summary: the fastest path from signed up to live algo — what you need, what to do in order, and which article to open for each step.
this article covers: the 4-step path to a live algo, the broker contract-symbol rule that traps most new users, the position-sizing input that controls how many contracts each trade fires, and where to go next when something breaks.
if you already have an algo running and something's off, skip to → my algo didn't trade — start here.
video walkthrough
prefer to watch first? Andre walks through the entire flow end-to-end — optimizer, dashboard, broker connection, strategy creation, and the TradingView alert — in about 10 minutes. the written steps below cover everything in the video plus the data and contract-symbol requirements it doesn't go deep on.
before you start
5 things need to be in place before you touch the dashboard:
the all access plan. algo automation is an all access feature — the essential plan includes all reports, WIP, the screener, edgeful AI, and the indicators, but not automated execution. confirm your plan in your account settings before connecting a broker.
a TradingView plan that supports webhooks. Essential (formerly Pro) or higher. free and Basic plans don't have the webhook field — you'll get halfway through alert setup and hit a wall.
real-time CME futures data on TradingView. this is the one that catches people out. TradingView shows CME futures (ES, NQ, YM, RTY, etc.) on a ~10-minute delay by default — even on a paid plan. you need to add a separate CME real-time data package in your TradingView account, or your alerts fire on delayed prices and your entries land late — which can lose trades even when everything else is set up correctly. this is a TradingView requirement, separate from any real-time data you pay for through your broker. how to turn it on: → enabling real-time CME futures data on TradingView.
a backtested and optimized algo. run your algo through TradingView's Strategy Report (formerly the Strategy Tester) first. if you automate before you're happy with the win rate, profit factor, and drawdown, you're automating a losing strategy.
a supported broker account. Tradovate, NinjaTrader, or any ProjectX-based prop firm (including Topstep and TopstepX). full compatibility list: → which broker accounts work with edgeful algo automation?
if any of those 5 aren't ready, fix them first — the rest of the setup won't hold together without them.
the contract-symbol rule (read this once)
the #1 cause of silent algo failures is the wrong contract symbol on your TradingView alert. each broker platform expects a different symbol — get it wrong and orders either get rejected or never route. the rule:
Tradovate / NinjaTrader → use the current front-month contract (e.g.,
NQM2026,ESU2026). don't use the continuous symbol.ProjectX (Topstep, TopstepX, all ProjectX-based prop firms) → use the continuous contract (e.g.,
NQ1!,ES1!,MGC1!). don't use a specific front-month.
rule of thumb: Tradovate / NinjaTrader = front-month. ProjectX = continuous.
on Tradovate / NinjaTrader, futures contracts roll quarterly — you'll need to update the chart symbol and recreate the alert each quarter. ProjectX users on continuous symbols don't have this problem.
how the chain works — 30 seconds
your algo fires a signal on TradingView → TradingView fires an alert through the strategy webhook to edgeful → edgeful routes the order to your broker → your broker executes the trade.
each link is independent. when something goes wrong, you narrow down which link broke — that's what the troubleshooting flow below is built for. for the under-the-hood reference (how TP and SL exits are delivered, where slippage comes from), see → how the algo automation chain works.
the 4 steps
step 1 — connect your broker. in edgeful, open the algo dashboard from algos & automation → dashboard in the left sidebar. click connect Tradovate/NinjaTrader or connect ProjectX, log into your broker, approve the connection, and confirm the status shows connected in green.
full walkthrough — including 2FA pitfalls and the ProjectX errorCode=3 fix: → using the algo dashboard
step 2 — create a strategy. in the same dashboard, click create strategy. give it a clear name (e.g. "NQ ORB live"), pick your broker account, and pick market or limit for entries. the dashboard generates a unique webhook URL and a JSON message for that strategy. copy both — you need them in step 3.
one strategy per broker account. 3 accounts = 3 strategies = 3 separate TradingView alerts. for the multi-account, multi-prop-firm scenarios matrix, see → using edgeful algos with prop firms and multiple accounts.
step 3 — build your TradingView alert. add your edgeful algo indicator to a chart, set contracts per trade on the indicator's input panel (this is the only place position size is set — full breakdown: → position sizing and how edgeful uses strategy.position_size), open the alert dialog, paste the webhook URL into the Webhook URL field, toggle the webhook notification on, and paste the JSON message into the message field. match your chart timeframe to your algo's timeframe.
