An automated strategy still needs a human hand on it. In NinjaTrader 8 that hand is usually the Chart Trader panel. FlowPilot and BookPilot both add their own buttons there, and knowing exactly what each one does is the difference between supervising a strategy and just watching it.

Getting the panel to appear

The buttons sit below NinjaTrader's Chart Trader. Open it with a right-click on the chart and Chart Trader, then add the strategy. If the buttons are missing, open Chart Trader first and then disable and re-enable the strategy.

BookPilot also has an Arm On Start setting for setups where the panel is not available. It arms automatically in the chosen Rules of Engagement mode once Level 2 data is live. It is off by default, and the guide recommends leaving it off when you can use the panel.

FlowPilot's panel

Arm Long, Arm Short, Arm Both

Arming allows the next entry. Arm Long or Arm Short allows one direction, Arm Both either. An armed button is green. FlowPilot takes at most one entry per arm and then disarms. In Auto mode it selects Arm Both by itself at each bar close; in Follow or Fade mode you press the button before every trade.

Trend Long and Trend Short

These are direction filters, separate from arming. Teal or maroon means the direction is allowed, grey means blocked. Clicking switches each on or off. Both are on by default. Switching one off is a quick way to stop counter-trend entries on a strong trend day.

Close

Exits the open position at market. It is orange-red while a position is open. Close does not disarm, so in Auto mode the strategy can trade again after the next bar close.

Mode

Cycles between Auto, Follow and Fade. In Auto it shows the live regime, for example Mode: Auto (Trend) in cyan, or Mode: Auto (Regression).

BookPilot's panel

With Bias

Arms the strategy and only allows signals that agree with the Microstructure Bias, or any signal while the bias is None.

Engage Long and Engage Short

Arms for one direction only. Pressing the active button again disarms.

Auto Re-Arm

On: BookPilot arms itself again after every trade, after the cooldown if the trade lost. Off: it disarms after each trade so you approve the next one.

Pulled Wall and Pressure Break

Switch each signal engine on or off while the strategy runs.

LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH

Pick the risk preset, which sets quantity, the hourly trade cap and the cooldown after a loss. LOW trades 1 contract with up to 10 trades an hour and a 60-second cooldown; MEDIUM and HIGH loosen each of those.

Forecast Confirm

Switches the forecast confirmation filter on or off.

Flatten All

Cancels any working entry and closes the position at market.

The Blocked line

Not a button, but the most useful thing on the panel. When a signal is not traded, it says why: not armed, outside the trading window, against the bias, hourly limit or forecast confirm.

Close and Flatten All are not the same

FlowPilot's Close exits the position but does not change whether the strategy is armed. BookPilot's Flatten All also cancels a working limit entry, which matters because BookPilot enters with limit orders that can be resting when you press it. To fully stop BookPilot after flattening, disarm it too. To stop FlowPilot taking new trades, disarm or switch both trend filters off, or disable the strategy.

A few habits that help

  • Glance at the panel state before the open: which direction is armed, which mode or preset is active.
  • Use the direction filters or Engage buttons for a day's view, rather than editing settings mid-session.
  • When a signal is skipped, read the Blocked line or the NinjaScript Output window before changing anything.
  • When the daily goal or max loss is reached, both strategies lock until the next session. Pressing arm buttons will not override that, by design.

The full button lists are in the FlowPilot guide and the BookPilot guide. Plan details, including the indicators that come with it, are on the BookPilot product page.

A panel gives you control, not protection from loss, and futures trading is high risk. Practise every button on a SIM account, and in Market Replay for BookPilot, before running a strategy on an evaluation, funded or live account.