The strategy decides the trades. The structure decides whether you survive them.
Clara Systems is US-based and designed to work across prop firm accounts, personal cash accounts, and self-directed retirement accounts, including Roth IRA accounts with futures access.
This page explains how to use Clara Systems in real conditions. It covers how to get started, how the strategy runs, where it can be used, and how to approach scaling and payouts over time.
The goal here is to give you a clear understanding of how to use the strategy correctly and what to expect once it is running.
All information provided is for educational purposes only. Examples and scenarios are based on backtested data. They are not guarantees of future performance.
Full step-by-step setup, platform installation, and walkthrough videos are being added for users who want a complete start-to-finish guide.
Clara Systems runs on NinjaTrader.
If you are new to trading or automated strategies, start with a simulation account and run the strategy without real money. This allows you to understand how trades are placed, managed, and closed without financial risk.
If you already have experience, you can start with either:
A prop firm evaluation account
A funded (PA) prop firm account
A personal cash account
If you already understand automated strategies on NinjaTrader and have access to multiple accounts, read the Scaling Philosophy section before deploying more than one. Scaling too fast, even with a strategy that works, creates psychological pressure that leads most traders to interfere or stop the system during normal drawdowns. Starting with one account is not about protecting you from the strategy. It is about protecting the strategy from you.
You are responsible for your own risk. Do not use capital you are not comfortable losing.
If you are new to the system, follow the written steps below. Video guides are being added to YouTube.
We provide a structured walkthrough covering:
Platform setup
Strategy installation
Account connection
Confirming the strategy is active
A full setup playlist is coming to YouTube. Until then, the written walkthrough here covers each step in order.
Once complete, run the system in simulation or on a single account before scaling.
Setup Guide · videos coming soon →Everything required to run the system is documented. Follow the process exactly.
Using the strategy is straightforward, but execution discipline matters.
Open NinjaTrader before the session begins at 9:30am ET (Eastern).
Enable the strategy and confirm it is active. Make sure charts are loading properly and not frozen.
Once enabled, the system handles all entries and exits automatically. There is no requirement for manual trading during the session. You can monitor trades if you choose, but no manual input is needed.
Once the environment is fully set up (VPS, accounts, and strategies), daily operation takes only a few minutes:
Turn on your computer or VPS
Log into NinjaTrader
Connect your accounts
Enable your strategies
Confirm charts are active and not frozen
Verify the strategy shows as running (active/green). If it shows yellow, the strategy is currently in a trade; this is normal if you enabled it after the session was already underway.
Once everything is confirmed, the system runs on its own. At that point, you can step away.
The system enters with a minimum of one contract per signal. Most days produce a trade. Days without one are usually by design: a skip day filter is active, the opening range is too wide for the risk cap, or a sideways, low-volume session never triggers a signal.
In some cases the one-contract minimum can put slightly more at risk than your selected dollar amount.
Based on historical data using a $425 risk model, the largest recorded loss per trade was approximately $435.
Clara Systems can be used on:
Prop firm accounts
Personal cash accounts
Roth IRA / retirement accounts (self-directed, futures-enabled), potential tax-free growth on trading profits for US account holders
The strategy runs the same in all environments. The differences are in account rules, capital structure, and restrictions.
Why a prop firm account is the efficient choice. A 50K prop firm evaluation gives you a roughly $2,000 trailing drawdown, your actual risk boundary, for an evaluation fee that, on an 80–90% discount, often costs only about $20–$40 plus a one-time activation. In other words, you can put a $2,000 risk boundary to work for roughly $200 all-in, instead of funding $2,500–$5,000 of your own capital in a personal account. That capital efficiency is the main reason this is interesting on a prop firm account.
Cash and retirement accounts. Clara Core can also be run on a personal cash account or a self-directed, futures-enabled Roth IRA. These accounts have no prop-firm rules or trailing drawdown and allow withdrawals at any time, but they require more of your own capital and carry the full risk of loss directly; there is no prop-firm structure limiting your downside. If you run it on a cash or retirement account, do so only with capital you can afford to lose and with a clear understanding that you are accepting that risk yourself.