full walkthrough, including what to do after a settings or script update: → setting up TradingView alerts for algo automation
step 4 — verify it's working. run the 5-minute SIM pre-flight before trusting the algo with real money. point your strategy at a SIM/demo account, wait for a real signal to fire, and confirm the notification log at edgeful.com/algos-automation/trade-notifications shows a row with status filled.
full walkthrough: → test your webhook before going live. for what each log status means, see → understanding the algo notification log.
going live with size
don't jump straight to your target size on a live account. the right order:
SIM with 1 contract → prove the chain works end-to-end
live with 1 contract → prove broker execution and slippage are in the range you expect
scale up → bump the contracts-per-trade input on the indicator once you've seen a handful of clean live fills
when switching from SIM to live, create a new strategy pointed at your live account, copy its unique webhook URL, and update your TradingView alert. don't reuse the SIM webhook — each strategy has its own URL, and the SIM webhook keeps routing to SIM.
if you change algo settings later
once you're live, any change to your edgeful algo indicator settings (session, ORB size, TPs, SLs, contracts per trade — anything) means you need to delete and recreate your TradingView alert. the alert is locked to the indicator settings at the time it was created. your webhook URL stays the same — only the alert needs rebuilding.
full workflow when changes come from the algo optimizer or a manual tweak: → applying algo settings changes — what to do after you optimize and make algo setting changes.
if something breaks
when a trade doesn't execute, the problem is always in one of 3 places — the algo didn't find a setup, TradingView didn't fire the alert, or the alert didn't reach edgeful through the webhook.
start here: → my algo didn't trade — start here. the article walks you through 3 diagnostic questions and points you to the right fix.
if you're already looking at an exact error string in the notification log — "rejected", "failed", "contract not found", "cannot sell when position is 0", etc. — jump straight to the → algo error message decoder. every common error is indexed there with a direct fix.
common questions
my algo fired late / at the wrong price — what's wrong?
almost always delayed chart data. TradingView shows CME futures on a ~10-minute delay by default, so alerts fire late and entries look "wrong" even though the algo is working correctly. the fix is a CME real-time data package on TradingView (on top of a paid plan) — see enabling real-time CME futures data on TradingView. also confirm your chart timeframe matches your algo timeframe, since alerts only fire on bar close.
what's the difference between standard and holdout validation in the optimizer?
standard runs on the full backtest period — fast, uses all data. holdout splits the period 80/20 and re-runs the winners on the held-back 20% to test out-of-sample. use holdout to verify winners before trusting them. see algo optimizer.
why isn't the #1 ranked combination the one with the highest P&L?
the composite score weighs P&L together with drawdown, consistency, win rate, profit factor, and trade count — not just P&L. scan the whole top 20 rather than only clicking row 1.
what does the "low overfit risk" badge on the strategy health card actually check?
7 individual pass/fail checks: profit factor, win rate, concentration risk, return consistency, performance decay, drawdown/profit ratio, and stability check. all 7 passing earns the low overfit risk badge.
can I upload my own Pine script to the optimizer?
not yet — Pine script upload is in development. the optimizer currently supports edgeful's built-in algos. Gap Fill and Engulfing 2 TP haven't been added yet either.
why isn't my algo trading?
start with my algo didn't trade — start here. most common cause: TradingView alert isn't set, the webhook isn't configured, or your indicator settings don't match the optimized output.
does edgeful support NinjaTrader, or is it TradingView only?
both. edgeful indicators and algo automation work on TradingView and NinjaTrader. see do edgeful algos require TradingView? (NinjaTrader vs. TradingView).
related articles
spokes — the 4 setup steps:
→ using the algo dashboard — connect your broker and create strategies
→ setting up TradingView alerts for algo automation — build the alert that fires your strategy
→ position sizing and how edgeful uses strategy.position_size — one input controls contracts per trade; worked example with numbers
→ test your webhook before going live — the 5-minute SIM pre-flight
data requirement:
→ enabling real-time CME futures data on TradingView — required so your alerts don't fire on a ~10-minute delay
after you've optimized or changed settings:
→ applying algo settings changes — what to do after you optimize and make algo setting changes — the full 5-step handoff from new settings to live
read the trade log:
→ understanding the algo notification log — read the trade log and spot failed or rejected trades
troubleshooting:
→ my algo didn't trade — start here — diagnostic flow when something doesn't execute
→ algo error message decoder — every common error string and how to fix it
reference:
→ which broker accounts work with edgeful algo automation? — full broker compatibility matrix
→ using edgeful algos with prop firms and multiple accounts — multi-account scenarios matrix
→ how the algo automation chain works — under-the-hood reference
→ frequently asked questions — central FAQ across all sections