TradeSgnl EA Signal Guide

Learn how to format and send signals to the TradeSgnl Expert Advisor.

The TradeSgnl EA receives signals through webhooks and executes them on your MT5 platform. Each signal uses a comma-separated format, allowing you to control all aspects of your trades.

Tip

Our signals format works with TradingView alerts, making it easy to automate your trading strategies.

Signal Format & EA Settings

The TradeSgnl EA has settings that determine which parameters it uses for trades:

Parameter Source Setting: The EA has a "Parameter Source" setting that determines whether it uses values from (Signal Parameters) or from the (EA Inputs). This affects volume, stop-loss, and take-profit values.

Open EA Configuration

TradeSgnl uses a comma-separated format with required and optional parameters:

LicenseID,SYMBOL,ACTION,risk=VOLUME,[OPTIONAL_PARAMS]

Signal Structure

Each signal consists of 4 required components followed by optional parameters:

LicenseID - Your unique license identifier (e.g., LicenseID)
SYMBOL - The trading instrument (e.g., EURUSD, BTCUSD)
ACTION - The trading action (buy, sell, buystop, etc.)
VOLUME - Trading size with risk= prefix (e.g., risk=0.01)
OPTIONAL PARAMETERS - Additional settings (sl=, tp=, comment=, etc.)

Format Rules

Parameters are separated by commas with NO spaces
All parameters are case-insensitive (buy = BUY)
Optional parameters can be in any order
Values are assigned with equals sign (sl=30)
Risk can be in lots (risk=0.01) or percentage (risk=1) depending on EA settings
Partial close values can be in lots (pct=2) or percentage (pct=0.5) depending on EA settings

Optional Parameters

Enhance your signals with these optional parameters:

Parameter	Description	Example
sl=	Stop Loss in pips from entry price	sl=50
tp=	Take Profit in pips from entry price	tp=100
pending=	Pending order level (interpretation depends on EA setting)	pending=20
pct=	Partial close amount (percentage or lots based on EA setting)	pct=0.5
trtrig=	Pips needed to activate trailing stop	trtrig=20
trdist=	Trailing stop distance in pips	trdist=10
trstep=	Pips needed to move trailing stop	trstep=5
betrig=	Pips needed to activate breakeven	betrig=15
bedist=	Breakeven distance in pips	bedist=2
comment=	Comment for the trade	comment=Strategy1
py	Enable pyramid trading mode	py
re	Enable recovery mode	re
exop	Exit opposite positions only (no new trade if opposite positions exist)	exop
exent	Exit opposite positions and enter new trade	exent

Market Orders

Market order commands allow you to immediately enter or exit positions at current market prices.

buy (or long)

Places a buy order at the current market price.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01

sell (or short)

Places a sell order at the current market price.

LicenseID,EURUSD,sell,risk=0.01

closebuy (or closelong)

Closes all buy positions for the specified symbol.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closebuy

closesell (or closeshort)

Closes all sell positions for the specified symbol.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closesell

closeall

Closes all open positions. Can optionally filter by comment to close only specific strategy positions.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closeall

With Comment Filter:

LicenseID,EURUSD,closeall,comment=Strategy1

Tip

When using closeall with a comment filter, only positions that have the exact matching comment will be closed. If no comment is provided, ALL open positions will be closed regardless of their comment or symbol.

Partial Close

Close a percentage of positions instead of the entire position. Use the pct= parameter with any close action.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closebuy,pct=0.5,comment=Strategy1

Tip

Partial Close Features:

Interpretation Control: The EA's "Partial Close Type" setting (in Volume Settings) determines how the pct= value is interpreted - as percentage of position or as exact lots to close
Percentage Mode: Use values between 0.0 and 1.0 (pct=0.5 closes 50% of position volume)
Lots Mode: Use exact lot values (pct=0.5 closes exactly 0.5 lots regardless of position size)
Volume Rounding: Volumes are rounded up to meet broker minimum requirements
Comment Preservation: Remaining positions retain their original comments for future partial closes
Multiple Partial Closes: You can send multiple partial close signals with the same comment

Replace Orders

Replace orders allow you to close existing positions and immediately open new positions in a single signal. This includes both same-direction updates and trend reversal strategies.