Prop firms have specific rules related to drawdown, payouts, and risk limits. These rules vary by firm and change over time.
Personal cash and retirement accounts have fewer restrictions but require more of your own capital and margin awareness.
You can run the strategy individually on each account, or use a trade copier to mirror trades from one master account to multiple accounts.
We do not provide trade copier software. There are free and paid options available. One commonly used paid option is Replikanto.
When choosing a prop firm connection, you will typically select between Tradovate or Rithmic. This choice matters. NinjaTrader only allows one Rithmic connection at a time, while Tradovate allows multiple accounts across different prop firms to be connected simultaneously. This cannot be changed after purchase. To switch, you would need to close the evaluation or funded (PA) account and start over.
For users planning to scale across multiple accounts or across multiple prop firms, Tradovate is the more flexible and scalable option.
The honest version, before the numbers. Prop firms sell access to capital. For a fee that is a fraction of what a personal account requires, you get a defined risk boundary and a path to trading firm money. For someone learning to run an automated system, that is genuinely useful, and it is where most people should start.
The trade is that you are trading inside someone else's rulebook, and that rulebook belongs to them. Rules change. Drawdown amounts, consistency requirements, minimum trading days, payout thresholds and discount levels have all changed at various firms, in some cases more than once. Anything published about a specific firm's rules or pricing, on this site or anywhere else, can be out of date by the time you read it.
That is not a reason to avoid prop firms. It is a reason to read the rules yourself, on the day you buy, and to avoid committing more money than you can afford to have sitting in accounts whose terms may shift.
What to confirm before paying for an evaluation:
Drawdown type and amount, whether trailing, end-of-day, or static, on the account size you want
Consistency rule, if any, and the percentage it applies
Minimum trading days, and any requirement for a minimum number of profitable days
Payout threshold, payout schedule, and how many payouts before restrictions ease
Whether automated strategies are permitted, and whether that covers evaluations, funded accounts, or both
What happens to an account that sits inactive
Renewal billing: when the evaluation fee recurs, and at what rate
If anything is unclear, email the firm directly. They typically answer within 48 hours, and a written answer from the firm is worth more than anything published by a third party, including us.
One rule worth understanding: consistency. Some firms apply a consistency rule, usually a cap on how much of your total profit can come from a single day. A rule like that can conflict with any strategy that produces uneven daily results, and Clara Core produces uneven daily results. A strong day is not a problem in itself, but under a consistency rule it can delay a payout until your other days catch up.
This is not a criticism of the rule. It is a structural fact worth knowing before you size an account, and it applies to any strategy, not only ours.
Why we do not take prop firm referrals. We do accept referral arrangements for tools we use ourselves, the trading platform, the VPS, and the IRA custodian, and every one of them is disclosed on this site. We deliberately do not accept them from prop firms, for two reasons.
The first is independence. Affiliate agreements commonly include terms restricting what the affiliate may say publicly about the company. We would rather keep the ability to tell you when a rule works against the trader.
The second is incentive. Prop firm referrals pay per account sold. We tell people not to buy more accounts than they can manage, and to wait for a discount rather than buy at full price. Being paid per account would give us a financial reason to say the opposite.
We have used Apex Trader Funding, Bulenox, and Take Profit Trader ourselves. That is a statement of our own experience, not a recommendation, and not a claim about how any firm will treat you or what its rules will be when you read this. We are not affiliated with any of them.
A caution about other people's discount links. Most prop firms publish their own discount codes on their own front page. At the time of writing, Apex uses SAVENOW, Take Profit Trader usually posts NOFEE40, and Bulenox posts current coupons on its site. Codes change, so check the firm's own page rather than relying on anything written here.
We suggest using the firm's own code rather than a third party's, and we want to be specific about why.
When you buy an evaluation through someone's referral code, that association is recorded on your account. If the code belongs to a company selling automated trading strategies, your account is now linked to that company in the firm's records. Prop firm policies change, including policies on automation and on which third parties a firm is willing to work with. If a firm later takes a position against a particular vendor, accounts carrying that vendor's code are the easiest ones to identify.
