Setup

From download to the first trade in NinjaTrader 8. Allow about 20 minutes, most of it loading history.

1. Install NinjaTrader 8

   Download NinjaTrader 8 from ninjatrader.com, install it and sign in. It is free to download and runs on Windows only.

   We recommend a VPS, a Windows computer you rent in a data centre that stays on all day, such as QuantVPS. Pick one in Chicago, close to the exchange. It is also the easiest way to run NinjaTrader from a Mac. A home computer works too if it stays on and connected through US market hours. Check that your firm allows trading from a VPS.

   In the Control Center, open Connections and connect to your prop firm account, using the login details your firm sent you. The strategy needs live MNQ data from that connection.

2. Download the strategy

   Sign in at whop.com and open bobthebot. Click Files in the sidebar and download both files:

   • bobthebot_ninjatrader.zip, the strategy
   • MNQ_daily_rth.csv, the daily levels it starts from

   Your licence key is under Software in the same sidebar. You will need it in step 6.

3. Check NinjaTrader's market data setting

   Tools → Settings → Market data: set Merge policy to Merge non back adjusted. The strategy was tested on unadjusted front-month prices.

4. Import the strategy

   Tools → Import → NinjaScript Add-On, choose bobthebot_ninjatrader.zip, and restart NinjaTrader when it asks.

   Copy MNQ_daily_rth.csv into Documents\NinjaTrader 8\LevelRejection\ (create the folder). It holds the daily levels since 2019; the strategy keeps it up to date.

5. Set up the data series

   Open the Strategies tab (Control Center → New → Strategies) or a chart with:

   • Instrument: MNQ, front month
   • Type: Minute, value 1
   • Trading hours: CME US Index Futures ETH
   • Days to load: 150. Fewer days and it may not know its current long or short mode.

6. Add the strategy and enter your settings

   Add Bob the Bot and set:

   Licence key	the key under Software in Whop
   Phone alert topic	your ntfy topic (step 8), or empty for no alerts
   Risk per trade ($)	25K: 100 · 50K: 200 · 100K: 300 · 150K: 450
   Daily loss limit ($)	25K: 400 · 50K: 800 · 100K: 1,200 · 150K: 1,800 (one trade under your firm's)
   Hard cap (MNQ contracts)	your firm's maximum micro contracts
   Size from account cash value	off

   Bob can trade up to 1.5 times the risk per trade when the 15-minute trend agrees, so the hard cap must be your firm's limit. Check your firm's current rules before you start.

7. Choose the account and enable it

   Account: your evaluation or funded account, or Sim101 to watch it on a simulated account first. Tick Enabled. It replays the loaded history first, without placing orders, then trades live from the next tick.

   Your licence key is tied to this computer the first time it runs. To move to another computer, wait 7 days or email us.

8. Turn on phone alerts

   Install the free ntfy app (iPhone or Android), tap + and subscribe to a topic name only you would guess, such as bob-yourname-7k3q. Enter the same name in the strategy's Phone alert topic setting.

   If the strategy stops checking in during US market hours (connection lost, strategy switched off, computer down), you get a notification within about 15 minutes, and another when it is running again.

   The strategy also reconnects NinjaTrader by itself if the broker connection drops and NinjaTrader gives up retrying.

9. Leave it running

   New trades only between 09:30 and 15:00 New York time, flat by 16:00. Your computer can stay on its own time zone. A Windows VPS in Chicago that stays on through US hours works best; the protective stop sits at your broker even if it goes offline, but the 16:00 close needs it running.

   Each quarter, when NinjaTrader moves MNQ to the next contract, disable the strategy while flat, switch the instrument and enable it again.

Messages you might see

LICENCE: Licence active

All good.

LICENCE PROBLEM: This licence is in use on another computer

Each licence runs on one computer. It can move after 7 days, or email us to move it now.

LICENCE PROBLEM: This subscription is canceled

Renew in your Whop account. Open trades keep their stop and target; no new trades are placed.

Could not reach the licence server

It keeps trading on its last good check for up to 72 hours, so short outages don't matter.

PHONE ALERTS: on

Check-ins are reaching the alert server.

CONNECTION: orders ConnectionLost

The broker connection dropped. NinjaTrader retries; if it gives up, AUTO-RECONNECT lines show the strategy reconnecting it. If NinjaTrader switched the strategy off meanwhile, tick Enabled again.

DATA GAP … no new entries for the rest of the trading day

Minutes were missing from the price data during market hours, so the strategy sits out the rest of the day rather than trade on incomplete data. An open trade keeps its stop and target. It trades normally again the next day.

WARNING: account position … differs from the strategy's …

The account holds MNQ that the strategy did not open, usually a manual trade or a position left over from before. The strategy leaves it alone, so close it yourself in NinjaTrader if you don't want it.

POSITION MISMATCH engine … vs broker …

The strategy's own position didn't match what the broker reported for more than 10 seconds. It corrects itself: if the broker is flat it clears its record, otherwise it closes that position at market. Tell us if you see this.

WARNING: no long/short mode yet

Load more history: set Days to load to 150 and restart the strategy.

Stuck? See Support, or email support@bigmoneybob.com with a screenshot of the NinjaScript Output window.