If you do not have a NinjaTrader account yet, you need one. It is free. Create the account, sign in once to confirm it is active, then download NinjaTrader Desktop from your account and sign in there, on your Windows computer or a Windows VPS (we use Hyonix, referral link). On a Mac? NinjaTrader Desktop runs on Windows: a VPS is the direct route, and the FAQ at clarasystems.io covers the free tools.
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If you already have a NinjaTrader account, we suggest updating the platform if you have not done so recently. To update, close NinjaTrader and reopen it. If an update is available you will be prompted to install it.
This guide mentions the Control Center often. In the desktop app it is the window with the orange NinjaTrader logo in the top left corner. It is also where you adjust and manage settings, though depending on the version you are running Settings may appear as Options instead. Along the bottom, the sphere on the left shows your connection status: green means your accounts are connected. The tabs beside it, Orders, Executions, Strategies, Positions, Accounts, Logs and Messages, are your dashboard, and you will mainly use Accounts and Strategies. Everything we adjust today is handled in the Control Center.
Any change made in settings needs to be saved, and NinjaTrader closed completely, before it takes effect.
Everything in this guide assumes Windows. NinjaTrader Desktop does not install on macOS, and NinjaTrader Web runs in a browser but does not run automated strategies, so it cannot run Clara Core.
Two ways to get there. Run Windows on the Mac itself with a virtualization tool, which is fine for backtesting and learning the platform. Or run Clara Core on a Windows VPS and connect to it from your Mac, which is what we would use for anything live: a VPS has its own connection and power, so the strategy keeps running when your Mac is off. The FAQ on the website covers both in full.
We run Windows, so we have not tested a Mac setup ourselves and cannot tell you which virtualization tool works best. Do your own research before you commit: look at what other Mac users running NinjaTrader are using, and compare VPS providers, free ones included. We use Hyonix (referral link), which is the one we can speak for.
Download Clara Core from clarasystems.io/downloads. It is the only place we distribute it. The button opens a short form asking for your email, your name, how you found us, and your acceptance of the terms.
Submit it and the download link appears straight away on the confirmation screen, along with a link to clarasystems.io/start, which lays out every next step in order. The link is only on that confirmation screen, so download it before you close the tab. You do get an email, but it is a copy of the form as a record that you downloaded, not the link. If you lose the file, check your Downloads folder for ClaraCore26.zip before filling the form in again.
In the Control Center, open Tools, then Import, then NinjaScript Add-On, and select the ClaraCore26.zip file you downloaded.
Two standard NinjaTrader notices appear. First a caution that third party add-ons can affect the platform; this is NinjaTrader's boilerplate for every import. Click OK.
Then the confirmation: "NinjaTrader successfully imported all scripts contained in the NinjaScript Archive File." Click OK again. Both messages are normal; nothing about them is specific to Clara Core.
If Clara Core is already installed, remove it before importing the new file. In the Control Center open Tools, then Remove NinjaScript Assembly, select Clara Core, and confirm. Close NinjaTrader completely, reopen it, and only then import the new file. NinjaTrader keeps the first version it loaded in memory for as long as it is running, so importing over a copy that is still loaded leaves the old one running.
Multi-provider is what lets you connect multiple accounts in one desktop platform.
Clara Core runs on Eastern Time. If you run other strategies that need a different platform time zone, you can leave your setting as it is: the strategy carries its own time zone offset, covered in section 05.
Anything still open gets flattened before the futures session closes. Clara Core exits its own trades by session end, so this only ever fires if something has gone genuinely wrong. One honest caveat: this runs inside NinjaTrader, so it only protects you while the platform is running. Skip it if you trade other instruments manually in the evenings on the same machine.
"Once per strategy" means you hear about a problem without being buried in popups.
"Cancel exit orders when a strategy is disabled" stays UNCHECKED. This is the setting that keeps your stop alive at the broker if the strategy ever stops. Do not check it.
These settings control how NinjaTrader responds to a connection loss, and how many times it will try to restart the strategy, within a determined window.
Leave this section exactly as you found it, disabled. It is for third party integrations Clara Core does not use.
Tradovate lets you set a maximum daily loss on the account itself, outside NinjaTrader. It is optional, and it is a worst-case switch, nothing more. The largest single loss on the $300 model is $381, so round that to $400 a trade; the strategy takes at most two trades a day, which is $800. Setting the limit a touch above, at $805, means normal trading can never brush against it. In our testing and daily monitoring Clara Core has not left a position without its protective orders; the limit exists for the case we have not seen.
Market recording silently fills your disk over time, which on a small VPS eventually causes real problems. Everything else stays at its default.