We are describing a risk, not making an accusation. No firm has told us this is how they operate, and we cannot prove that it is. What we can tell you is what we watched: many traders in one community lost every account they had, in the same week. We could not establish why.
Using the firm's own public code avoids the question entirely, and it usually gets you the same discount.
We have no financial relationship with Apex Trader Funding, Bulenox, or Take Profit Trader. We receive nothing whether you use their code, someone else's, or none at all.
A prop firm (proprietary trading firm) provides access to trading capital through a structured evaluation process.
You pay a fee to take an evaluation. If you meet the profit target without breaking rules, you gain access to a funded account where you can trade and receive a share of profits.
Most traders fail evaluations due to:
Overtrading
Breaking rules
Emotional decision making
This is part of the business model.
A smaller percentage of traders pass and receive payouts. These traders operate with consistency, discipline, and controlled risk.
It is important to understand: passing an evaluation is not the end goal. Long-term success comes from maintaining funded accounts and managing them correctly over time.
Automation can help by removing emotional decisions and enforcing consistency, but it does not guarantee success. The strategy, risk management, and execution discipline determine outcomes.
Prop firms are a common starting point because they require low upfront capital (often under $250) compared to funding a personal account (typically $2,500+), while providing clearly defined risk parameters.
Typical evaluation structure:
Prop firm evaluation account (typically $20–$250 depending on promotions)
Example: 50K evaluation
Typical drawdown limit: $2,000–$2,500 depending on the firm and current rules
Prop firms frequently offer discounts; exact numbers are in Cost Expectations below.
Evaluation accounts are billed on a recurring basis (typically every 30 days). If you do not pass or fail within that period, the account renews automatically, often at a higher non-discounted rate. This is important to plan for when managing evaluations.
Once you pass and activate a funded account, the monthly evaluation fee stops. You are no longer billed for that account. Only active evaluations that have not yet passed continue to bill.
There are two general approaches to passing evaluations:
1. Slower approach (lower risk, longer timeline)
Run the strategy normally and allow it to pass over time based on market conditions. This typically takes multiple weeks, and in some cases longer, depending on market conditions and strategy performance.
During this period, you will continue paying the monthly evaluation fee until you pass or fail.
Some traders increase risk to pass faster. This can work, but it significantly increases the probability of failing. There is a real trade-off.
Keep in mind that prop firms have different rules on this. Some allow passing in a single day if conditions align; others require consistency across multiple days and cap how much of the profit target can count per day. Check your firm's current evaluation rules before choosing an approach. This is not a recommendation: just an example of how traders have approached it in practice.
2. Faster approach. FastPass (currently in testing)
FastPass is a free, hedge-based, fully automated tool for passing prop firm evaluations quickly. It is separate from Clara Core. Note: FastPass is a free tool, currently in testing, and not yet available for download; it will be published once testing is complete.
The system fires once per day, at a time you set. The classic play is the New York open at 9:30am ET, when movement is strongest; it can also be timed to news releases or quieter conditions, and different timings suit different traders and outcomes. The fire time, stop loss, and take profit are all user-set. It involves running two evaluation accounts simultaneously, one long and one short.
The objective is simple: if price moves directionally, one account reaches the profit target and passes, while the other reaches its drawdown limit.
Understanding How It Works
FastPass performance depends on market behavior. Directional movement early in the session increases the probability of passing. If price moves cleanly in one direction, one account reaches the target quickly. If price becomes choppy or reverses frequently, trailing drawdown can be hit on both accounts, resulting in failure.
Account Structure Examples
50K account · Profit target: $3,000 · Drawdown: $2,000
25K account · Profit target: $1,500 · Drawdown: $1,000
Smaller accounts may offer a more balanced structure between target and drawdown, and FastPass can be used across different account sizes. However, 50K accounts are typically preferred due to larger drawdown buffer, better scaling potential, and better payout structure.
