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trading

Kill switch

One click to flatten everything, cancel all working orders, and pause auto-orders.


The kill switch is the panic button. Every account, every connection. Single click; no second confirmation.

What it does

Within ~250 ms of pressing:

  1. Cancel every working order across all connected brokers.
  2. Flatten every open position with market orders.
  3. Pause the cloud worker so no auto-order fires.
  4. Lock new order entry until you explicitly unlock.

The lock is the load-bearing piece. After a kill, the order ticket is disabled and a banner explains why. You unlock from Profile → Trading, which also forces a re-confirmation of the daily-loss cap.

Where to find it

  • Top-right of every workspace, beside the workspace selector.
  • Keyboard shortcut: Cmd+Shift+. (or Ctrl+Shift+. on Windows/Linux).
  • The cloud worker has its own kill switch in the web app; pressing the desktop one does NOT trigger the cloud one (intentional — they may control different accounts).

When it fires automatically

The desktop will fire the kill switch on your behalf if:

  • The daily-loss cap is breached.
  • A broker connection reports margin call state.
  • The risk-disclaimer modal is dismissed mid-session by clicking outside it (rare; defensive).

Recovery

After a kill, run a paper-trading session for the rest of the day before unlocking live. The friction is intentional — the kill switch is designed to interrupt momentum.