Prop Firm Automation Checklist: 12 Checks Before You Go Live

Reading which firms allow bots is only the first half of the job. The second half is doing the work: confirming your exact setup, testing it, limiting it and keeping evidence. This prop firm automation checklist is that action plan. It assumes you have already looked at the firm-by-firm rules in prop firms that allow automation and now want a repeatable routine to run before any automated order touches an evaluation or funded account.

The checks below are in the order we suggest doing them. Several are cheap and take minutes; the ones that involve the firm's support team take longer, so start those first.

The checklist at a glance

1 and 2: Read the policy for your exact account stage

Start with the firm's own pages, not a forum post or a summary, including ours. Search the help center for automation, bots, algorithms, copy trading, high-frequency trading and prohibited activities. The relevant text is often split across several pages.

Then ask which stage your rules apply to. The same firm can treat the evaluation, a simulated funded account and a live account differently. For example, Topstep's API Access page (read 11 October 2026) says live funded accounts are not allowed to trade through the ProjectX API, which matters if you plan to move from evaluation to funded. See how prop firm evaluations work for the usual stage structure.

Write down the page address and the date you read it. The wording on the page is what counts.

3: Get written confirmation

If anything is unclear, ask support to confirm your setup in writing and keep the reply. Describe it concretely so the answer can be specific:

• what triggers the orders (TradingView alerts, a script, a copier);
• what software sits between the signal and the broker;
• where it runs (your own computer, a cloud server);
• the instruments, rough order frequency and typical holding time;
• whether you wrote the strategy yourself.

Apex's pages, as read in October 2026, say automation is not allowed and describe a narrow exception for semi-automated software that you actively monitor, so for that firm in particular do not rely on your own interpretation. Bulenox's terms say third-party algorithms must be approved by its management. Take Profit Trader's terms make you responsible for copier and automation tools you connect. A written reply is your protection in all three cases.

4: Hosting and device rules

Check whether the firm restricts where activity comes from. Topstep's API Access page says activity must originate from your personal device and that VPS, VPN and remote servers are prohibited by its Terms of Use. If your automation would run on a cloud server, resolve this with the firm before you start, not after. Other firms may say nothing on the subject, which is a reason to ask rather than assume. Our overview of running strategies on your own server explains the trade-offs.

5: Order frequency and hold-time thresholds

Firms that allow bots often prohibit high-frequency patterns. Two published examples as read on 11 October 2026:

• Lucid prohibits microscalping and flags accounts when more than 50% of profits come from trades held 5 seconds or less. It also prohibits high-frequency trading in general.
• Tradeify says that for payout eligibility on funded accounts, more than 50% of trades and profits must come from trades held longer than 10 seconds, and it lists high-frequency bots as not allowed.

Take the published number, then keep your own behavior well clear of it. Look at how your strategy actually trades: how many orders per minute at the busiest moment, and the shortest holding time it produces. Remember that a stop triggered quickly is still a short trade. This is a question about your own order pattern, not a statement about any strategy being good or bad.

6: Ownership and sharing

Tradeify's Essential Trading Rules page says algorithmic trading is allowed if you own the strategy exclusively, do not share it with others and can prove ownership if asked, and its compliance FAQ lists unowned bots, shared proprietary strategies and coordinated automation across unrelated accounts as review triggers. If you run a strategy written by someone else, or one that many other people also run, clear it with the firm first. Keep evidence of authorship: your source files with dates, and your written rules.

7: Set your own risk limits, stricter than the firm's

A firm's drawdown or daily loss rule is a final line, not a plan. Put your own limits in front of it:

1. Read the firm's rule and compute the actual distance to it (see prop firm drawdown types and daily loss limits explained).
2. Set a maximum daily loss, maximum open positions and maximum position size on the platform side, each tighter than the firm's equivalent.
3. Restrict the allowed instruments to those you intend to trade, and be careful with mini versus micro contracts, which differ ten-fold in point value (micro vs mini futures).
4. Use broker-side protective orders where the platform supports them, not only logic that lives in a script.

In WeCore these live in the Risk screen per account; the walkthrough is how to set risk limits. WeCore's limits are an extra layer you set; the firm's rules still apply at the firm.

8: Simulation first

New WeCore broker accounts start in Simulation: orders are checked and recorded, nothing is sent to the broker. Use it to verify that alerts arrive, that the symbol and quantity are what you expect, that stops and targets attach, and that your risk rules block what they should. Run it through at least one full trading day including the session open and close. Then read the order list line by line. See simulation mode before going live for a longer method, and remember that simulated fills can differ from real ones (backtesting vs live trading).

When you do go live, start at the smallest size the account allows.

9: Monitoring

Decide in advance who looks at what, and when. At minimum:

• turn on trade and connection notifications so you hear about a disconnect;
• check the order list and positions at the start and end of each session;
• know the daily reset time of your firm's trading day;
• keep your TradingView alerts alive, since standard alerts expire.

Alert-based systems can also fail silently. TradingView notes that webhooks may occasionally fail to reach their destination, so an absence of trades should prompt a check, not an assumption. A short troubleshooting routine is in tradingview alert not firing troubleshooting.

10: Kill switch and stop procedure

Practice the stop before you need it. In WeCore, disabling an account stops new entries while still allowing exits. The Kill Switch cancels all orders and closes all positions at that moment, but it is an action and not a lock, so new signals can still arrive afterwards. Disable the account or disconnect the strategy to stop further trading. Also know how to stop it at the source: pause or delete the TradingView alert, and have the firm's platform open so you can flatten manually.

11: Record keeping

Keep a simple folder: the policy page addresses and dates, the support correspondence, a note of your setup (software, host, strategy version), your risk settings and a periodic export of your trade history. If a firm ever asks questions about your activity, a dated record is worth more than memory.

12: Re-check on a schedule

Firm rules change. Put a recurring reminder, for example monthly and before every stage change, to re-read the relevant pages. Note the "last updated" date if the page shows one. If you are still choosing a firm, the checklist for choosing a prop firm covers the commercial side.

Where WeCore fits

WeCore is software that connects TradingView alerts and strategies to your own broker or prop-firm account, with per-account risk rules, a Kill Switch and a Simulation mode. It does not decide whether a firm permits your setup, and it has no affiliation with any firm. If you want to go through this checklist in practice, you can see the plans or create an account and start in Simulation. Ready-made strategies for your own trading server are described on the WeAlgo page.

FAQ

Is a prop firm automation checklist enough to make my setup allowed?

No. A checklist helps you collect the facts and evidence, but only the firm decides what is allowed. Ask support to confirm your exact setup in writing.

Should I automate during the evaluation or wait for the funded stage?

That depends on the firm's rules for each stage, which can differ. Read the policy for the stage you are in and the next one before you start.

Do I need written confirmation if the policy page says bots are allowed?

It is strongly advisable. Policy pages are general, and your hosting, order frequency and strategy ownership may raise questions the page does not answer. A written reply is a record you can keep.

What if my strategy trades very fast?

Check the firm's published thresholds for high-frequency trading and short holding times, and keep your behavior well away from them. If your pattern is close to a threshold, ask the firm before you go live.

Can I just test on the live account with one contract?

Use simulation first. If you then go live, start at the smallest size, but remember the firm's rules apply from the first order regardless of size.

Firm rules were read from each firm's official pages on 11 October 2026 and may have changed since. This article is general information, not investment advice, and does not promise any result. WeCore has no affiliation with the firms named here. Futures trading carries a high risk of loss.