FastPass is high-risk by design: you must fully understand the risk and rules before using it. Run it on two simulation accounts first, for as many sessions as it takes to see the execution live, before ever using it on a paid evaluation. FastPass fires once, at the time you set, and depends on that moment going smoothly, so be at your computer when it runs; an internet drop, a platform outage, or a broker connection issue at the wrong second can leave one side unhedged. Bigger moves also bring worse slippage, and nothing can account for that in advance; the simulation run is where you see it for real, and where you find the timing and settings that fit your desired outcome.
FastPass is intended for evaluation accounts only. It is not designed for funded accounts or daily automated trading. Once you move to a funded (performance / PA) account, this method is no longer applicable.
Some prop firms allow this approach during the evaluation phase, but rules vary and can change at any time. At the time of writing (July 2026), Apex and Bulenox permitted it on evaluations; verify directly with your firm before every attempt. You are responsible for understanding your prop firm's rules and verifying what is permitted before using this method. And one standing commitment: if a firm changes its rules on this, we pull the tool and say so on our channels.
Use responsibly.
The figures below are illustrative, based on a 50K evaluation bought during a heavy promotional discount. Promotions typically range from 40% to 80% off, and Apex has at times run 90% off. We only buy Apex evaluations when the discount is above 80%. At 90% off, one evaluation account costs approximately $20. At 80% off, approximately $35 to $40. Pricing and promotions vary by firm and change over time, so check current pricing directly with the firm.
Using FastPass: 1 attempt per day:
Day 1: 2 accounts at ~$35–$40 each = ~$70–$80
Day 2: 2 more accounts = ~$140–$160 cumulative
Day 3: 2 more accounts = ~$210–$240 cumulative
Each day is one FastPass attempt. If you pass, you stop.
Once passed: add activation fee: ~$100 depending on the firm.
Pass on day 1: ~$170–$180 total
Pass on day 2: ~$240–$260 total
Pass on day 3: ~$310–$340 total
Expect it to take a few attempts. Results depend on market conditions on the days you run, not execution alone.
These figures are for reference only, not a guarantee.
Passing faster matters beyond cost. Once a funded account is activated, trades begin counting toward real payouts immediately. Every week saved on an evaluation is a week closer to a first payout.
Some traders choose to acquire multiple evaluation accounts during major promotions.
Example: purchasing several accounts during a 90% discount allows them to run evaluations in smaller groups over multiple days instead of all at once. Apex runs 90% off promotions on evaluation accounts multiple times per year, typically 1–3 times. We recommend waiting for these periods to acquire accounts at lower cost and scale when you are ready.
For instance, purchasing 10 accounts at a 90% discount costs approximately $200 total, giving you 5 FastPass attempts, 1 per day over 5 days. Even if only 1 account passes out of 10, your total cost including activation is approximately $300.
We do not publish prop firm referral links or discount codes. Use the firm's own public code; the reasoning is at the top of the prop firm section above.
This helps distribute risk and increases the probability of passing at least 1 account over a series of attempts. This approach depends on available capital and individual risk tolerance.
Once the evaluation is passed:
Activate the funded (performance / PA) account
Begin trading with firm capital
Funded accounts can often remain inactive without penalties, but check your firm's current rules, as some require a minimum number of trades per week. A quick open-and-close trade counts toward this requirement if needed.
This allows you to control when you deploy each account instead of activating all accounts at once and exposing yourself to the same market conditions.
From there:
Scale gradually based on account performance, not on a fixed schedule
Each trader's pace will vary depending on experience, risk tolerance, and available capital
Trading is a process built over time, not speed.
For exactly how and when we add accounts, see the scaling sections below. Prop firm rules change. If anything is unclear, email your prop firm directly; they typically respond same day or within 48 hours and will answer any question about their current terms.
Over time, some traders add to their portfolio:
Personal cash accounts (no prop firm rules, no trailing drawdown, full control, withdrawals at any time)
Self-directed Roth IRA accounts for potential long-term tax advantages, where gains may be tax-free depending on individual circumstances
Clara Core can be run on any account type: prop firm, personal, retirement, or simulation. It is free to download.
Once FastPass is released (it is currently in testing), those who already understand the prop firm process will be able to use it to attempt to get funded, and then run Clara Core on a funded account. Until then, evaluations can be passed manually or with Clara Core itself on an evaluation account.