Click Apply, then OK, then close and reopen NinjaTrader. Settings changes take effect on restart.
Before you add a prop firm account, know which trailing drawdown rule it uses. We suggest using end of day trailing drawdown. The Structure page on the website explains why in detail.
If you are running prop firm accounts or a cash account, this is where you add your login credentials. Multi-provider must be enabled first, in General settings, followed by a restart; go back to section 03 if you skipped it. If you are running simulation inside NinjaTrader, you can skip this section.
Add the account. Choose NinjaTrader in the left box labelled Available, click Add at the bottom left, then enter your username and password on the right.
Apply, then OK.
Connect. Open the Connections menu again and click the account's name. You will hear the confirmation, a green dot appears to the left of the name with "disconnect" to its right, and the status bar at the bottom left of the Control Center turns green.
Both tabs let you choose which columns appear. Click the Accounts tab, right-click anywhere in the Control Center, choose Properties, and tick what you want visible. What we use, and suggest:
Accounts tab: account balance, cash value, connection, display name, gross realized P&L, realized P&L, trailing max drawdown, unrealized P&L. Unrealized P&L is what is open right now; realized is what has already closed.
Strategies tab: account display name, account position, data series, enabled, instrument, strategy.
Create the chart. Click New in the Control Center and select Chart. In the top left, type MNQ and choose MNQ Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 Futures. The defaults are usually correct; these are the properties that matter.
Optional. Under Visual, turn on Auto scale, Center price on scale, and Display in data box. Leave everything else unchanged and click OK.
For a strategy to run you need a chart, that chart needs a strategy, and that strategy needs an account linked to it. If you have connected your accounts, use your prop firm or cash account. If you are running simulation, set up a simulation account first.
Create a simulation account. In the Control Center, click the Accounts tab at the bottom, then right-click anywhere in the panel. The first option is Add simulation account.
Click OK. A message appears telling you a disconnect and reconnect is required for the account change to take effect.
To reset or delete a simulation account it must be disconnected first. To reset the balance: right-click the account, choose Edit, then Reset at the bottom right, then OK. To rename: you cannot rename a simulation account. Right-click, choose Remove account, OK, then create a new one with the name you want.
Add the strategy to the chart. Right-click the chart you just created and choose Strategies. Clara Core 26 appears in the list at the top left; click it, then click Add at the bottom left. It moves into the configured box, and the panel on the left is where you set which account runs it and how much it risks.
Leave the time zone offsets at 0 if NinjaTrader is set to Eastern Time. If the input series shows 1 minute, your chart is on 1 minute; that gets corrected below.
If you create two strategies and select the same account on both, your position doubles. This happens to people running five or more accounts who click the wrong one. Check the account carefully, and use the label below to make it obvious.
Label is where you name and identify the strategy. With ten Apex accounts, for example, we label each one ClaraCore26 - Apex01, and then confirm the account is correct. Nothing else needs changing. Click Apply and the name updates in the configured list on the left, which is the label doing its job; the new strategy also appears in the Control Center in the Strategies tab. Click OK and close.
On the chart, top left, you will see Chart in orange, then the instrument and the timeframe. Both need to read MNQ and 2 minutes. To check which contract is current, search online for the current MNQ micro contract month and year.
Be careful changing the timeframe on a chart that holds a strategy. If you switch that chart to 1 minute or 5 minutes, Clara Core is now trading a timeframe it was never built for, and a signal will enter incorrectly. If you do not trade manually, this does not affect you.
Save the workspace. Workspaces button at the top of the Control Center, then Save.
You can run more than one chart. We usually keep two: one carrying Clara Core on the prop firm, cash and Roth accounts, and a second for simulation accounts. Every extra chart costs NinjaTrader performance, so keep the number to what you actually need. If you also trade by hand, give that its own chart and keep it away from the ones running the strategy.
Run the strategy on its own chart and never change that chart's timeframe while the strategy is on it. If you also trade manually, do it on a separate chart.
Never close the chart or the Control Center before saving. Closing the chart deletes the strategy with it, and you start the chart and strategy setup again from the beginning.
To shut NinjaTrader down, save the workspace and close the Control Center only, not the charts: closing the Control Center closes everything else with it.
On a VPS, when you step away, close the remote desktop WINDOW only. Do not use Shut Down inside the VPS: that turns the machine off entirely, and the strategy with it. Closing the remote window leaves the VPS and the strategy running without you.
That completes account setup and strategy creation for Clara Core.
This can be done any time before 9:30am Eastern.
Connect your accounts. If you have multiple accounts, make sure they are all green.
Enable the strategy. Tick the Enable box, or with multiple strategies click the first, hold Shift, click the last, then right-click and choose Enable. Careful: Remove sits almost directly under it. Every enabled strategy turns green in the Strategies column.
