How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?

What this means in practice

Failure notifications should be actionable: signal ID, symbol, account alias, stage, exact error, timestamp and next check. Avoid noise for intentionally ignored duplicates or already-recovered transient states. This page is specifically about “How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?”, so each scenario below is explained by its own mechanism instead of sharing one generic diagnosis.

Real-world scenarios

Scenario A — BadVolume

Compare requested size with the cTrader symbol minimum, maximum and step. Convert to one canonical internal unit, normalize once, and log requested versus submitted volume. For Scenario A — BadVolume on question 99, use that evidence specifically to answer “How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?”; keep it separate from the evidence for the other scenarios on this page.

Scenario B — MarketClosed

Use the broker's actual symbol session. Entry commands should follow a clear rejection or expiry policy instead of being replayed later after the original setup is stale. For Scenario B — MarketClosed on question 99, use that evidence specifically to answer “How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?”; keep it separate from the evidence for the other scenarios on this page.

Scenario C — Recovered disconnect

Inspect the mechanism named by “Scenario C — Recovered disconnect” directly. Record its input, the state immediately before it and the first observable output that differs from the intended result. For Scenario C — Recovered disconnect on question 99, use that evidence specifically to answer “How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?”; keep it separate from the evidence for the other scenarios on this page.

What to check

• intended signal/action
• last stage that definitely succeeded
• first stage that differs from intent
• final cTrader state after the event

Practical rule

For “How should users be notified when an automated trade fails?”, change only the first layer whose evidence no longer matches the intended action. Preserve signal identity, timestamps and final cTrader state, and reproduce execution-affecting changes on demo before live use.