When FastPass is available, those who want to begin both at the same time will be able to run a prop firm evaluation using FastPass alongside Clara Core.
There is no requirement to start with simulation. If you have experience with automated strategies and NinjaTrader, you can deploy to any account from day one.
No large upfront capital is required to begin.
Prop firms typically include market data, so there are no additional data costs.
If using a personal cash account through NinjaTrader, a market data subscription is required. A basic CME data plan is approximately $4/month, and one subscription can be used across multiple accounts, including IRA accounts.
You are responsible for understanding and following all prop firm rules and requirements, as they change frequently and without notice. If you are unsure about any rule, ask the firm directly. Do not assume, verify.
Capital protection comes first. Growth comes second.
As account equity grows, risk should not increase immediately. The priority is to build a buffer, protect capital, and scale gradually.
Prop firm accounts use a trailing drawdown: a moving loss limit that follows your highest account balance upward as you make profits, but never moves back down if you lose. If your account drops from that peak by the drawdown amount, the account is closed. This requires tighter risk early in the account lifecycle before the threshold locks.
A 50K prop account with a $2,500 drawdown means your real risk is $2,500, not $50,000. This creates limited downside with leveraged upside.
Scaling is where most traders make mistakes. The strategy can run across multiple accounts, but adding accounts increases total exposure, and most traders are not prepared for the psychological impact of scaling too quickly.
A single account in a normal drawdown is manageable. Several accounts in the same drawdown at the same time feels much larger, even though the strategy behavior has not changed, and that pressure is what leads people to interfere with the system or stop it entirely.
For reference, on the ~$425 risk model the strategy's worst historical drawdown was about -$2,181 over the full May 2019 – June 2026 period; on the more conservative ~$300 model it was about -$1,406. Both stayed within typical 50K prop-firm limits (~$2,000–$2,500) during the tested period, but that does not eliminate risk.
The strategy does not change as you scale. Only your total exposure changes. Most scaling failures are not the strategy; they are how it is deployed and managed under losses and pressure. The next section is exactly how we handle that ourselves.
You'll see companies sell you on scaling across ten or twenty accounts. We won't, because that isn't a plan, it's a casino bet. Running twenty accounts doesn't mean twenty times the result; it means twenty times the exposure to the same fragile edge at the same time. If the strategy hits a rough stretch, it hits every account at once, and you've put up real capital across all of them.
What we actually do is run one or two accounts. We start with a single prop-firm account. We add a second only in one of two situations:
The first account is profitable, past its trailing drawdown, and paying out, then we fund a second account from those profits, not from our own capital.
Or the first account is deep in drawdown: past roughly 50%, sometimes 75–80%, where recovery can take a long and unknown amount of time. We've had accounts come back from 80% down, so we don't abandon them; we just put a second account to work while the first digs out.
That's it. We rarely run more than two. Scaling is driven by the state of the account, never by a calendar or a discount. Whatever system you use, ours or anyone's, and especially a new one, we'd advise against going much beyond two accounts until you have real reason to trust it.
On prop firms specifically: they're genuinely useful: a roughly $2,000 trailing drawdown for around $200 all-in is hard to beat for capital efficiency. But understand their model. It is built on the expectation that most people will overtrade, over-scale on discounts, and break their own rules until accounts blow up. The 90%-off promotions exist to get you to buy more accounts than you should. Using prop firms responsibly means applying the same risk management to how many accounts you open as you apply to the strategy itself. The infrastructure scales cheaply: the software is free and the VPS cost is fixed. But certainty does not scale. More accounts is more of the same bet, not a safer one. Capital preservation first; growth is what's left after you've protected the downside.
Once an account becomes eligible for payouts, there are two general approaches: take payouts early, or build a buffer before withdrawing.
Building a buffer is the more conservative approach.
A 50K account may operate with a trailing drawdown, often in the range of $2,000–$2,500. As profits increase, that drawdown follows the account until it locks. If you build the account to $5,000–$7,500 before withdrawing, you create distance between your balance and the drawdown limit. This buffer helps absorb normal drawdowns and reduces the risk of losing the account.
