Instances & Licenses
How Many Instances Do I Need?
Rule of Thumb You need one instance per trading account you plan to trade at the same time.
The number of instances you need typically corresponds to the number of trading accounts you wish to operate simultaneously. Each instance allows you to manage one trading account along with its associated strategies and symbols.
If you're looking to run multiple strategies on a single account, please refer to our Multi-Strategy Guide for implementation tips.
Scenario Description | Trading Accounts | Strategies | Symbols Traded | Instances Needed |
Switching between accounts (challenge, evaluation, funded) (see Example 1) | 1 at a time | Varies | Varies | 1 instance |
Trading 2 accounts with 3 strategies each on 4 symbols (see Example 2) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 instances |
Trading 1 account with 2 strategies on 50 symbols | 1 | 2 | 50 | 1 instance |
Trading 5 accounts with 1 strategy each on 2 symbols | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 instances |
Please note that trading accounts can be run on different devices. For example, you can run one trading account on your desktop and another on your laptop, each requiring its own instance.
Example Scenarios
Example 1: Switching Between Accounts (Challenge, Evaluation, Funded)
Let’s assume you are participating in a challenge or evaluation phase and plan to switch between accounts, such as moving from a challenge account to a funded account. In this case, you're only trading one account at a time, but the strategies and symbols may vary:
- Account Type 1 (Challenge Account): Uses various strategies and symbols.
- Account Type 2 (Evaluation Account): Also varies in strategies and symbols.
- Account Type 3 (Funded Account): Trades as per different conditions after passing the evaluation.
Since only one account is actively traded at any given time, you would need just 1 instance to manage the active account, switching between them as needed.
Example 2: Simultaneous Trading of Multiple Accounts
Let’s assume you are trading two accounts using the following strategies:
- Trading Account 1:
- Strategy 1 (Breakout): Trades 2 symbols: EURUSD and GBPUSD.
- Trading Account 2:
- Strategy 1 (Breakout): Trades 2 symbols: EURUSD and GBPUSD.
- Strategy 2 (Mean Reversion): Trades 1 symbol: USDJPY.
- Strategy 3 (Trend Following): Trades 1 symbol: XAUUSD.
In this scenario, you would need 2 instances—one for each trading account. Each instance would manage all the strategies running on the corresponding account.
Running Multiple Trading Accounts on the Same Computer
It is possible to run multiple trading accounts on the same computer using PineConnector. For detailed instructions on how to set this up, please refer to the following video guide:
Configure Licenses (and Instances)
License Configuration allows you to effectively manage your trading instances by assigning them to unique License IDs. This feature provides flexibility in organizing multiple trading accounts, ensuring each account operates under the appropriate license structure. By distributing instances across different License IDs, you can tailor your trading strategies and maintain clear oversight of each account’s activities.
Example Use-Case
Suppose you have 3 instances under the Advanced plan and three trading accounts. You can assign:
- License ID A: Assign 2 instances to License ID A for your primary trading strategy.
- License ID B: Assign the remaining 1 instances to License ID B for a secondary trading strategy.
Managing Your Licenses & Instances
In this example, you have 3 instances, and you’re transferring 1 instance to a new License ID. Follow these steps to efficiently manage your instances and licenses:
- Access Your License Page: Visit your License page in the PineConnector Portal.
- Configure Your License: Click the “Configure License” button to access your license settings.
- Remove an Instance: Click the negative sign next to the instance you want to remove from your assigned License ID.
- Add Another License ID: Click “Add Another Unique License ID” to create a new License ID for additional instances.
- Add an Instance to the License ID: Once the new License ID appears, press the plus sign to add an instance to that License ID.
- Save Your Changes: After making your adjustments, click "Configure" to save your changes.
- Check Your License Configuration: View your Licensing Dashboard to see the updated configuration reflecting your changes.
Finalizing Your Configuration
After completing these steps, your License IDs and instances will be properly configured to support your trading strategies. Regularly reviewing your Licensing Dashboard ensures that all instances are correctly assigned and functioning as intended.
If you encounter any issues or need further assistance, please reach out to our support team!
Multi-Instance Alerts/Signals
The multi-instance alerts or signals feature is when you have multiple trading accounts connected to a single trading License ID, and sending an alert to that License ID will replicate the trade instructions to all the connected trading accounts.
We understand that many of you manage multiple trading accounts – perhaps a combination of a proprietary firm account and your personal one, or you might be comparing strategies across live and demo accounts.
With Multi-Instance Alerts, sending a signal to one License ID replicates the signal across all instances associated with that License ID. For example, suppose you have connected two trading accounts to License ID 6871135486089.
Sending a signal to this License ID ensures that both accounts, numbered 2364382 and 5013733780, concurrently receive the identical signal.
In the Signal Logs, we can see that for Signal ID 3013, the system generates Signal 3013.1 for Account 2364382 and Signal 3013.2 for Account 5013733780. This occurs despite the accounts being distinct.
The platform allows for the connection of up to 10 trading accounts to a single License ID under the non-enterprise version.
On this page
- Instances & Licenses
- How Many Instances Do I Need?
- Example Scenarios
- Example 1: Switching Between Accounts (Challenge, Evaluation, Funded)
- Example 2: Simultaneous Trading of Multiple Accounts
- Running Multiple Trading Accounts on the Same Computer
- Configure Licenses (and Instances)
- Example Use-Case
- Managing Your Licenses & Instances
- Finalizing Your Configuration
- Multi-Instance Alerts/Signals