Connect Your Broker

BlitzPulse becomes useful the moment your real positions land in the system. Today that means Schwab via OAuth. Alpaca, Tradier, and IBKR are on the roadmap; this guide covers Schwab end-to-end.

What we ask Schwab for

When you authorize, Schwab presents the scope we request:

• Read access to account list, positions, balances.
• Read access to orders + transactions.
• Real-time streaming quotes (the “Streamer”).
• Order placement (only when you click; we never auto-trade).

You can revoke access from Schwab’s developer portal at any time.

What we store

• A short-lived access token (refreshed every 30 minutes).
• An encrypted refresh token (90-day Schwab lifecycle).
• A copy of positions, orders, and 1-second bar data — kept in our database so signals can be computed offline.

Refresh tokens are encrypted at rest using AES-128 with a key the infrastructure team rotates quarterly. We do not store your Schwab username or password.

Step-by-step

1. Settings → Connected accounts → Connect Schwab.
2. New browser tab opens to Schwab’s consent page. Sign in with your Schwab credentials on Schwab’s domain — we never see those credentials.
3. Review the scopes Schwab shows you. Click Approve.
4. Schwab redirects back to BlitzPulse. The connect dialog confirms success.
5. Initial sync runs (usually 10-30 seconds). Positions, orders, and account balance hydrate the dashboard.

What if I have multiple Schwab accounts?

Schwab’s OAuth returns all accounts you have access to. We list them under Settings → Connected accounts. Use the account picker in the top nav to switch which account’s data is currently displayed; choose All accounts for the aggregate view.

Each account is isolated: signals, alerts, and notifications are scoped to the active account. Cross-account aggregation is read-only — we never auto-route orders across accounts.

Token refresh + expiry

• The access token auto-refreshes every 30 minutes; you don’t need to do anything.
• The refresh token lasts 90 days. As we approach expiry, we email you a “reconnect” reminder. Reconnecting takes ~5 seconds (single Schwab page re-auth).

If you ignore the reminder and the refresh token does expire, real-time data stops flowing. The dashboard surfaces a “Schwab disconnected” banner with a one-click reconnect button.

Disconnecting

• Settings → Connected accounts → Disconnect.
• We revoke the refresh token immediately on Schwab’s side.
• Your historical data (positions snapshot, trade log) stays in BlitzPulse for audit but no longer updates.
• You can reconnect any time without losing history.

Common issues

Next: Understand the Dashboard