> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tradesurge.co/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tradesurge.co/platform/strategies/autotrade.md).
# Autotrade and the promotion ladder
Autotrade will deploy a strategy to your accounts. It climbs a ladder from demo to small size to normal size, and has no powers a human trade does not have.
Autotrade is the step where a strategy trades your accounts for you. A deployed strategy sends its signals through exactly the same checks as a manual trade. It earns bigger size only by proving itself on the rung below.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Coming soon.** Autotrade is not live yet. This page describes how it will work.
{% endhint %}
## Autotrade has no special powers
When a deployed strategy signals, the signal becomes a normal order. It passes the firm-rule check, Breach Guard, the caps, R-sizing and the pre-send checks, like any trade from the Terminal.
## You choose the accounts and the limits
A deployment is one strategy version, the accounts it runs on, and its risk caps. Those caps can only be tighter than each account's own risk dial, never looser. One deployment can span accounts at different firms. Each firm's copy and bot policy decides each leg: a firm that forbids it is refused, and a firm with an unknown policy gets a warning.
## TradingView alerts come first
The first automated path will be TradingView alerts, not uploaded code. Your existing alert fans out to every selected account, each copy sized in R, through the same checks as a manual trade. Autotrade from uploaded code follows later.
## The promotion ladder
| Name | What it means |
| ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Demo** | Runs on a demo account with no money at risk. Needs a completed backtest. |
| **Micro** | The first live rung, at a small size ceiling. Needs a demo record that matches the backtest across at least two market regimes, plus a simulation check. |
| **Normal** | Full size within your risk dial. Needs a proven record at micro. |
## Why the bar is high
Anyone can find a strategy that looks great on past data by trying enough versions. The ladder only accepts evidence the engine records itself, from real demo trading, and it tightens the bar when a trader tries many versions at once.
{% hint style="info" %}
No strategy trades live money until it clears every rung.
{% endhint %}
## Next steps
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