Documentation & Getting Started

Last updated: July 5, 2026

Everything you need to go from a fresh install to your first screen and backtest. Quantery is a private, local-first desktop app for serious retail investors — your theses, screens, results, and API keys stay on your own machine.

Quantery is research tooling, not investment advice. Screens, scores, and backtests are informational only and are not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. Past performance and backtested results do not guarantee future results. Verify against primary filings and make your own decisions.

This documentation will expand over time. We’re adding deeper guides, DSL references, and worked examples in future updates. If something is missing, email support@quantery.app.

1. Overview
2. Install
3. Activate your license
4. Connect your data
5. Connect AI (optional)
6. Write a thesis
7. Screen the market
8. Backtest
9. Updates & subscription
10. Data & privacy
11. Troubleshooting / FAQ
12. Support

1. Overview

Quantery is a quant research and backtesting workbench that runs entirely on your own Mac or Windows PC. You describe an investment thesis in a small, readable YAML DSL, screen the whole US equity universe against it, and run point-in-time, survivorship-aware backtests — without metering or usage limits.

Local-first by design. Nothing is proxied to our servers. Your investment theses, screens, backtest results, and the API keys you supply for market data and optional AI are all stored locally on your machine. The app talks directly to the data providers you configure.

Local-first Your work and keys never leave your device.
Perpetual license Buy once; the app you own keeps working.
Unlimited backtesting No per-run metering or caps.

2. Install

Quantery is a native desktop application for macOS and Windows. Builds are issued after purchase and delivered through your license — there is no public download of the app itself.

Purchase a license from the pricing section. Payment is handled by our merchant of record, Lemon Squeezy.
After checkout you receive your license and a download link for the build that matches your platform (macOS .dmg or Windows installer).
Install as you would any desktop app. On first launch, macOS or Windows may ask you to confirm opening an app from outside the platform store; approve it to continue.
Open Quantery and proceed to activation (Section 3).

Downloads and updates are delivered through your license and the Support & Upgrades subscription (Section 9). Keep the email you purchased with — it links to your customer portal for re-downloads.

3. Activate your license

After purchase you receive a signed license key. Enter it in the app to activate your seat:

Launch Quantery and open the activation prompt (or Settings → License).
Paste your license key exactly as issued and confirm.
The app verifies entitlement and unlocks. Your license key is yours to keep — store it somewhere safe and keep it confidential.

Each license includes a set number of activations (“seats”) for devices you own or control. If you replace a machine or run out of activations, contact support@quantery.app and we can help you manage your seats. See the Terms of Service for the full license and activation details.

4. Connect your data

Quantery follows a bring-your-own-keys model. You supply API keys for the data providers you want, and the app connects to them directly. Keys are stored locally on your machine and are never sent to us.

SEC EDGAR — free, primary-source, point-in-time fundamentals straight from company filings. This is the backbone of survivorship-aware, no-look-ahead research.
Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) — prices, the US equity universe, and market data. Create an account at financialmodelingprep.com to obtain an API key, then paste it into Quantery’s data settings.
Alpha Vantage — historical options chains going back to 2008, for options-aware research. Get a free key at alphavantage.co and add it in settings.

Quantery also ships seeded with a large starter historical dataset, so you can begin exploring and backtesting before you wire up every provider. More data sources are planned in future updates.

Where are my keys stored? Locally, on your device only. Quantery does not proxy your requests — the app talks to EDGAR, FMP, and Alpha Vantage directly using the keys you provide.

5. Connect AI (optional)

AI is entirely optional. Quantery is a full quant tool without any AI at all — you can run it quant-only, with no AI provider and no extra keys. If you do want AI assistance, you bring your own:

Anthropic / Claude — via an Anthropic API key, or by using a local Claude CLI you already have installed.
OpenAI — GPT models via an OpenAI API key.
Local models — run fully offline with Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or vLLM.
None — skip AI entirely; all screening and backtesting works without it.

As with data providers, any AI keys you enter are stored locally. Choosing a local model keeps everything — data and inference — on your own hardware.

6. Write a thesis

A thesis is how you tell Quantery what “good” looks like. You express it in a small, readable YAML DSL. At a high level a thesis brings together a few conceptual parts:

Universe — which stocks to consider (for example, the US equity universe, optionally filtered).
Features — the fundamental and price inputs you care about, drawn from point-in-time data.
Scoring criteria — how those features combine into a score for each name.
Gate — hard conditions a name must pass to qualify at all.
Verdict bands — thresholds that map a score into labels such as strong / watch / pass.