Some traders prefer faster withdrawals. Others prefer stability and consistent payouts. There is no single correct approach. Consistency matters more than timing.
On scaling approach: a sound method is to run a mix: some accounts take early payouts, some build a buffer first, and some build a buffer and then gradually increase risk using the median or conservative drawdown model as the guide. Match the approach to the account state, not a fixed schedule.
View Full Performance →Clara Systems is designed for consistency over time.
Using the $300 risk model as a baseline, the strategy produced $54,071 in profit over the May 2019 – June 2026 backtest period per account.
Results scale with the number of accounts deployed and the risk model selected.
These figures are based on historical backtested data and are not guaranteed. Past performance does not predict future results.
The intended approach is to start with one account, build confidence, and expand gradually when ready.
View Full Performance Data →The strategy is designed to run without manual intervention.
To maintain consistency:
Do not interfere with trades while they are active
Do not change settings during execution
Follow defined no-trade periods (FOMC, half-days, the day after, and rollover week, 4 times per year)
The system trades through most market conditions, including red news days and periods of high volatility. Deviating from the system's rules can impact results.
Running a simulation account alongside your live accounts is one of the most underused tools in systematic trading.
Some traders will close a trade early or skip a day. The framework says do not, and the data backs the framework. But when it happens, the journal shows exactly what it cost. The sim account removes the guesswork from that question.
When you close a trade early or skip a day, the sim account continues running untouched. At the end of the session you have a direct comparison: what the system did and what you did.
That comparison is the journal entry. Did you follow your rules today? If not, was it the right call? The data tells you, not your memory of how the trade felt.
Over time this practice does three things:
It shows whether your manual decisions are adding or removing value from the system
It removes emotion from the evaluation: you are comparing numbers, not feelings
It builds the discipline to let the system run when the data says to
A simple spreadsheet works for this. One row per day. Columns for sim result, live result, any deviations, and a note on why. Over a full year that log becomes one of the most valuable documents you have, a clear record of where discipline held and where it broke down.
If you want to test a higher risk model before committing live capital, the sim account is also the correct environment for that. Run the higher model in sim for 30–60 days alongside your live model. The comparison gives you real data on whether the higher risk fits your psychology before it costs you anything.
A pre-built daily tracking spreadsheet is available as a free download.
Download Trade Journal Template →Some prop firms send compliance inquiries asking traders to describe their trading approach. This is standard practice and does not indicate a problem.
Review your prop firm's current terms to understand what is permitted.
To assist with compliance inquiries, we provide a base response template. It can be submitted to an AI model, lightly adjusted to reflect your specific risk settings, and used as a starting point. The template will be posted here as a free download at launch.
Prop Firm Compliance Template →Clara Core is fully automated. How you choose to operate and represent your trading approach to your prop firm is your responsibility. We cannot advise on compliance decisions for your specific firm.
Different prop firms take different approaches to automated trading, and some may ask about it during or after an evaluation. Always confirm a firm's current rules on automation directly with them before you begin.
Phishing Awareness
Prop firms occasionally send compliance or verification emails. Before responding to any unexpected email:
Go directly to your prop firm's official website
Contact their support team directly to verify
Confirm the email is legitimate before responding or providing any account information
Scam attempts targeting funded traders do occur. When in doubt, verify first.
Automation removes emotional execution errors, but results depend on how consistently the system is executed.
The system trades. Risk is managed. There is no interference.
Execution
Every valid signal must be taken. Every trade must be allowed to reach its predefined exit. No trades may be skipped. No trades may be closed early. No manual trades may be added.
Risk
Risk per trade must remain fixed and predefined. There is no increasing size after wins. There is no adjustment after losses. The only exception is reducing risk, and only when a loss occurred because the initial risk selected was not aligned with account size to begin with. That is a setup correction, not a reaction to results. Consistency in risk is what allows the edge to express itself.
Interference
Interference invalidates results. This includes pausing the system, skipping trades, closing early, or modifying rules during execution.
Stopping Conditions
The system may only be stopped under predefined conditions: maximum drawdown reached, or technical failure requiring intervention. Not emotion. Not discomfort. Not short-term results.
