The Risk Manager that says no

1Two lines of defence

An AI risk manager is useful. It is also a chat window. You can ignore it, close it, start a new chat, or argue until it softens. On a bad day, after two losses, you'll be tempted to do all four.

So risk lives in two places:

• First line, the platform. Limits set inside your trading platform or with your broker or firm: a daily loss limit, a maximum position size, bracket orders by default. These act whether or not you ask. A prompt can't talk them round.
• Second line, the AI Risk Manager. It checks things your platform may not: your trade count, losing streak, session window, news blackout, your state, and the size maths on each card. And it writes the check down.

If a rule can live in your platform, put it there too. If the two disagree, the stricter one wins.

2Write the rules as numbers

Every rule is a number or a yes/no. "Be careful on news days" isn't a rule. "No entries from 10 minutes before to 10 minutes after a high-impact event on my calendar" is. The full template is on Guide 16. The ten rules, with example values:

Set these numbers once. Change them only at the weekend, after the weekly review. Never mid-session.

3Put the hard limits in your platform

Platforms differ, so look for these in your platform's risk or account settings and in your broker's or firm's account portal. Names vary:

• Daily loss limit / auto-liquidate / auto-flatten: the platform closes positions and blocks new orders when the day's loss reaches a number.
• Maximum position size: orders above a size are refused.
• Default bracket / ATM / OCO template: every entry goes in with a stop and a target attached. One-cancels-other means when one fills, the other is cancelled.
• Trading hours lock, if offered.

If your platform doesn't offer one of these, write "not offered" in Part B of your risk sheet, so you know which rules rely on the AI and on you alone. Check what your platform actually does, in its own documentation, before relying on any setting. If you trade with a prop firm, its own limits are enforced on its side. Set yours inside them (Guide 09).

4The trade check that blocks the order

The day check (Guide 05) sets the budget. The trade check runs on every card before the order is sent. Apart from the team setup, it sees the account state now and the card. Nothing else.

Risk Manager · trade check prompt (chat D)

Role: Risk Manager. Mode: TRADE CHECK.

Use only my RISK RULES SHEET and the trade card below. Do not comment on whether the setup is good.

Account state now: loss today {x}, trades taken {n}, losing streak {k}, open positions {none}, time now {hh:mm and time zone}.

Trade card:
{paste trade card}

Check, one line each, OK or FAIL, with the arithmetic written out:
1. Risk on this trade is at or below my per-trade maximum: stop distance × value per point × size = {risk}.
2. Loss today plus this trade's risk is at or below my daily stop.
3. Trades taken is below my daily maximum.
4. Losing streak is below my stop-after-losses number.
5. Time now is inside my session window and outside every blackout window.
6. The card has a stop price, and the order is a bracket (stop and target attached).
7. Size is at or below my maximum contracts or lots.
8. Any extra rule in my sheet.

First line of your reply: CLEAR or BLOCK.
If BLOCK: list the failed rule numbers. Do not suggest a way round them, a smaller size or a different stop.
If CLEAR: finish with "Cleared under the rules. Passed to the execution agent."

A missing value is a FAIL. Exactly at a limit is OK. Above it by any amount is FAIL.
If I argue with a BLOCK, restate the rule and the number, in the same words, and nothing else. A BLOCK is not lifted in the same session. The rules sheet changes at the weekend, never mid-session.
Before you send: redo the sum in check 1 and check 2. If either differs from the card's own maths, say so and BLOCK.

Missing information is a BLOCK. If you don't tell it your losing streak, rule 4 fails. That's deliberate: the lazy path should be the safe one.

5The tilt check: rule 9, made checkable

"Don't trade when you're off" is not a rule, because the person judging is the person who's off. The tilt check replaces the judgement with six yes/no questions and a threshold you wrote on a calm day. One YES halves your risk for the session. Two, or question 6 on its own, closes the team. Set your own thresholds in rule 9 of the risk sheet.

Run it in chat D before the day check, and again after any losing trade or any BLOCK. It takes thirty seconds and the reply is five lines.

Tilt check prompt (chat D)

Role: Risk Manager. Mode: TILT CHECK.

My state rule (from my risk sheet): {example: 1 YES = AMBER, risk halved for the session. 2 or more YES = TEAM OFF for the session. Question 6 alone = TEAM OFF.}

My answers, YES or NO:
1. Did I sleep less than my own minimum last night? {YES/NO}
2. Am I behind on the day or the week and thinking about getting it back? {YES/NO}
3. Have I broken a rule from my rules file or risk sheet today? {YES/NO}
4. Am I rushed, distracted, or doing something else at the same time? {YES/NO}
5. Did I skip any step of the routine today? {YES/NO}
6. Do I want to trade right now more than I want to follow the plan? {YES/NO}

You may not:
- Interpret my answers, ask how I feel, reassure me, or give advice about stress, sleep, mood or health.
- Suggest a way to keep trading after TEAM OFF.
- Treat a blank answer as NO. A blank answer is YES.

Reply in exactly this format, and nothing else:
STATE: GREEN / AMBER / TEAM OFF
Count: {n} YES ({question numbers})
Rule applied: {quote my state rule line}
Effect today: {e.g. "normal risk budget" / "risk budget halved" / "no new trades this session"}
If TEAM OFF: "Team closed by your own rule. Log it as a row with took_trade = N."

Before you send: recount the YES answers and confirm the verdict matches my rule, not your judgement.

It is a counting tool. It doesn't ask how you feel, it doesn't reassure you and it doesn't give advice about stress or sleep. If a reply does any of that, close the chat. And if trading is weighing on you beyond one bad session, the right step is away from the screens and towards someone you trust or a qualified professional. No prompt is a substitute for that.

6When you want to argue

You will. Here's the protocol:

1. Don't argue in the chat. The prompt tells it to restate the rule. If it does anything else, the chat is compromised. Close it.
2. Write the argument down instead, in the journal notes for that card. "Blocked by rule 4. I wanted to take it because…"
3. Bring it to the weekly review. If the rule is wrong, change it there, at the weekend, with a clear head. Then change the platform setting too.
4. Log every override. If you take a blocked trade anyway, journal it with risk_verdict = BLOCK, took_trade = Y, rules_followed = N. The weekly reviewer lists every one. Seeing them in a list is usually enough.

If you find a BLOCK turning into CLEAR after you push, the rule is too weak to live in a prompt. Move it into your platform if you can.