Illustrative example — conceptual, not a literal schema

# Illustrative only — shows the shape of a thesis, not exact field names.
thesis: deep-value-capitulation
universe: us_equities

gate:
  # hard requirements a name must meet to qualify
  - positive_book_value
  - min_dollar_volume

features:
  - price_to_book
  - free_cash_flow_yield
  - drawdown_from_high

score:
  # combine features into a single ranking score
  cheaper_is_better: [price_to_book]
  higher_is_better:  [free_cash_flow_yield]

verdict_bands:
  strong: ">= 80"
  watch:  "60 - 79"
  pass:   "< 60"

You don’t have to start from scratch. Quantery ships with bundled templates for well-known styles that you can copy and adapt:

Deep-value capitulation
Graham net-net
Piotroski F-score
Magic Formula
Buffett-quality
Earnings-yield

The YAML above is illustrative, meant to convey the shape of a thesis. The bundled templates in the app are the authoritative reference for exact field names and options.

7. Screen the market

Once you have a thesis, screen the entire US equity universe against it. Quantery evaluates every eligible name, applies your gate, computes each score, and ranks the results by verdict band so the strongest candidates rise to the top.

Because the underlying fundamentals come from primary-source, point-in-time data, a screen reflects what was actually knowable — a foundation for the deeper backtesting in the next step. From a ranked screen you can drill into an individual name to see why it scored the way it did.

8. Backtest

Backtesting is where a thesis earns its keep. Quantery runs walk-forward, point-in-time, survivorship-aware backtests:

Point-in-time & no look-ahead — each period uses only the data that was available at that moment, drawn from EDGAR filings.
Survivorship-aware — delisted names are retained, so you don’t only test against companies that happened to survive.
Event study + naive portfolio — study how names behaved around qualification, and see how a simple portfolio of your selections would have performed.
Benchmarked vs SPY and IWM — results are compared against large-cap (SPY) and small-cap (IWM) benchmarks for context.
Unlimited — run as many backtests as you like. There is no metering.

Backtested results do not guarantee future results. A backtest describes the past under your assumptions; it is not a promise about the future and is not investment advice.

9. Updates & the Support subscription

Your license is a one-time, perpetual license — the version of Quantery you own keeps working. Ongoing updates are handled by an optional annual Support & Upgrades subscription:

The first year of updates is free and included with a new license.
After the first year the subscription renews at US$99/yr (on by default, but you can opt out).
The subscription gates downloads and updates only — never the app you already own.
If it lapses, Quantery lapses gracefully: the last version you received keeps running; you simply stop receiving new downloads and updates until you renew.

Full billing, renewal, and cancellation details are in the Terms of Service. Note that all sales are final — there are no refunds.

10. Data & privacy

Quantery is local-first: your theses, screens, backtest results, and API keys live on your own machine and are not proxied to our servers. The app connects directly to the data and AI providers you configure using the keys you supply.

Limited technical information (such as your license key and a device identifier) is exchanged only to verify your license and deliver updates. For the complete picture of what is and isn’t collected, see the Privacy Policy.

11. Troubleshooting / FAQ

Do I need AI to use Quantery?

No. Quantery is a complete quant and backtesting tool without any AI. You can run it quant-only, with no AI provider and no extra keys. AI is an optional add-on you can enable if you want it.

Where are my API keys stored?

Locally, on your own device. Quantery does not proxy your requests or send your keys to us — the app connects directly to SEC EDGAR, FMP, Alpha Vantage, and any AI provider you configure.

What happens if my Support & Upgrades subscription lapses?

The app keeps working. Your license is perpetual, so the last version you received continues to run — you just won’t receive new downloads or updates until you renew. The subscription gates updates only, never the app you own.

Which data sources do I need to get started?

Quantery ships seeded with a large starter historical dataset, so you can start exploring immediately. To go further, add a free SEC EDGAR connection for point-in-time fundamentals, plus FMP (prices and the US universe) and Alpha Vantage (historical options) as needed.

Is Quantery investment advice?

No. Quantery is research tooling. Its screens, scores, and backtests are informational only and are not recommendations to buy, sell, or hold any security. You are responsible for verifying against primary filings and for your own decisions.

Can I run everything offline?

Largely, yes. The app and the seeded dataset run locally, and you can use a local AI model (Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, or vLLM) instead of a hosted one. Fetching fresh market data or refreshing filings requires internet access to the providers you configure.

Which operating systems are supported?

macOS and Windows. Builds are issued after purchase and delivered through your license.

12. Support

Need a hand? Email support@quantery.app and we’ll help with installation, activation, seats, and billing.

See also the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Quantery is a product of Wayland Holdings LLC (Texas, USA).

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