Important: These commands first close all positions of a symbol with the specified direction (optionally filtered by comment), then immediately open a new position with the provided parameters.

Tip

Note: If no existing positions are found to close, the command will still open the new position with the specified parameters. This means you can safely use these commands even when you're not sure if there are existing positions to close.

Reverse Direction Commands

closelongsell

Closes all long (buy) positions for the specified symbol (optionally filtered by comment), then opens a new sell (short) position using the provided parameters.

LicenseID,GBPUSD,closelongsell,risk=0.02,sl=40,tp=80,comment=Strategy2

closeshortbuy

Closes all short (sell) positions for the specified symbol (optionally filtered by comment), then opens a new buy position using the provided parameters.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closeshortbuy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,comment=Strategy1

Same Direction Commands

closelongbuy

Closes all long (buy) positions for the specified symbol (optionally filtered by comment), then opens a new buy position using the provided parameters.

LicenseID,EURUSD,closelongbuy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,comment=Strategy1

closeshortsell

Closes all short (sell) positions for the specified symbol (optionally filtered by comment), then opens a new sell (short) position using the provided parameters.

LicenseID,GBPUSD,closeshortsell,risk=0.02,sl=40,tp=80,comment=Strategy2

Tip

Comment Filtering: When using the comment parameter, only positions with the matching comment will be closed. If no comment is provided, all positions of the that symbol with the specified direction will be closed.

Common Trading Scenarios

Trend Reversal Strategy: Use closelongsell or closeshortbuy when your strategy signals a trend reversal.

Position Management: Use closelongbuy or closeshortsell to update existing positions with new parameters without manually closing first.

Risk Management: These commands are particularly useful for automated strategies that need to quickly adapt to changing market conditions.

Pending Orders

Pending order commands allow you to set orders that will be executed when price reaches a specific level.

buystop

Places a buy stop order above the current market price. The pending= parameter is required.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buystop,risk=0.01,pending=20,sl=30,tp=50

buylimit

Places a buy limit order below the current market price. The pending= parameter is required.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buylimit,risk=0.01,pending=20,sl=30,tp=50

sellstop

Places a sell stop order below the current market price. The pending= parameter is required.

LicenseID,EURUSD,sellstop,risk=0.01,pending=20,sl=30,tp=50

selllimit

Places a sell limit order above the current market price. The pending= parameter is required.

LicenseID,EURUSD,selllimit,risk=0.01,pending=20,sl=30,tp=50

pending=

Required parameter for all pending orders. Specifies the price level for the pending order.

pending=20 (20 pips from current price)\npending=1.1050 (specific price level)

Tip

The interpretation of the pending parameter depends on the "Pending Order Entry" setting in the EA:

Pips From Current: The value is treated as the number of pips away from current price
Absolute Price: The value is treated as the exact price level for the order

cancellong

Cancels all pending buy orders (buystop and buylimit) for the specified symbol.

LicenseID,EURUSD,cancellong

cancelshort

Cancels all pending sell orders (sellstop and selllimit) for the specified symbol.

LicenseID,EURUSD,cancelshort

Advanced Features

Advanced parameters that enhance your trading signals with features like trailing stops, breakeven levels, and more.

Feature Control Settings

Advanced features can be controlled by either signals or EA settings:

Feature	EA Setting	Signal Parameter
Trailing Stop	Trailing Mode: Disabled/Enabled/Signal	trtrig, trdist, trstep (requires Signal mode in EA)
Pyramid Trading	Pyramid Mode: Disabled/Enabled/Signal	py (requires Signal mode in EA)
Recovery System	Recovery Mode: Disabled/Enabled/Signal	re (requires Signal mode in EA)

Tip

Important: For any feature to be controlled via signal parameters, the corresponding EA setting MUST be set to "Signal". Otherwise, the signal parameters for these features will be ignored.

