Understanding the trading flow

BrokerBridge follows a six-stage pipeline. Each stage is deterministic and auditable. Nothing executes without your explicit approval.

The pipeline

1

Scan

Data source plugins scan configured symbols for signals at regular intervals (default: every 5 minutes).

2

Score

The scorer ranks signals by composite score, combining evidence strength, setup quality, and conviction.

3

AI Decision

Top-ranked setups are sent to your AI provider for analysis. The AI returns approve/reject with reasoning.

4

Risk Gates

Five deterministic risk gates evaluate the proposal against your portfolio state and configured limits.

5

User Approval

Proposals that pass all gates are presented to you in the dashboard. You approve, reject, or modify.

6

Execution

Approved trades are executed as bracket orders (entry + stop loss + take profit) through IBKR.

Trade proposals

A trade proposal is the core unit of the pipeline. It represents a candidate trade that has been identified, analyzed, and is awaiting your decision.

FieldDescription
proposal_idUnique identifier (e.g. prp-a1b2c3d4e5f6)
symbolTicker symbol (AAPL, TSLA, etc.)
direction"long" or "short"
setup_typeCategory: breakout, reversal, pullback_buy, breakdown, etc.
convictionAI confidence score from 0.0 to 1.0
entry_priceSuggested entry price
stop_priceStop loss level
target_priceTake profit level
thesis_summaryAI-generated explanation of why this trade was proposed
composite_scoreOverall signal strength from 0.0 to 1.0
statuspending, approved, rejected, executing, executed, or expired

Approval workflow

When a proposal appears in your dashboard, you have three options:

Approve

Accept the trade as-is. The system creates an approved trade plan and submits bracket orders.

Modify & Approve

Adjust the position size, stop loss, or target price before approving. Modifications are logged in the approvals CSV.

Reject

Decline the trade with an optional reason. The rejection and reason are logged for future analysis.

Proposals expire after the configured timeout (default: 5 minutes). Expired proposals cannot be approved.

Bracket orders

Every approved trade is executed as a bracket order: three linked orders placed simultaneously.

  Entry Order          Stop Loss           Take Profit
  ────────────        ────────────        ────────────
  BUY 50 AAPL         SELL 50 AAPL        SELL 50 AAPL
  @ $189.50           @ $185.00           @ $198.00
  (market/limit)      (stop order)        (limit order)

  All three are submitted together.
  If entry fills, stop and target become active.
  If stop or target fills, the other is cancelled.

Post-entry management

After entry, the trade manager monitors the position and applies the management plan:

  • Fixed stops and targets — Default mode. Stop and target stay where they were set.
  • Trailing stops — Stop follows price by a configured offset as the trade moves in your favor.
  • Breakeven stops — Stop moves to entry price after reaching a configurable profit threshold.
  • Scale-out — Partial position exit at intermediate targets (configurable in management plan).

Risk gates

Five deterministic risk gates evaluate every proposal. All five must pass for the proposal to reach you.

1

Position Size

Blocks if the proposed trade exceeds max_position_pct of account value.

2

Max Open Trades

Blocks if you already have max_positions open trades.

3

Daily P&L Cap

Halts all trading if daily losses exceed max_daily_loss_pct.

4

Sector Concentration

Blocks if too many positions are in the same sector.

5

Portfolio Exposure

Blocks if total exposure would exceed portfolio_max_exposure_pct.