// how to

Running a trade through the gates.

The workstation checks a trade against your own rules before it reaches the broker. You bring the setup; the eight gates decide whether it qualifies; then you place it, or let EXIT CODE place it for you on your connected account with your stop attached. Desktop only, by design. New here? Start with the first-session walkthrough.

Connect your broker (once, optional)

If you want EXIT CODE to place cleared trades for you, link the account you trade on. cTrader: in the workstation you'll see Connect cTrader. Click it, log in, pick the account you want to place on, and approve. MetaTrader 5: open /members/mt5/, drop our small Expert Advisor into your terminal, and pair it once with the code the page gives you. Either way it's stored against your account, and if you link both you pick which one to place on. You can skip this and place trades in your own broker manually; the gates still run.

Do: cTrader: Connect cTrader → log in → choose an account → approve. MetaTrader 5: /members/mt5/ → attach the EA → paste the pairing code. Want to see the flow first? Try it on a demo account, then link the account you trade on. Every order is still placed only on your click.

Check your state (Gate 1)

Before any trade, the workstation asks where your head is: calm, cautious, rushed, or tilted. This is the honesty gate: the instrument is you. Rushed or tilted triggers a cool-down, because the worst trades are placed in the states you least want to admit you're in.

Do: answer honestly. A stand-down is the gate doing its job, not punishing you.

Load the trade from the live chart

Enter the trade you're considering: direction, entry, stop, target, and your risk as a percent. Read the prices off the live chart in front of you. The order fills at the current market, so an entry and stop near the live price keep your stop valid. Confirm your setup meets your own criteria, and your plan for managing the winner.

Do: set entry / stop / target near the live price. Stop below for a long, above for a short. Risk a fixed % you set in advance.

Read the verdict

The eight gates evaluate in order: your state, setup, stop, position size, and the session limits. One answer comes back.

Cleared → the trade qualifies Block → it doesn't, and here's which gate

A Block is the system working. It tells you which rule the trade failed. A blocked trade can never be placed through EXIT CODE. That's the point.

Place it

On a Cleared verdict you get two ways to execute. If your cTrader or MetaTrader 5 account is linked, hit ⚡ Enter trade and EXIT CODE places the order on that account with your committed stop attached (if both are linked, a Place on switch picks the platform). Or place it yourself in your broker and hit "I've placed this trade" to log it.

⚡ Enter trade · place on cTrader / MetaTrader 5I've placed this in my broker

Do: place the cleared trade. If the stop can't attach for any reason, the position is closed automatically, so you're never left holding an unprotected trade.

Open the workstation →

Let the in-trade gates hold the line

Once you're in, the gates don't stop. Gate 5 watches your live stop against the one you committed and flags it if you widen it. Gate 7 manages the winner so you don't cut it short. Gate 8 is the circuit breaker: cross the loss threshold across a run and it locks trading for the rest of that day and the next trading day. The structure carries the discipline the moment it gets hard.

Do: log the trade in the journal and review the week on the dashboard. Rule-adherence, not profit and loss.

What protects you

A blocked trade can never be placed. Only a gate-cleared ticket reaches the broker; there's no way to push a Block through.
Never an unprotected position. Your committed stop attaches at fill; if it can't, the position is closed automatically rather than left naked.
Demo first, if you want. Try the flow on a demo account before you link the account you trade on. Whichever account is linked, an order is placed only when you click Enter trade.
You initiate every trade. EXIT CODE never opens a position you didn't propose and clear. No copy-trading, no auto-fire.

That's the workstation. Connect once, check your state, load the trade from the live chart, read the verdict, place the cleared ones. The gates don't give you an edge or raise your win rate. They make sure the trade that reaches the market is the one you'd have chosen while calm. The rule was always yours. The workstation is what keeps it when it counts.

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