Trailing Stop

Add trailing stop functionality to your trades using these parameters together.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,trtrig=20,trdist=10,trstep=5

trtrig=

Trailing stop will be activated after the trade gains this number of pips. For example, with trtrig=20, the trailing stop will activate after price moves 20 pips in your favor.

trdist=

Distance in pips to maintain between the current price and the trailing stop. For example, with trdist=10, the stop loss will be placed 10 pips away from the current price.

trstep=

Minimum price movement in pips required to adjust the trailing stop. For example, with trstep=5, the stop loss will only move after the price moves at least 5 pips.

Breakeven

Automatically move your stop loss to breakeven level when price reaches a certain point.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,betrig=15,bedist=2

betrig=

Breakeven will be activated after the trade gains this number of pips. For example, with betrig=15, the breakeven will activate after price moves 15 pips in your favor.

bedist=

Distance in pips from the entry price to place the stop loss after breakeven is triggered. With bedist=2, the stop loss will be placed 2 pips in profit from your entry.

Pyramid Trading

Configure pyramid trading strategies with multiple entries.

LicenseID,BTCUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=500,tp=2000,py

Flag to enable pyramid trading mode. Requires the EA to have the Pyramid Mode set to "Signal" in settings. All pyramid configuration settings are controlled from the EA.

Recovery Mode

Enable recovery system for managing losing positions.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,re

Flag to enable the recovery system. Requires the EA to have the Recovery Mode set to "Signal" in settings. All recovery configuration settings are controlled from the EA.

Exit Opposite Positions (ExOp)

Smart position management that closes opposite positions or opens new trades based on market conditions.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,exop

exop

Flag that modifies trade behavior: If opposite positions exist for the symbol/comment, close them and don't execute the new trade. If no opposite positions exist, execute the trade normally.

How it works:

Buy signal with exop: If sell positions exist → close sells, no buy executed. If no sells exist → execute buy normally.
Sell signal with exop: If buy positions exist → close buys, no sell executed. If no buys exist → execute sell normally.

Tip

Use Cases:

Trend Reversal: Close counter-trend positions when trend changes, only open new position if market is clean
Risk Management: Avoid adding to drawdown by only trading when there are no opposing positions
Strategy Filtering: Works with comment filtering to manage specific strategy positions only

Exit and Enter (ExEnt)

Advanced position management that closes opposite positions and immediately opens new trades in the signal direction.

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,exent

exent

Flag that modifies trade behavior: If opposite positions exist for the symbol/comment, close them and then execute the new trade. If no opposite positions exist, execute the trade normally.

How it works:

Buy signal with exent: If sell positions exist → close sells, then execute buy. If no sells exist → execute buy normally.
Sell signal with exent: If buy positions exist → close buys, then execute sell. If no buys exist → execute sell normally.

Key Differences from ExOp:

ExOp: Closes opposite positions, then stops (no new trade opened)
ExEnt: Closes opposite positions, then continues to open the new trade

Tip

Use Cases:

Trend Reversal: Automatically flip from long to short (or vice versa) when market conditions change
Strategy Switching: Close positions from one strategy and immediately enter with a new strategy
Risk Management: Ensure you're always positioned in the current trend direction
Automated Trading: Perfect for algorithmic strategies that need to switch directions quickly

Signal Examples

Here are examples of different signal formats for various trading scenarios:

Market Buy Order

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01

Simple buy order for EURUSD with 0.01 lots

Market Sell Order

LicenseID,GBPUSD,sell,risk=0.01

Simple sell order for GBPUSD with 0.01 lots

Buy with Stop-Loss and Take-Profit

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50

Buy order with 30 pips stop-loss and 50 pips take-profit

Buy Order with Comment

LicenseID,EURUSD,buy,risk=0.01,sl=30,tp=50,comment=Strategy1

Buy order with stop-loss, take-profit, and strategy comment

Parameter Processing Rules

When processing signals, the TradeSgnl EA follows these rules:

Symbol Names

Symbol names in signals must match exactly with the symbol names in your MT5 terminal. For example, if your broker uses "EURUSD.a" in Market Watch, your signal must use the same format.

