3 · The paper profile
The paper profile runs the full agent loop — signals, rails, orders — with pretend cash and no venue. It is the dress rehearsal: same machinery, zero stakes.
Step 1 — Understand profiles
A profile is a config.yaml + database pair, one folder, sharing nothing: separate databases, separate accounts. The folder you are in is the deployment keel operates — the console's Setup page names the config and database files it resolved, and the mode badge in the header says what that config declares. Switching profiles is changing folder, not clicking: mode is a config edit plus a terminal action, and LIVE always asks first. The console displays the mode; it cannot change it.
Step 2 — Start the agent in paper mode
From the terminal, in the deployment folder:
keel agent
Step 3 — Confirm every order
By default the agent previews each order and asks you at the terminal. Running headless, with no one to ask, it declines. keel autonomy on changes who is asked — never what is allowed. For the paper profile, answering prompts is the point: watch what the rails veto and why.
Step 4 — The kill-switch fails closed
To stop everything: keel kill — always allowed, from any terminal. It halts trading immediately and stays engaged until you explicitly resume (keel resume asks first, deliberately). A brand-new install starts with the kill-switch ENGAGED — you saw it on the Status page, and your agent's first cycle on a fresh deployment says it too, logging skipped: kill_switch. The console's Gates view names keel resume for what it is — a capability-increasing action behind the terminal gate.
Next
Before any live profile, the compliance work of the final guide is mandatory — the rails refuse to trade without it.