Learn how to configure Guardrails in EdgeFlo to enforce your daily trading rules automatically, including max trades, daily loss limits, profit caps, fixed risk per trade, trading windows, and news blocks.
Guardrails are EdgeFlo's discipline enforcement system. You define your rules once inside Settings, and Guardrails enforces them every time you try to place a trade. This article walks you through each guardrail, what it does, and how to configure it correctly for your trading style.
Most traders don't blow accounts because their strategy is bad. They blow accounts because one bad trade becomes five, and one red day becomes a spiral. Guardrails are how EdgeFlo reduces that risk from a willpower problem to a system problem.
Getting to Guardrails Settings
To access your guardrail configuration:
- Open Settings from the left navigation bar.
- Select Trading Preferences.
- The Trading Guardrails section appears at the top of the page.
The Six Guardrails
1. Max Trades Per Day
Limits how many trades you can open daily. Once reached, the Trade button is disabled until the next day.
- Why it matters: Prevents overtrading and revenge trading, reducing unnecessary losses by forcing focus on quality setups.
- Recommended: 5 trades/day; beginners or impulsive traders should start at 3, experienced traders at 5.
Tip: Treat trades like bullets—fewer trades mean more selectivity. Some pros limit to 2 to wait for top setups.
2. Max Daily Loss
Tracks your daily realized losses and blocks trading once the limit is hit.
- Why it matters: Stops emotional loss spirals by capping losses at a set point.
- Recommended: 2% of your account balance, meaning you stop after about two losing trades at 1% risk each.
- How to calculate: Multiply your account balance by your chosen percentage (e.g., $20 for a $1,000 account at 2%).
Note: Only realized losses count; open trades in drawdown don't trigger the limit until closed.
3. Max Daily Profit Cap
Blocks trading after reaching a profit target to lock in gains. Disabled by default.
- Why it matters: Prevents giving back profits due to overconfidence after winning.
- Recommended: 5% of account balance; optional and can be set high if unused.
Tip: Protect your earnings and return fresh next session rather than chasing more profits.
4. Fixed Risk Per Trade
Sets a default risk percentage or dollar amount per trade, automatically adjusting lot size based on stop loss.
- Why it matters: Ensures consistent position sizing, removing emotional exposure changes.
- Recommended: 1% risk per trade; e.g., $10 risk on $1,000 account allows 100 full stop-out trades.
Note: Risk can be adjusted during sessions, but the default remains unchanged in settings.
5. Trading Window
Limits trading to set hours on chosen days. Trades outside these hours are blocked. Off by default.
- Why it matters: Trading during focused sessions improves performance versus 24/7 passive screen time.
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How to configure:
- Enable the Trading Window toggle.
- Set Start and End times.
- Select applicable days (Mon-Sun).
- Add more windows if needed.
Tip: A focused 2-3 hour session is better than long passive hours. Stick to your best trading times.
6. News Block
Blocks trades around high-impact news events, showing event info and countdown during the block.
- Why it matters: Avoids risky, unpredictable volatility caused by news-driven moves.
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How to configure:
- Enable News Block toggle.
- Select impact level to block (default: High impact).
- Set block window before, after, or both (default: 15 minutes before and after).
- Optionally limit blocks to watchlist pairs.
Applying Recommended Defaults
If you are not sure where to start, use the Apply recommended defaults button at the bottom of the Trading Guardrails section. This pre-fills all guardrails with the values EdgeFlo recommends based on consistent, sustainable trading.
| Guardrail | Recommended Value |
|---|---|
| Max trades per day | 5 |
| Max daily loss | 2% of account balance |
| Max daily profit | 5% of account balance |
| Fixed risk per trade | 0.5%-1% |
| Trading window | 2 to 3 hours/day, Mon to Fri |
| News block | High impact, 15 min before and after |
You can adjust these values at any time. Press Save changes after editing to apply your updated settings across the entire app, including your Dashboard, Trading panel, and Edge trade plans.
What Happens When a Guardrail Is Triggered
When any active guardrail is breached:
The Trade button and the one-click trading button both grey out.
Clicking either button opens a modal that identifies which rule was violated. The override and reason are logged automatically in your Trading Journal for that day.
Guardrail violations appear in your Journal on the relevant trading day so you can review exactly when rules were broken and what followed.
Important: If you override a guardrail and continue trading, the violation is still on the record. During performance review, this shows up as a plan compliance issue. The data does not disappear because you chose to override.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do guardrails permanently block me from trading?
No. Guardrails blocks the Trade button when a rule is violated, but does not permanently prevent execution. You can override any guardrail by clicking the greyed-out button and confirming. The override is logged to your journal so you have full visibility when reviewing your performance.
Are guardrails based on open positions or closed trades?
Max daily loss and max daily profit are both calculated on realized P&L only. This means they track closed positions. A floating loss or gain on an open trade does not trigger these guardrails until the position closes.
Can I change my risk per trade during a live session?
Yes. You can unlock the risk per trade field directly in the Trading panel and adjust it for a specific trade. EdgeFlo will show a warning when you do this, and the change is logged. Your default setting in Settings remains unchanged.
What does "Log overrides to Journal" actually record?
When a guardrail is overridden, EdgeFlo records the date, the rule that was violated, and any reason you provided. This appears in your Trading Journal on the relevant day. During weekly or monthly performance reviews, you can see which sessions had rule violations and whether those sessions correlated with worse outcomes.
Related Questions
- How do I reset my guardrails after they are triggered?
- Can I set different guardrails for different trading days?
- Why is my Trade button greyed out when I have not hit any limits?
- Where do guardrail overrides show up in my journal?
- How does the news block know which pairs to apply to?
- Can I pause guardrails temporarily without disabling them?
- What timezone does the trading window use?
- How is max daily loss calculated if I have multiple accounts connected?
- Can I see a history of all my guardrail violations in one place?
- Does fixed risk per trade apply when I use split orders?
Need help configuring your guardrails or troubleshooting a blocked Trade button? Contact EdgeFlo Support.