---
title: "Getting Started"
description: "Follow these steps to create a new trading algorithm and backtest it in QuantConnect Cloud."
canonical: https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2/local-platform/key-concepts/getting-started
markdown: https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2/local-platform/key-concepts/getting-started.md
language: python
source: https://github.com/QuantConnect/Documentation/tree/master/02%20Local%20Platform/01%20Key%20Concepts/01%20Getting%20Started
modified: 2026-10-31
index: https://www.quantconnect.com/llms.txt
---

# Getting Started

[Documentation](https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2.md) > [Local Platform](https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2/local-platform.md) > Key Concepts > Getting Started

> Code examples are shown in Python. Append `?lang=csharp` to this URL for the C# version of this page.

### QUANTCONNECT LOCAL PLATFORM

Guide through creating a project, running your first backtest, and live algo trading in QuantConnect Local Platform.

![Local Platform](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-header.webp)

The Local Platform enables you to seamlessly develop quant strategies on-premises and in QuantConnect Cloud, getting the best of both environments. With Local Platform, you can harness your local version control, autocomplete, and coding tools with the full power of a scalable cloud at your finger tips. We intend to keep complete feature parity with our cloud environment, allowing you to harness cloud or local datasets to power on-premises quantitative research.

We encourage a hybrid “cloud + local” workflow, so you can use right tool for each stage of your development process. With the Local Platform, you can create, debug, and run projects on-premises while using your own on-site tools. With the Cloud Platform you can deploy backtests at scale and harness our massive data library at low cost.

---

### Follow these steps to create a new trading algorithm and backtest it in QuantConnect Cloud:

1. [Install Local Platform](https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2/local-platform/installation.md).
2. Open![VSCode](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/vscode-inline-icon.svg)Visual Studio Code.
3. In the Initialization Checklist panel, click **Login to QuantConnect**.

![Local Platform Login](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-login.webp)
4. In the Visual Studio Code window, click **Open**.

![Open Website](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-open-website.webp)
5. On the Code Extension Login page, click **Grant Access**.
6. In VS Code, in the Select Workspace panel, click **Pull Organization Workspace**.

![Pull Organization](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-pull-org.webp)
7. In the Pull QuantConnect Organization Workspace window, click the cloud workspace ([organization](https://www.quantconnect.com/docs/v2/cloud-platform/organizations.md)) that you want to pull.

![Choose Organization](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-choose-org.webp)
8. In the Pull QuantConnect Organization Workspace window, create a directory to serve as the organization workspace and then click **Select**.

If you are running Docker on Windows using the legacy Hyper-V backend instead of the new WSL 2 backend, you need to enable file sharing for your temporary directories and for your organization workspace. To do so, open your Docker settings, go to **Resources > File Sharing** and add **C: / Users / / AppData / Local / Temp** and your organization workspace path to the list. Click **Apply & Restart** after making the required changes.

![Create Directory](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-create-dir.webp)
9. In the Open Project panel, click **Create Project**.

![Create Project](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-create-project.webp)
10. Enter the project name and then press **Enter**.

Congratulations! You just created your first local project.

![Project Created](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-project-created.webp)
11. In the top-right corner of VS Code, click![Gear Icon](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/tut-build-icon.svg)**Build** and then click![Backtest Icon](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/tut-backtest-icon.svg)**Backtest**.

The backtest results page displays your algorithm’s performance over the backtest period.

![Backtest Project](https://cdn.quantconnect.com/i/tu/local-platform-backtest-proj.webp)