Bot Settings: Trade Entry and Multi-Entry
The Trade Entry section controls when your bot enters, how large each position is, and whether the bot runs as a Single Entry or Multi-Entry bot. This reference covers every setting in the section.
Enter By
Enter By decides what starts a trade. Bot Settings lets the bot enter on its own schedule, using the entry time window, days of the week, sequential entry delay, and the No Position or Staggered Days setting below. When Triggered turns all of that off: the bot only enters when you trigger it yourself, either with a One-Off trade from the green play button on the Trading Dashboard or through a webhook.
Choosing When Triggered hides the schedule fields (Days of Week to Enter, Open If No Position or Staggered Days, Entry Time Randomization, Sequential Entry Delay, and the Entry Time Window). Entry filters in the Trade Conditions section also do not apply to triggered entries.
Position sizing
Set Launch Now/Webhook Size
When enabled, trades started with the Launch Now button or a webhook use the bot's own sizing settings. When disabled, tradeSteward asks you to set the size manually before the trade opens.
Enabling this setting also affects Size Up: with it on, sizing up an open position offers a choice between Use Bot Settings and a manual quantity; with it off, Size Up only accepts a manual quantity.
Position Sizing
Four methods decide how many contracts each trade opens:
| Method | How the quantity is calculated |
|---|---|
| Quantity | Opens exactly the number of contracts you enter in the Quantity field. |
| Percent | Calculates the position's Regulation-T margin requirement, multiplies your Percent against the account's net liquidation value, and divides by that margin requirement. Sizing does not account for other open positions or special margin arrangements on your account, such as portfolio margin. |
| Leverage | Opens the quantity needed to reach the Leverage multiple you set on the underlying. |
| Dollar Target | Targets a trade size in whole real dollars. Enter 1000 for a $1,000 target, not an option price like 10.00; credit and debit positions both use a positive amount. At open time the bot estimates the real-dollar value of one quantity unit from the quoted net credit or debit, multiplies by 100 and any leg size ratio, then applies your rounding choice. |
Dollar Target Rounding
Appears only for Dollar Target sizing and sets how a partial contract calculation is rounded. Up targets at least your dollar amount based on quotes. Nearest rounds to the closest whole quantity. Down keeps the quoted trade value at or below the target, and skips the trade entirely if the target is below the cost of a single quantity unit. Dollar targeting is best efforts: the actual fill can differ from the quote used to size the order, so the final trade value can vary slightly.
Include Credit
Appears only for Percent sizing. When enabled, the estimated credit received for opening a credit position offsets the buying power used in the percent calculation. When disabled, buying power for spreads and condors is based only on the maximum spread width in the trade. It has no meaning for single-leg positions or for other sizing methods.
Auto Size-Down
When enabled, the bot reduces the number of contracts if it projects your account does not have enough available buying power to satisfy the Regulation-T margin requirement for the opening trade. When disabled, the bot always sends the calculated quantity and leaves it to your broker to reject an order that exceeds available buying power.
Entry Speed
Entry Speed sets how aggressively the bot works an opening order: how often the price is recalculated and further slippage is added to get filled. Pick a speed from the dropdown:
| Speed | Cancels and replaces | Tries before recalculating strikes |
|---|---|---|
| Turbo | Every 2 seconds | 6 |
| Fast | Every 8 seconds | 3 |
| Normal | Every 15 seconds | 2 |
| Slow | Every 30 seconds | 2 |
| Turtle | Every 60 seconds | 2 |
After the maximum tries at a speed, the bot recalculates strikes from fresh quotes and starts working the order again.
Entry days and windows
These fields appear when Enter By is set to Bot Settings.
Days of Week to Enter
Choose which weekdays the bot may enter: All, or any combination of Mon through Fri.
Open If No Position or Staggered Days
No Position means the bot reopens whenever it has no open trade during the entry window. If a trade closes for any reason (time, stop, or profit target) while the window is still open, the bot enters again. Staggered Days instead opens one new position at the beginning of the entry window every Entry Day Interval calendar days, even if a position from a previous day is still open. Use Max Concurrent Trades to cap how many staggered trades can be open at once. If an entry fails for any reason, the bot keeps trying for the rest of the window until filled.
Entry Time Window
The daily time range, start to end, when the bot attempts to open a position. Start and end are set as hour, minute, and second within regular market hours, from shortly after the open to the close. The window works together with the setting above: with No Position, any close during the window can lead to a new entry; with Staggered Days, the bot enters once at the start of the window on its scheduled days.
Entry Time Randomization
Adds a random offset to the entry window start time so several bots do not all enter at the same moment. Choose No Randomization or an offset from plus or minus 5 seconds up to plus or minus 120 seconds, in 5-second steps. The randomization is consistent for a bot within a day but varies from day to day.
Sequential Entry Delay
A cooling-off timer between the close of one trade and the open of the next, if the entry window is still open. Choose No Delay or a delay from 10 seconds up to 60 minutes, in 10-second steps.
Single or Multi-Entry
This toggle sets how many positions the bot can run. Single Entry bots open one position at a time. Multi-Entry bots open a position at each of their entry times, allowing multiple positions to be open simultaneously. For the full workflow, including consolidating existing bots into a Multi-Entry bot and archiving, see Multi-Entry Bots: Entries, Consolidation, and Archiving.
Switching the toggle to Multi-Entry reveals the entry-time manager:
Add Entry Times
Two ways to build the list of entry times. Specific Times lets you pick an hour, minute, and second and click Add Entry for each time you want. Interval generates a whole series at once: pick a spacing in the Every dropdown (from 10 seconds up to 4 hours), set the From and To times, and click Go.
Entry Times
The list of entry times you have added. Each entry opens its own position at its scheduled time, and each shows whether it is enabled. You can keep adding or removing times as your plan changes.
Entry Window Duration
How long each entry keeps trying to open after its scheduled time, chosen from the Duration dropdown (from 30 seconds up to 6 hours). The one duration applies to every entry time on the bot.
Max Open Positions
Caps how many of the bot's positions can be open at the same time. Choose Unlimited or a limit from 1 to 20. Entries whose scheduled time arrives while the bot is at its cap do not open a new position.