Gunbot API Permission Audit: Reduce the Key Before You Connect It

An exchange API key is not a formality between a trading bot and an account. It is an operating permission. The useful first control is simple: enable only what the configured job needs, then make the key harder to use anywhere else.

This is a setup and operations worksheet, not a trading signal, account-security guarantee, or performance claim.

The three-part permission test

Before adding an exchange connection, write the answer to these questions in one line each:

1. What must Gunbot do? Read balances, read market/account state, and place/cancel orders are distinct capabilities. Select only the capabilities required by the intended setup.
2. What must Gunbot never do? If the exchange offers withdrawal permission separately, leave it disabled. Gunbot’s MEXC API-key guide specifically lists disabling withdrawals as a security measure.
3. Where may this key work? If the exchange supports IP allowlisting, restrict the key to the static public IP of the host that runs the bot. Do not guess an IP: confirm the host’s actual egress IP first.

The official Gunbot Support API-key overview is exchange-specific because exchanges label permissions differently. That is precisely why copying a screenshot or a generic “full access” recipe is a bad control: review the exact permissions on the exact exchange before saving.

A 15-minute connection gate

1. Start with a dedicated key

Create a separate API key for the bot instead of reusing a key for another app or manual workflow. Name it so a future audit can identify the bot, exchange, and host without revealing secrets—for example gunbot-vps-01-trading.

Do not put API key values, API secrets, passphrases, recovery codes, or screenshots containing them in tickets, chat, config snippets, or this worksheet.

2. Choose the smallest usable permission set

Make a table before clicking Save:

The exact labels vary. If the exchange cannot separate a risky permission, stop and decide whether that exchange/key design is appropriate before connecting it.

3. Restrict the network path

Where supported, add the bot host’s confirmed static public IP to the exchange allowlist. If the host IP changes regularly, resolve that operational gap before treating the key as ready. An allowlist copied from an old server is not protection; it is a future outage wearing a security hat.

4. Connect and prove the smallest function

Add the connection in Gunbot, then verify the narrowest expected outcome: the connection is recognized and the required account/trading capability is available. A successful connection does not justify widening strategy scope or enabling unrelated permissions.

Gunbot Support’s task flow separates adding an exchange connection from choosing trading logic and from backtesting. Keep that separation in the operation too: secure the connection first; test strategy behaviour separately.

5. Record the audit result

Keep a redacted record outside the key itself:

Exchange:
Key label (no secret):
Bot host / confirmed public IP:
Read permission: enabled / disabled
Trading permission: enabled / disabled
Derivatives permission: enabled / disabled
Withdrawal/transfer permission: disabled
IP allowlist: enabled / not offered / pending
Connected at (timezone):
Minimal connection check observed:
Next review date:
Secrets recorded here: no

Stop conditions

Stop rather than improvising if:

• the exchange asks for broader permissions than the intended setup needs;
• withdrawal or transfer rights cannot be independently disabled and the risk is not understood;
• the host IP is unknown or unstable while allowlisting is expected;
• a key, secret, or passphrase has already been pasted into an untrusted place—treat it as exposed, revoke/rotate it through the exchange, and update the connection deliberately.

Source notes

• Gunbot Support — API Key Creation Guides (retrieved 2026-09-14): exchange-specific API-key creation guidance.
• Gunbot Support — MEXC API key creation (retrieved 2026-09-14): recommends IP whitelisting, reviewing selected permissions, setting trading limits where available, and disabling withdrawal permissions.
• Gunbot Support — Gunbot Support (retrieved 2026-09-14): separates exchange connections, trading logic, backtesting, advanced automation, and troubleshooting.

I run Gunbotic.com Community. It is a peer group for safer Gunbot setup and operations—not a signal room and not a source of profit promises. Public destination: https://t.me/gunbotic_support

Channel-native derivatives

1) X discussion reply (EN)

The best first API-key control is usually subtraction, not another monitoring tool: write down what the bot actually needs, enable only those read/trading permissions, keep withdrawals/transfers off, and IP-allowlist the confirmed bot-host egress IP where the exchange supports it. A connection test proves connectivity—not that broader permissions are justified. I run Gunbotic.com Community, a peer ops group: https://t.me/gunbotic_support

2) Reddit/forum discussion opener (EN)

An exchange API key deserves a 15-minute audit before it touches a bot.

My gate: dedicated key; smallest usable read/order permission set; withdrawals and transfers disabled; derivatives disabled unless intentionally in scope; confirmed bot-host IP allowlisted where supported; then a narrow connection check. The exchange’s labels differ, so generic “full access” recipes are lousy security advice. What permission do you routinely see people leave enabled without a reason?

Affiliation: I run Gunbotic.com Community, a peer operations group—not a signals service: https://t.me/gunbotic_support

3) German resource card

API-Key vor dem Verbinden klein schneiden, nicht erst hinterher absichern.

Eigener Key pro Bot/Host. Nur die wirklich benötigten Lese- und Trading-Rechte aktivieren. Withdrawals/Transfers aus. Derivatives nur, wenn sie bewusst Teil des Setups sind. Wenn verfügbar: bestätigte öffentliche IP des Bot-Hosts allowlisten. Erst dann die Verbindung minimal testen. „Connected“ ist kein Grund für breitere Rechte.

Ich betreibe die Gunbotic.com Community: Praxis-Austausch für sicheres Setup und Betrieb, keine Signale und keine Renditeversprechen. https://t.me/gunbotic_support