Move a trade copier integration safely

A practical migration checklist covering credentials, sizing, symbols, pause/resume, uncertain execution and demo verification.

Migrate the integration before migrating live trading. Use an isolated demo account pair, keep the old system stopped for that pair, and record the expected outcome before each test.

1. Map the contract, not just the endpoint names.

Inventory authentication, connection IDs, master/follower direction, sizing modes, symbol mappings, order types and lifecycle operations. Send the APIKey header on every copier request, including reads and logs. Never place API keys in public examples or query strings.

2. Reconcile volume and instruments.

Record the master size, follower balance/equity, both contract sizes and the follower's volume limits. Compare the requested follower volume with the actual broker result. Check symbols explicitly; an automatic suffix guess is not a verified contract match.

Calculate the requested volume · Check symbol-name candidates

Prefer a local worksheet? The Python sizing example uses only the standard library. It covers five sizing modes and reports volume-limit mismatches without connecting accounts, placing trades or silently increasing the requested size.

3. Run an acceptance checklist.

• Connect both demo accounts and verify their identities.
• Start the copier and inspect its returned state.
• Open a small master trade; verify the follower ticket, symbol and volume.
• Modify permitted stop levels, then close the master trade and verify both accounts.
• Pause, place a new demo trade and verify the documented pause behavior. Resume and check the saved copy-existing-orders policy.
• Test a volume rejection, a missing/invalid API key and a disconnected follower. Inspect logs and actual orders before retrying.

4. Make retries and cleanup explicit.

Use returned copier and trade identifiers to reconcile outcomes. Do not start a second copier because the first request timed out. Stop or pause the tested copier, verify remaining positions, and disconnect test connections when finished.

5. Decide from evidence.

Keep a test record with SDK version, settings, timestamp, expected result and actual result. Redact account identifiers, credentials and unrelated trades before sharing logs. A demo test establishes that scenario's behavior; it does not guarantee future broker execution.

Watch the troubleshooting walkthrough · C# quickstart · Python copier SDK · All SDKs and API references