Automated trading permission

Automated trading permission is the explicit authorisation, written in a prop firm's or broker's account terms, to let software place orders without a human click on each one. A permitted data connection or a working API login is not that permission; several firms forbid automation on funded accounts even when the connection works.

Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026

What is actually being permitted

Firms distinguish between several activities that all use the same connection: receiving market data, placing orders by hand, running an algorithm that places orders, and copying trades between accounts. A firm can allow the first two and forbid the last two. The permission is about who decides each order, not about which software is open on the screen.

The Senzoukria guide on prop-firm rules states it directly: a permitted data connection is not an approval for automated trading, and a rule for evaluation accounts may differ from a rule for a funded account. Rithmic, Tradovate or a bridge accepting the login proves that the connection method is supported, nothing more. The authorisation lives in the account terms, and in the firm's written answer when the terms are silent.

How to ask

  • Name the application, the connection method (direct Rithmic or a local bridge), the account stage (evaluation or funded) and the intended use: analysis only, manual orders, or an explicitly armed automated strategy.
  • Ask separately for the evaluation and for the funded account; the answers differ at several firms.
  • Keep the written answer with the account documents.
  • Ask again when the program or the terms change.

In Senzoukria

The Autopilot panel on the Trading page cannot be armed without ticking an acknowledgement that your prop firm allows automated trading on this account; its wording tells you to check your own contract and names firms whose funded accounts were understood to forbid it when the text was written. Arming also requires typing an arm word, a "Max daily loss ($)", a "Max contracts" value and a session window; the panel's hint states that nothing leaves until it is armed and that STOP disarms and flattens. The armed state is not persisted across restarts.

Everything else in the software stays on the analysis side. Strategies written on the Scripting page are backtested on your bars and run on a simulated account; live execution needs the autopilot armed by hand, and no other screen places orders on its own.

Misunderstandings

  • Taking a profitable backtest as a reason to switch automation on: the backtest says nothing about whether the account allows it.
  • Reading "API access allowed" as "algorithms allowed".
  • Assuming an evaluation permission carries over to the funded account.
  • Confusing a local order guard with a firm-side authorisation.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a semi-automated strategy, where I confirm each order, automated trading?
A semi-automated strategy where a human confirms each order counts as manual trading for most firms, but some define automation by the presence of any order-generating software. The distinction is the firm's to make, so describe the exact workflow when you ask, including whether orders are pre-filled by software.
What happens if I run automation without permission?
Running automation without permission usually leads to the consequences written in the terms: account closure and forfeiture of profit, and sometimes a ban from the firm. The firm detects it from order patterns and from the platform identifiers on the connection, not from what the trader declares.

Keep reading

Strategy researchTest a trading strategy, from observation to challenge rulesDefine an observation, question it with the copilot, write a rule and explore costs, drawdown and fictional challenge limits in an interactive example.Quant · Start hereQuant trading for beginners: from idea to backtestDefine a testable rule, choose suitable data and evaluate later periods after costs.Order flow · HubOrder flow trading: the complete guideThe hub. What order flow is, what it shows — aggression, delta, imbalance, absorption, liquidity — and the tools that read it, each linked to a full guide.