Evaluation
Evaluation is only valid after a sufficient number of trades. Performance must be judged over a full sample, not isolated outcomes.
Responsibility
The edge exists within the system. Results depend on execution consistency. Failure to follow these rules means the system has not been properly executed.
A stable environment is important for consistent execution.
It is important to understand that connection issues can occur between Tradovate, prop firms, and NinjaTrader. These are external systems, and we cannot control, predict, or prevent these issues. What we can do is provide guidance so you are prepared if it happens.
We recommend following your prop firm's official communication channels (such as X or Instagram), as they often post updates during outages or connection issues.
If your NinjaTrader platform disconnects during a trade: existing stop and exit orders remain active in your broker account (Tradovate), so the position is never unprotected. After a short drop, the platform reconnects and the strategy continues on its own. After a longer outage, NinjaTrader disables the strategy; when you re-enable it, Clara Core adopts the open position and re-attaches its management. The exact recovery steps are in the Setup Guide.
You can monitor or close trades directly through your broker if needed, using the Tradovate app, desktop platform, or NinjaTrader once reconnected. We strongly recommend having the Tradovate mobile app installed for quick access in case you are away from your computer.
This is not something that happens frequently, but it does happen. The goal is not to avoid it completely, but to be prepared and know exactly what to do if it occurs.
This does not mean you need to monitor your trades during the session. You do not. The steps in Environment Management and VPS Usage below minimize the risk of interruptions. If a disconnection does happen, you may miss a trade or two; a minor inconvenience, not a crisis.
When first setting up the system, we recommend being present for the first few sessions to become familiar with how it runs. After that, daily operation takes less than 5 minutes.
Tradovate allows you to set a maximum daily loss limit. This acts as a safety mechanism in worst-case scenarios and helps protect your account even if you are not actively monitoring the system. This is rarely triggered, but it is a best practice to have it configured.
Clara Core has been tested extensively: run for months internally to identify and eliminate bugs, errors, and unexpected behavior before being made available. Because the strategy carries a negative risk-to-reward ratio, run it on a simulation or evaluation account first and understand how it behaves before risking real capital.
We recommend shutting down NinjaTrader at the end of the trading week (Friday after market close) and restarting the VPS. This keeps the system clean, reduces the chance of performance issues, and ensures a stable environment going into the next trading week.
You can also schedule Windows updates for your VPS or personal computer during weekends or specific off-hours. This prevents unexpected restarts during active trading sessions.
Platform updates: we cannot tell you when to update NinjaTrader, but here is what we do. When a new version releases, we wait one to two weeks before installing it. NinjaTrader's user base is large enough that bugs get spotted and patched quickly, and letting the first wave find them costs nothing. A stable, boring platform is worth more than a new feature on day one.
Detailed videos covering these best practices are being added.
Using a VPS can reduce the risk of interruptions and improve execution speed. However, it does not eliminate connection issues related to Tradovate, NinjaTrader, or prop firms.
We have tested multiple VPS providers over time, including QuantVPS, V2Cloud, and others. We currently use Hyonix VPS with servers located in Chicago to improve execution speed.
For reference on capacity: even a large setup running many accounts at once fits comfortably on an HS-3 plan (~$24/month), so VPS cost stays low regardless of how many accounts you run. Most people running one or two accounts need far less.
Smaller setups can use lower-tier plans such as:
HS-1 (~$6.50/month)
HS-2 (~$12/month)
The Hyonix link on the Downloads page is a referral link: Clara Systems may earn a commission if you use it, at no extra cost to you. A VPS is optional, but recommended for stability and execution efficiency.
Hyonix VPS →Everything on this page comes down to one idea: the strategy decides the trades, but the structure decides whether you survive them. Account type, risk model, buffer, scaling pace, and environment are the decisions that are actually yours, and they matter more than any single trade ever will. Take them slowly, take them with the data in front of you, and let the payouts fund the next step.
A final round of site corrections is in progress. Data, downloads, and page formatting on desktop and mobile are being fine-tuned. If something looks off, it is being corrected.