How to Connect BluSky Trading Co. to NinjaTrader 8 (Rithmic)
BluSky Trading Co. sells the data feed as a choice at checkout. Volumetrica, Rithmic, Tradovate, Tradesea and Tickblaze are separate options on the plan you buy, and each one is a different product variant. NinjaTrader itself is not one of those options — it is a platform you attach to whichever feed you bought. This guide covers the Rithmic route only. If you bought a Tradovate plan, use our BluSky Tradovate connection guide instead; if you bought a Volumetrica, Tradesea or Tickblaze plan, the steps below will not match what BluSky sent you.
Treat that choice as a settled one. BluSky’s help centre article on getting ready for a Sim Funded account (28 February 2026) states that there is no longer an option to switch Sim Funded brokers, so plan on staying with the feed you picked at signup.
On the Rithmic route, BluSky issues the login itself and emails it to you — you do not create a Rithmic account or sign up with Rithmic directly. The confusing part is naming: BluSky’s own connection guide calls them “your BluSky credentials”, while its agreements article labels the same two fields “your Rithmic user” and “your Rithmic password”. They are the same pair, and you use the same values in three places: R|Trader Pro to sign the market data agreements, NinjaTrader 8, and any other Rithmic platform. Your BluSky account number is a separate thing again, and a new one is issued when you reach Sim Funded.
Two things trip people up more than anything else. The market data agreements are mandatory and have to be signed before NinjaTrader will be much use, and a missing entitlement on BluSky’s side lets the connection turn green while showing you no account at all. Both are covered below. BluSky’s own pages do not agree about how far NinjaTrader reaches once you are past the simulated stages, so confirm with BluSky support what you may run on your account before you rely on it.
What BluSky issues and supports
- A feed chosen at checkout — Volumetrica, Rithmic, Tradovate, Tradesea or Tickblaze, each a separate plan variant rather than a setting you toggle afterwards.
- Rithmic platforms — per “BluSky Supported Platforms” (4 April 2026): “NinjaTrader (Evaluation, BluLive and Sim Funded only)”, Tradesea, R|Trader Pro, MotiveWave, Quantower, Jigsaw, ATAS, Sierra Chart, Bookmap, VolSys/DeepChart, VolBook/Deepdom, and most other Rithmic platforms.
- Sweet Futures as the brokerage partner — BluSky states that it connects traders through Tradovate and Sweet Futures, the latter covering both its Rithmic and Volumetrica accounts.
- A separate Tradovate route — BluSky publishes its own NinjaTrader Tradovate connection guide, where the entry you add in NinjaTrader is the one named “NinjaTrader” and the account type is Simulation. Different credentials, different guide.
- Four stages — Evaluation, BluLive (Buffer), Sim Funded and Brokerage/Live. The first three are simulated; Instant Funded plans start at Sim Funded.
- NinjaTrader across the simulated stages — two BluSky articles published on the same date describe this differently, one saying “Evaluation Only” and the other “Evaluation, BluLive and Sim Funded only”, and the August 2026 live brokerage article does not mention NinjaTrader at all. The NinjaTrader-on-Rithmic route is documented and supported for the simulated stages; for anything after a Brokerage Review, ask BluSky before you assume.
What you need before you start
- An activated BluSky account. Step one of BluSky’s own guide is completing the activation steps on its website — credentials that arrive before activation is finished will not get you far.
- Your BluSky-issued Rithmic username and password, from the signup or welcome email. Check them against what the firm actually sent you rather than against any label you have seen elsewhere.
- A NinjaTrader account username. Register at NinjaTrader.com and activate it from the confirmation email. This is entirely separate from BluSky, and it is also the name NinjaTrader Client Services will ask for if your evaluation account does not show up.
- NinjaTrader Desktop with Multi-Provider ticked under Tools > Settings > General, followed by a restart. Without it, Connections > Configure does not appear at all.
- R|Trader Pro, or the web signing route, to sign the Rithmic market data agreements once. BluSky’s agreements article links a page for signing on the web, which is what it points Mac users to.
