Paper trading checklist (before you go live)¶
If you treat automation like “turn it on and hope”, you will eventually pay for it.
This checklist is the boring, protective process: paper first → review behavior → go live small.
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Risk + not investment advice
This content is educational. Trading involves substantial risk. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
Before you paper trade (setup)¶
- Your workflow is saved to Cloud (so it’s consistent session-to-session)
- You can explain the lane and the alert condition in one paragraph
- Your strategy has max trades per day
- You’re using a defined session window (Time of Day)
Paper trading checklist (run this in order)¶
1) Lane sanity¶
- Price range makes sense
- Liquidity is adequate for fills
- Optional: float constraints match your niche
2) Signal sanity¶
- Alerts are reviewable (not spam)
- You understand why each alert fired
3) Execution sanity (Brokerage+)¶
- Correct account (paper, not live)
- Correct symbol permissions
- Correct order type defaults
4) Risk sanity¶
- Position sizing is intentional (not accidental)
- Stops/targets/timed exits behave as expected
- Max trades per day is set
5) Fill + slippage review¶
Paper fills may not equal live fills, but you can still learn: - are you getting skipped constantly? - are you paying spreads/slippage that makes the strategy unrealistic?
6) Logging + review habit¶
You need a review loop: - what traded - why it traded - whether it matched your expected behavior
When to go live (minimum criteria)¶
I recommend going live only when: - you’ve run multiple sessions in paper without surprises - you’ve addressed repeated issues (skips, spam, wrong lane) - you’ve reduced complexity (not increased it)
Then go live with: - small size - strict max trades - a defined stop condition for disabling the strategy if something looks wrong
Paper-to-live gate scorecard (use this before LIVE)¶
Score each item Pass/Fail:
- Lane is stable across multiple day types
- Max trades/day is enforced
- Slippage is within acceptable range for your setup
- Kill switch was tested at least once in SIM
- Logs clearly show why each order was sent
If any of these fail, stay in paper.
FAQ¶
How long should I paper trade?¶
Long enough to see multiple “types of days” (active, quiet, trending, choppy). The goal is not to prove profit; it’s to prove behavior and risk controls.
Is paper trading realistic?¶
Not perfectly. But it’s still the cheapest way to catch configuration mistakes and strategy behavior problems before you risk real money.
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