Prop firm eval runbook

Taking Lucid Terminal into a prop firm evaluation

A good backtest is not a funded account. This runbook is a careful, step-by-step way to use Lucid Terminal before, during, and after a prop firm evaluation — whether you trade by hand, run bots, or both. It can’t promise a pass. It can help you avoid the avoidable mistakes.

1
Rules
before anything
2
Strategy
pick & backtest
3
Demo test
a few weeks
4
Eval
your firm’s timeline
5
Funded
ongoing

What's in this runbook

  1. Stage 1 — Know your firm’s rules
  2. Stage 2 — Choose and backtest a strategy
  3. Stage 3 — Test on a demo account
  4. Stage 4 — Pre-flight checklist (before you pay for an evaluation)
  5. Stage 5 — During the evaluation
  6. Stage 6 — After you pass
  7. Troubleshooting + when to stop
1

Know your firm’s rules

Every prop firm sets its own rules, and they change. Before you connect an evaluation account, read your firm’s current rules for:

  • Automation — some firms restrict automated or algorithmic trading. When you connect one of them, Lucid Terminal shows an acknowledgment before the connection completes.
  • Copy trading — whether you may mirror trades between your own accounts.
  • Loss limits — the daily loss limit and the maximum (often trailing) drawdown.
  • Other rules — news trading, contract limits, consistency rules, and trading hours.
If your firm doesn’t allow automation, don’t run bots on that account. Trade it by hand and let Lucid Terminal do the journaling and analytics — that part works on every account. Lucid Terminal doesn’t enforce firm rules for you; following them is your responsibility.
2

Choose and backtest a strategy

If you’re using a bot, start in the Algorithmic Bots tab:

  • My Bots holds bots you build with + New Bot — trained from your own trades, or written in JavaScript and backtested inside the wizard.

How to read a bot’s backtest

  • Max drawdown — the deepest drop from a peak. Compare it with your evaluation’s loss limits: a bot whose backtested drawdown is close to the limit leaves no room for fees or a bad week.
  • Trades — under 30 trades is too few to tell a real edge from luck. Prefer results over weeks of bars.
A backtest describes the past, not future results. Backtests can leave out real-world slippage, fees and changing markets. Prefer a few different strategies or symbols over several copies of the same idea.
3

Test on a demo account

A demo (simulated) account is where backtest assumptions meet live markets without risking an evaluation fee.

Set it up

  1. Open Broker Connections → Add Broker → Tradovate, choose Demo, click Continue, and sign in on Tradovate’s page
  2. Check that the demo account appears in Broker Connections and on the Terminal
  3. In Algorithmic Bots, click ⚡ Deploy, pick the bot (or a formation), select the demo account, and click Deploy
  4. Start small: the smallest contract size, and a daily loss cap and max open positions on the bot
  5. Local bots run while the desktop app is open — keep it running through the sessions you’re testing

What to watch

  • Terminal → Bot Status — is each bot running on the account you expect?
  • Analytics with the Bot filter — win rate, profit factor, per-bot results, and drawdown on the equity curve
  • Trade Log — every fill, filterable by session and date
  • Compare your demo results with the backtest at the end of each week

Drop a bot if…

  • Its win rate or profit factor is falling well short of its backtest
  • A single day’s loss is bigger than your evaluation could absorb
  • It trades at times you didn’t expect
Common pitfall: demo fills can be kinder than real ones, and demo accounts don’t always apply every margin or contract rule. A good demo run is a necessary check, not a guarantee.
4

Pre-flight checklist — before you pay for an evaluation

Run through this before you buy. The boxes are just for you — nothing is saved.

If any box is unchecked: stop and do that work first. The evaluation will still be there next week.
5

During the evaluation

Connect the evaluation account

  1. Buy the evaluation from your firm’s own website
  2. In Lucid Terminal, open Broker Connections → Add Broker, pick your firm, and choose the environment your firm’s account runs on (Demo or Live — your firm can tell you which)
  3. Sign in on Tradovate’s page and confirm the new account shows up
  4. If automation is allowed, use ⚡ Deploy to put the same tested bots on the evaluation account, with the same size and risk caps you tested

A daily routine

  • Before the session: check Bot Status on the Terminal and that the right accounts are on
  • During: keep an eye on Today’s P&L and Active Positions against your firm’s daily loss limit
  • After: review the day in the Trade Log and your journal, and note anything unusual
  • Decide your personal daily stop (and whether you’ll stop trading after a strong day) before the session starts, not in the middle of it
If something looks wrong, stop first and investigate second. KILL at the bottom of the sidebar closes every open futures position across your connected accounts and stops all bots.

If the evaluation fails

  1. Don’t buy another one the same day
  2. Use the Trade Log, Analytics, and your journal notes to find the trades that did the most damage
  3. Was it one bot, one session, a news event, or position size?
  4. Fix that specific cause, re-test on demo, and only then try again
6

After you pass

  • Connect the funded account the same way and, if automation is allowed, deploy the same configuration that passed — same bots, same size, same caps
  • Change one thing at a time, and give each change time before the next
  • Increase size slowly, if at all — drawdown rules don’t relax because an account is funded
  • Running several of your own accounts? Copy Trader can mirror a leader account to the other accounts you trade — check each firm’s copy-trading rules first
  • Keep journaling. Your funded-account history is the best evidence you’ll have for what to do next
The goal is a process you can repeat: tested strategies, sizes that fit the rules, risk controls you’ve practiced, and a journal that tells you the truth.

Troubleshooting + when to stop

“My bot didn’t take any trades”

Check that the account is switched on in Broker Connections, that the desktop app was open (for local bots), and that the broker is still connected. Bots picked for a specific session arm and start at that session’s open (US Eastern time).

“Demo results are worse than the backtest”

Slippage and fills often explain the gap. If the strategy only works with perfect fills, it doesn’t have enough edge for live markets — drop it or rework it and test again.

“My account shows no data”

Make sure you’re on the Futures terminal, and that you chose the right environment (Demo or Live) when you connected. If needed, remove the connection in Broker Connections and add it again.

When to stop altogether

  • Several evaluations fail the same way — the strategy, not luck, is the problem
  • Demo results stay negative over a long stretch — there’s no edge to protect
  • You’re trading money you can’t afford to lose

Stopping means switching off your bots, taking a break, and reassessing. Spending more on evaluations doesn’t fix a strategy that isn’t working.

Using NinjaTrader alongside Lucid Terminal

Some traders use NinjaTrader as their order-entry platform for the evaluation and funded stages above, with its DOM, advanced order types, and chart trader. Lucid Terminal keeps doing the journaling, analytics, and bot automation alongside it — both read the same broker account through the official connection, so trades placed in either one show up in your Lucid Terminal journal.

Ready to start?

Every step in this runbook uses tabs that are in the Lucid Terminal desktop app today. Futures, options, and stock trading involve substantial risk — see the full disclosures.

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