Connecting BluSky to NinjaTrader
1. Sign the Rithmic market data agreements first
Download R|Trader Pro and log in with the credentials BluSky emailed you, choosing System “Rithmic Paper Trading” and Gateway “Chicago Area”. Sign the mandatory market data agreements as a non-professional. If you would rather not install anything, use the web signing page BluSky’s agreements article links to. BluSky’s two articles differ on where the Market Data and selective-mode toggles should sit in R|Trader Pro, so do not agonise over the switches — the goal is simply to reach the agreements screen and sign. It is a one-time job, and once it is done you can minimise R|Trader Pro.
2. Turn on Multi-Provider mode
In NinjaTrader 8, open Tools > Settings > General and tick Multi-Provider, then restart NinjaTrader and sign back in. This matters because the Configure option under Connections only exists in multi-provider mode; if you skip it you will spend ten minutes hunting for a menu item that is not there.
3. Add the Rithmic connection
From the Control Center, go to Connections > Configure and double-click Rithmic for NinjaTrader Brokerage in the Available list. That stock entry is the right one — BluSky’s own connection guide names it, because a BluSky Rithmic account is a Rithmic account.
4. Enter your credentials and pick the right System
Type the username and password exactly as BluSky issued them. For Evaluation, BluLive and Sim Funded accounts, set the System to Rithmic Paper Trading (Chicago) — that single NinjaTrader string is the equivalent of the System and Gateway pair you chose in R|Trader Pro. BluSky’s agreements article gives Rithmic 01 as the System for a funded account, though read the last question below before you count on NinjaTrader at that stage. Match the System to the stage your account is actually in; a mismatch is a common cause of a rejected login. Give the connection a name you will recognise and save.
5. Connect, then check the account is actually there
Back in the Control Center, the Connections menu lists the connection under the name you gave it — leave the default and it appears as “My Rithmic for NinjaTrader Brokerage”. Connect, wait for the status to go green, then open the Accounts tab and confirm your BluSky account number is listed. Green on its own is not proof you are ready to trade.
NinjaTrader Desktop runs one Rithmic connection at a time, although one connection can carry several accounts under the same login. Our Unlimited Prop Firm Connections add-on lets you connect and manage multiple Rithmic accounts at the same time, from one window, with per-connection monitoring, and it tells you which System entry your firm uses, or adds that entry to NinjaTrader’s System list when it is missing.
Questions we get about BluSky on NinjaTrader
The connection is green but no BluSky account appears
This is the single most useful thing in BluSky’s own guide: a missing Evaluation (Rithmic) entitlement does not stop the connection turning green, but the account will not be visible in NinjaTrader until it is enabled. It is not a credential problem, and retyping your password will not fix it. Email NinjaTrader Client Services at ClientServices@NinjaTrader.com with your email address and your NinjaTrader username, and indicate BluSky as the Evaluation Service. That is the address BluSky’s own guide gives for this problem.
My login is rejected outright
Work through the three usual causes in order: the agreements have not been signed yet, the System does not match your stage, or the username and password have not gone in cleanly. Rithmic logins are generally unforgiving about stray spaces picked up from copy-and-paste, so retype them if you are unsure. Our Rithmic logon failed guide covers the rest.
My account number changed after I passed
That is expected. Passing BluLive leads to KYC via Veriff, after which a new Sim Funded account number is emailed to you and then populates in your dashboard. Treat the account number and the login pair as separate things, and if anything about the login itself changes, take the new values from BluSky rather than guessing.
What about market data costs?
Level 1 data is included at every stage. Level 2 is an optional extra bought from BluSky during Evaluation, BluLive and Sim Funded, and from the broker once you are live. Fees only begin at Live Brokerage, where BluSky states you are classed as a professional subscriber to CME market data; on Rithmic the fee is set by the clearinghouse, with the first month deducted from your starting balance and later months taken from the brokerage account.
Can I use NinjaTrader once I’m on a live account?
BluSky’s published pages do not answer this consistently — they disagree with each other, and the current live brokerage article names Tradovate and Rithmic as the two live routes without mentioning NinjaTrader. Ask BluSky support directly before a Brokerage Review, and confirm with them what you may run on the account.
Related
Affordable Indicators, Inc. is not affiliated with or endorsed by Rithmic, NinjaTrader, or any prop firm or broker named here; your firm’s and broker’s own terms govern how you may use your account, so check with them first.