Reload the data. Right-click the chart and choose Reload All Historical Data. A warning appears about active strategies; click Yes. Right-click again and choose Reload NinjaScript, and click Yes again. Do this on every chart you have open, not just one. Check that every strategy is still green.
Confirm the chart is alive and not frozen. Add a tool that makes it obvious: right-click the chart, choose Indicators, find Bar Timer, click Add at the bottom left, then Apply and OK. A countdown appears in the corner. Always check that the chart is moving, the open candle is not frozen, price is fluctuating, and the countdown is running down from 2 minutes on each new bar.
Done. The strategy handles the session from here and there is nothing else to do. Follow along on Telegram or Discord, or disconnect completely and check at the end of the day.
On prop firm accounts the trailing drawdown shown in the platform can report incorrectly right after a trade, especially after a fast move. The number in your broker platform, Tradovate at most firms, is the actual trailing drawdown, to the cent.
You can check results after 3:35pm Eastern. Keep in mind the market closes at 5pm, so account figures can reset to zero at the end of the session. Run a backtest, check your broker account, or log into your prop firm after the close to see the day's result.
Every trading day ends with an answer. Whatever happens, the chart and our channels tell you what the strategy did and why, so you are never left guessing; the notices post daily to Telegram and Discord. The same labels appear on your chart even if you start the strategy late, and every skip day is visible in your own backtest.
These are the notices, what each one means, and when it posts:
The three 7:00am notices are calendar filters skipping the day, and they label your chart as well. Daily conditions means the morning's conditions failed the strategy's daily checks, so no trade is taken.
Trade skipped means a signal appeared but the entry's risk exceeded the built-in $400-per-contract limit, so the strategy refused it. That is the limit protecting the account, and the day stays open for a new signal.
Entries and exits post as they happen. A short starts with a sell and ends with a buy; a long starts with a buy and ends with a sell. The position figure tells you where the trade stands: -1 means one contract short, 0 means the trade is closed.
Clara Core | sell 1 MNQ1! @ 29375.00 | Position: -1
Clara Core | buy 1 MNQ1! @ 29434.25 | Position: 0
The channel notices follow the strategy's default settings. Every risk model trades the same days and the same entries, only the position sizing differs, so the notices apply to all of them.
A quiet day means no valid entry appeared. That is the strategy working, not failing.
Automation runs on real machines, and real machines occasionally lose internet, restart, or crash. Read this once now; it is the difference between a calm five minute fix and a panic.
Your stop loss does not live on your computer. When Clara Core places a trade, the protective order rests at your broker's servers. If your internet dies or your computer shuts off mid-trade, the stop remains active at the broker.
What is lost while NinjaTrader is down is the active management: breakeven, trailing, and the end-of-session exit only run while the strategy is enabled. From that point on, your trade is protected by its original stop, nothing more.
A short internet drop: NinjaTrader reconnects the account on its own once the network returns. Whether the strategy is still enabled afterwards depends on how long the drop lasted. Check the Strategies tab when you are back.
A longer outage: the strategy may be disabled by the platform. Check the Strategies tab when you are back, and if it is disabled, nothing re-enables it for you. Follow the recovery steps below. Your stop is resting at the broker the whole time.
None of this is something you monitor for. Short drops happen and fix themselves; a full outage while a trade is open is rare. The trade is protected either way, so this is a calm check when you are back at the machine, not something to sit and watch.
Reconnect your account in NinjaTrader if it has not reconnected on its own. "Connect on startup" covers the account connecting when you open NinjaTrader, not reconnection during a session.
Find the trade. On the chart, top left, you will see Chart in orange, then the instrument, MNQ, and the timeframe, 2 minutes. To the right of those are a few icons; if you cannot see them, click the down arrow. Look for an icon shaped like a mirrored F pointing left, hover until one reads Chart Trader, and click it. Under Account, select the account in question to see the open position and where the stop is sitting. Normally you will see only the stop resting; if it had already trailed before the outage it can sit past your entry price, locking gain in.
Decide what to do with the trade, and doing nothing is a real option. The stop is resting at the broker; if price reaches it the trade closes on its own and your day ends there. If the trade is in profit and you would rather take it, cancel the resting order by clicking the x beside the stop line on the chart, then click Close. Check the Accounts tab and the chart afterwards to confirm nothing is still open. You can do the same from your broker's phone app.
Leave the strategy off for the rest of that session, and enable it again before the next one.
"Adopt account position" is the shipped setting; leave it. Any other option can cancel your protective order or close your open position at market.
