Autonomous Trading

Autonomous Trading v6

Give your agent a budget, a target, and a deadline — then let it trade. The agent creates a strategy wallet, scans for opportunities, opens positions, protects profits with DSL, and enforces risk controls.

Skill Attribution

When creating a strategy, include skill_name and skill_version in the call. See references/skill-attribution.md for details.

Prerequisites

Install these companion skills first:

1. dsl-dynamic-stop-loss — trailing stops, auto-closing, per-tier retrace
2. opportunity-scanner — market scanning, scoring, hourly trend gate
3. emerging-movers — SM rotation detection, IMMEDIATE_MOVER signals

Minimum budget: $500 (recommend $1k+)

Known Bugs & Gotchas

See references/bugs-and-gotchas.md — critical issues from live trading including the dryRun bug, phantom closes, XYZ DEX margin type, Tier 1 lock misconception, and scanner leverage vs actual max.

The Flow

Step 1: Ask the User

Collect: budget, target, deadline, risk tolerance (conservative/moderate/aggressive), asset preferences.

Step 2: Calculate the Playbook

See references/risk-rules.md for complete risk rules by profile.

v6 Core Rules:

The #1 Rule — Hourly Trend Alignment. ALL trades must confirm with hourly candle structure. Counter-trend = hard skip, no exceptions. This single rule prevents the majority of losing trades.

Max Leverage Check. Always check max-leverage.json before entering. Scanner leverage is conservative, not actual max.

Concentration Over Diversification. At small account sizes ($500-$10k), 2-4 high-conviction positions beat 6 mediocre ones. Cross-margin math: 4 positions → 80.6% margin buffer, 2 positions → 89.7%.

Every Slot Must Maximize ROI. Empty slot > mediocre position. If a position isn't working, cut it and free the slot.

Speed Filter. Best moves happen FAST (XRP hit Tier 3 in 19 min, XMR Tier 2 in 37 min). Slow movers are suspects.

Directional Exposure Guard

Before opening, check total LONG vs SHORT notional. Cap at 70% in one direction.

Position Sizing by Score

Step 3: Create the Strategy

strategy_create_strategy(budgetUsd, leverageType, riskLabel)

Returns strategyId + walletAddress. Fund the wallet.

Step 4: Create the Playbook File

JSON config tracking: risk profile, position limits, score thresholds, active positions, trade journal. See references/playbook-schema.md.

Step 5: Set Up Cron Jobs

Race Condition Prevention (v6 — CRITICAL)

Multiple cron jobs (scanner, SM flip, DSL) can all try to close the same position. When ANY job closes a position:

# 1. Close the position
result = close_position(wallet, asset)

# 2. Immediately deactivate DSL state file
state["active"] = False
save_state(state)

# 3. Disable DSL cron for this asset
disable_cron(f"dsl-{asset}")

All three steps MUST happen in the same action. This prevents phantom closes.

Cron Schedule:

See references/cron-setup.md for detailed cron configuration, time-aware scheduling, and SM flip detection logic.

Step 6: The Trading Loop

SCAN → EVALUATE → TRADE → PROTECT → REPEAT

For each scan result:
1. Check hourly trend alignment (HARD REQUIREMENT)
2. Check directional exposure guard
3. Check max leverage via max-leverage.json
4. Score ≥ 175? → Size by score tier
5. Open position → Create DSL state → Start DSL cron
6. Journal the trade (scanner snapshot at entry)

v6: Dead Weight Cutting

Step 7: Safety Rails

Hard Stops (automatic):

• Daily loss limit hit → stop trading for the day
• Total drawdown hard stop → close all positions, alert user
• DSL breach → auto-close (handled by script)

What the Agent Should NEVER Do:

• Trade counter-trend on hourly
• Exceed position size limits
• Override DSL
• Average down on a losing position
• Ignore the directional exposure guard

Step 8: Lessons from the Field

See references/lessons.md for what works, what doesn't, retrace tuning, and fee awareness from live trading.

API Reference

See references/api-tools.md for the key Senpi tools used by this skill.