Bybit trading journal

What FOQUS records from Bybit

FOQUS records Bybit perpetual futures settled in USDT (such as BTCUSDT) and in USDC (such as BTCPERP). An open position shows up in FOQUS right away, and its profit, stop and time in the trade update live.

Every trade keeps:

• Fills. The entry, every add, partial take-profits and the close — with price, size and fee.
• Stop-loss and take-profit. When you set, moved or removed them, and whether they triggered.
• Funding. Every payment received or paid while the position was open.
• Liquidation. If Bybit liquidated the position, it is a separate event on the trade's timeline.
• Limit entry orders. Placed, amended and cancelled.
• Account before entry. Balance, equity and your other open positions at the moment you opened.
• Market snapshot. At every action: price change and volume over 5 minutes, 1 hour and 24 hours, RSI, funding, open interest and the long/short ratio.
• Order-book recording. One minute before and one minute after every open, add, partial close and close. The book comes from Bybit itself: the futures book, with the spot book beside it if the coin trades on spot. The free plan includes 10 recordings a day.

Not covered: spot, options, dated futures with an expiry, and inverse contracts settled in the coin (BTCUSD). FOQUS skips those trades.

How to create a Bybit API key and connect it

Keys are created on the Bybit website only — the app can't make them. A new Bybit account may not be able to create keys for the first 48 hours after sign-up.

1. Log in to the Bybit site your account is on, click the profile icon and choose API. On bybit.com you can open API Management directly.
2. Click Create New Key and choose System-generated API Keys: Bybit generates the key and the secret for you.
3. Under API Key Usage, keep API Transaction. Connect to Third-Party Applications is for the apps on Bybit's own list.
4. Name the key — FOQUS, for example. Under API Key Permissions, choose Read-Only and tick every box it offers: in this mode each one is view-only.
5. Choose No IP restriction. FOQUS reaches Bybit from several addresses, so a key bound to one IP won't work.
6. Click Submit and enter your two-factor code. Copy the API Key and the API Secret: Bybit shows the secret only once.
7. Create a FOQUS account and pick Bybit under Connect your own account. Already use FOQUS? Open the account menu and choose Add account. Paste the key and the secret and click Connect exchange.

Accounts on bybit.com and on Bybit's local sites work: bybit.tr, bybit.kz, bybitgeorgia.ge, bybit.ae and bybit.id. FOQUS works out by itself which site the key comes from. FOQUS doesn't connect Bybit EU, Japan or Hong Kong accounts: Bybit EU has no perpetual futures, and the live-data servers of Bybit Japan and Hong Kong don't respond.

Bybit keeps a key with no IP restriction for 3 months. You can extend it on the same API Management page: edit the key's IP setting, choose No IP restriction again and confirm. The key and the secret stay the same.

Is it safe to give FOQUS a Bybit API key?

• FOQUS checks the key. When you connect, it asks Bybit for the key's mode and accepts Read-Only only. To a key with write access FOQUS replies “The key is not read-only” and doesn't save it.
• FOQUS doesn't trade. It only reads: no orders, no transfers, no withdrawals. A Read-Only key couldn't do any of that anyway — Bybit itself limits it.
• What is stored. The API key and the secret. The secret is stored encrypted and used only for reading.
• How to disconnect. Delete the account in FOQUS, and its data is deleted with it. Delete the key on Bybit too, on the API Management page.

What's next: journal, timeline and overview

• Journal. All your Bybit trades — as a table, as cards with a chart, or as a weekly, monthly and yearly report. Filter by side, result, leverage, symbol and tag.
• Timeline. The trade second by second, right on the chart: the entry, every stop move, funding, partial take-profits, the exit.
• Tags. Mark the setup, the mistake or the emotion in a couple of clicks. The Profit by tag widget shows which setup earns and which one costs you.
• Notes. What you planned and what you did instead — typed or dictated, right next to the trade.
• Overview. 28 widgets break your profit down by weekday, hour, leverage, coin and tag.

Bybit trading journal FAQ

Will my old Bybit history be imported?

No. The journal starts when you connect: it records positions opened after that. A position opened earlier stays out, even if you close it later. Old trades lack what FOQUS sees for itself: your stops, and the account and the market at the moment of entry.

Does the API key need trading permission?

No. Read access is all the journal needs. FOQUS rejects a Read-Write key and asks you to create a read-only one.

Does FOQUS work with Bybit spot?

No. FOQUS records USDT and USDC perpetual futures only, so spot trades don't go into the journal. The order-book recording, though, shows the coin's spot book next to the futures one.

Why does FOQUS say Bybit rejected the key?

When connecting, check that you copied the whole key and secret and that the account is a Unified Trading Account. If FOQUS says “Bybit doesn't know this key”, none of the Bybit sites FOQUS connects recognizes it: check the API key. Keys from Bybit EU, Japan and Hong Kong don't connect. If an account that worked has stopped updating, the key may have expired. Bybit keeps a key without an IP restriction for 3 months, and after you change your account password, old keys stop working within 7 days.

What do I do when the key expires?

Extend it in advance on the API Management page. If it has already expired, create a new key and paste it into FOQUS: account menu → Edit account. The new key must come from the same Bybit account — then the journal carries on.

Can I connect several accounts or a subaccount?

Yes. Each account connects with its own key, and there's no limit on how many you add. The same Bybit account can't be connected twice.