Open your broker's phone app and manage or close the position there. The point is that the position needs attention now and the platform does not: an open trade keeps moving whether or not NinjaTrader is running, while a strategy that is disabled or out of sync can be sorted out calmly once you are back at the machine.
Sometimes after a crash or a forced close, starting NinjaTrader shows an error that only one instance can run at a time. The old process is still alive in the background. The fix takes thirty seconds:
On a VPS, do not press Ctrl+Alt+Delete; that opens the task manager on YOUR computer, not the VPS. Instead, click the search bar at the bottom of the VPS's Windows taskbar, type task manager, and open it.
Find the NinjaTrader entry in the list (look for its logo).
Right-click it and choose End task.
Start NinjaTrader normally.
Every statistic on clarasystems.io comes from a NinjaTrader backtest you can run yourself, free. This is how you check our numbers instead of taking our word. None of this is required to trade; it is here because being able to check is the point. Once you know how to download the data, you can test any other strategy you have the same way.
NinjaTrader saves price data on your computer and reuses it. Downloading again does not replace what is already saved, it only fills in what is missing, so any bad or partial data from an earlier download stays. Deleting it first means you start from nothing and get a clean copy.
Set three things first, under Tools, then Settings or Options, then Market data: Get data from server unchecked, Global merge policy set to Merge back adjusted, and Record live data as historical off.
Close NinjaTrader completely.
Open Documents, then NinjaTrader 8, then db. Delete these four folders: cache, day, minute, tick. Delete the folders themselves, not just what is inside them, and touch nothing else in db.
Your accounts, settings, charts, and strategies are not affected; NinjaTrader rebuilds these folders automatically. After a clean reset and a complete download, your trade count should match ours exactly, and net profit should land within a few dollars.
Reopen NinjaTrader and connect an account. A free simulation account is enough.
Optional but worth doing: open the Strategy Analyzer and run the backtest now. It should return nothing, which proves the old data is gone.
Click Download in the bottom right corner. Instrument: the current MNQ contract, which carries a month and year like MNQ 09-26 and changes four times a year. If you are not sure which is current, search online for the current MNQ contract month.
Start date 05/06/2019, MNQ's first trading day. End date: use the date printed on the performance page of the website if you want to match our results. If you would rather run a different window, just make sure the end date is a trading day that has already closed. If today is Friday the 10th, use Thursday the 9th. A session that is still open is still changing, so two downloads of it will not match.
Interval Minute, Data type Last. Click Download and let it finish. It usually takes under a minute. The Download button greys out while it runs. When it turns back to normal the download is done and you can close the window.
Close the Historical Data window and run the backtest straight away, without reloading anything.
In the Control Center: New, then Strategy Analyzer. It opens as a Backtest.
Type: Backtest. Strategy: Clara Core 26. Leave every strategy setting at its default to see the published $300 reference model (Risk Per Trade 300), or test any other model you like.
Data Series: the instrument you just downloaded. Type Minute, Value 2.
Time frame: 05/06/2019 to the same end date as the website window.
Under Setup: Include commission ON, commission template NinjaTrader Brokerage Free. That is $0.95 per contract per side, $1.90 round turn, the highest of NinjaTrader's own rates: most traders pay less than the numbers we publish assume.
Click Run. When it finishes, compare your total trades against the trade log on the Downloads page, or the figure on the Performance page. That is the number that tells you your data is right. Net profit and max drawdown should land very close, and the note below explains the small differences you may see.
Your trade count should match the published log exactly. That is the number to check first, because it tells you your data is right.
Net profit may differ by a few dollars. That is normal. Historical data is served fresh on every download and is not identical between them, so a fill can land a tick or two apart. Across more than fifteen hundred trades those tiny differences add up to a few dollars on a result of this size.
If your trade count is off by more than a trade or two, the download was incomplete. Delete the four folders again and download again, using an end date that is a completed trading day.
None of this is specific to Clara Core; it is how historical data works in NinjaTrader. If you want it confirmed independently, NinjaTrader support will answer questions about their own data directly.
One wrong field, most often the end date or the commission template, is almost always the reason results differ. Check this box first.
Almost always the cause is the data. Go back to Step 1, delete the four folders again, and download again with a completed trading day as the end date. Starting from empty is what makes the run repeatable.
One more setting to check if results still differ: in Tools, then Settings or Options, under Market Data, make sure "Record live data as historical" is OFF. When it is on, NinjaTrader uses price data recorded on your own machine instead of the data from its servers.
Trading futures involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. Past performance does not predict future results.
NinjaTrader® is a registered trademark of NinjaTrader Group, LLC. No NinjaTrader company has any affiliation with the owner, developer, or provider of the products or services described herein, or any interest, ownership or otherwise, in any such product or service.