LicenseID,EURUSD.a,buy,risk=0.01

Tip

Alternatively, you can use our Symbol Mapping feature to map symbol names to the correct broker-specific symbols.

Learn about Symbol Mapping

Risk-Based Sizing

When using percentage-based risk (e.g., risk=1), the lot size is calculated as a percentage of your account balance or equity, depending on the EA's settings. The sl= parameter is not required for this calculation.

Tip

Example: With risk=1 on a $10,000 account, a 1 lot position will be opened (0.1 lot for a $1,000 account, or 10 lots for a $100,000 account).

Valid Action Types

The EA supports the following action types in signals:

Category	Action Types	Description
Market Orders	buy, long, sell, short	Immediate market entry orders
Closing Positions	closebuy, closelong, closesell, closeshort, closeall	Close existing positions by type or all positions (supports partial closes with pct=)
Replace Orders	closelongbuy, closelongsell, closeshortbuy, closeshortsell	Close one side and immediately open the specified direction with given parameters
Pending Orders	buystop, buylimit, sellstop, selllimit	Orders that execute at specified price levels
Cancel Orders	cancellong, cancelshort	Cancel pending orders by type

Signal Format Cheat Sheet

Here's a comprehensive quick reference guide for all signal formats. Use this as your go-to cheat sheet for creating trading signals:

Action	Format
Market Buy	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME
Market Sell	LicenseID,SYMBOL,sell,risk=VOLUME
Buy with SL/TP	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS
Sell with SL/TP	LicenseID,SYMBOL,sell,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS
Buy Stop	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buystop,risk=VOLUME,pending=PIPS
Buy Limit	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buylimit,risk=VOLUME,pending=PIPS
Sell Stop	LicenseID,SYMBOL,sellstop,risk=VOLUME,pending=PIPS
Sell Limit	LicenseID,SYMBOL,selllimit,risk=VOLUME,pending=PIPS
Close Buy Positions	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closebuy
Close Sell Positions	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closesell
Close All Positions	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closeall
Close All with Comment	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closeall,comment=STRATEGY
Partial Close 50%	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closebuy,pct=0.5,comment=STRATEGY
Partial Close All 25%	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closeall,pct=0.25
Close Long Then Buy	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closelongbuy,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS,comment=STRATEGY
Close Long Then Sell	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closelongsell,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS,comment=STRATEGY
Close Short Then Buy	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closeshortbuy,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS,comment=STRATEGY
Close Short Then Sell	LicenseID,SYMBOL,closeshortsell,risk=VOLUME,sl=PIPS,tp=PIPS,comment=STRATEGY
Buy with Trailing Stop	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,trtrig=PIPS,trdist=PIPS,trstep=PIPS
Sell with Trailing Stop	LicenseID,SYMBOL,sell,risk=VOLUME,trtrig=PIPS,trdist=PIPS,trstep=PIPS
Buy with Breakeven	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,betrig=PIPS,bedist=PIPS
Sell with Breakeven	LicenseID,SYMBOL,sell,risk=VOLUME,betrig=PIPS,bedist=PIPS
Cancel Pending Buy Orders	LicenseID,SYMBOL,cancellong
Cancel Pending Sell Orders	LicenseID,SYMBOL,cancelshort
Pyramid Trading	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,py
Recovery Mode	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,re
Exit Opposite Positions	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,exop
Exit and Enter	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,exent
Percentage Risk	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=PERCENTAGE
With Comment	LicenseID,SYMBOL,buy,risk=VOLUME,comment=STRATEGY

Tip

Pro Tip: Use these formats as templates for your TradingView alerts or webhook configurations. Replace the placeholder values (LicenseID, SYMBOL, VOLUME, PIPS, etc.) with your actual values.

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