key, never the broker password.

Each account has its own terminal, so working with two accounts never means switching one terminal back and forth. Read account-information on each to confirm which account you are on.

• GET /users/current/accounts/{account_id}/account-information
• GET /users/current/accounts/{account_id}/health

Related functions

• mt5.initialize() in MetaTrader5 Python: connect Python to the terminal
• mt5.account_info() in MetaTrader5 Python: read balance, equity and margin
• mt5.last_error() in MetaTrader5 Python: find out why the last call failed
• mt5.shutdown() in MetaTrader5 Python: close the link to the terminal

Related error codes

• MT5 Python error -6: Authorization failed (RES_E_AUTH_FAILED)
• MT5 Python error -2: Invalid parameters (RES_E_INVALID_PARAMS)
• MT5 Python error -10004: No IPC connection (RES_E_INTERNAL_FAIL_CONNECT)

All MetaTrader5 Python functions