Getting Started with Tradewink: Your First AI Trading Signals

Welcome to Tradewink

Tradewink is an AI-powered trading platform that monitors markets and identifies opportunities. You start with signals and a watchlist, and Paper Autopilot can run those signals in a simulator or a connected paper/sandbox broker account. Public subscriptions are paper-only; separately approved private beta accounts may submit live broker orders.

Step 1: Create Your Free Account

Sign up at tradewink.com — the free sampler includes up to 3 signals per day (delayed 15 minutes) across 2 sampler signal types from the currently enabled catalog. No credit card required.

Your account connects your subscription tier, broker credentials, and preferences. Everything is tied to your user ID so settings persist whether you access Tradewink through Discord, the web dashboard, or the API.

Step 2: Join the Discord

After creating your account, join the Tradewink Discord server where you can interact with the AI and manage settings. Paid plans get real-time signal delivery; the free sampler is delayed 15 minutes. Commands, alerts, and trade notifications flow through Discord and the web dashboard.

Discord is the primary interface for interacting with the AI in real time. You can ask the bot to analyze a ticker, check your open positions, modify settings, or explain the reasoning behind a recent signal — all via slash commands or natural language messages in your personal DM channel.

Key Discord commands to know:

• /analyze AAPL — get an AI analysis of any ticker
• /portfolio — view open positions and today's P&L
• /settings — open your preferences panel
• /broker add — connect a paper or sandbox broker account (optional; public plans do not include live order submission)
• Review past signals on the web dashboard
• /watchlist add TSLA — add tickers to your personal watchlist

Step 3: Connect a Paper Account (Optional)

Tradewink's public offering is paper trading only. To run Paper Autopilot against a broker's paper or sandbox environment instead of the built-in simulator, connect a paper account:

1. In Discord, run /broker add and select your broker
2. Use your broker's paper or sandbox credentials (for example Alpaca paper trading). Public plans do not include live order submission.
3. Enter your API credentials or complete the broker's OAuth flow where supported — keys are encrypted with Fernet and stored securely. Alpaca uses manual API key entry (OAuth is disabled).
4. Everything stays in paper mode. Public plans are paper trading only; private live trading requires separate approval

Paper account tips:

• Alpaca paper trading is the easiest to start with — free API and fractional shares in the sandbox
• Public plans accept only paper or sandbox credentials; public plans do not include live order submission

Not ready to connect a paper account? That's fine — Paper Autopilot can run in the built-in simulator, or you can use Tradewink as a signal-only service. For public-plan users, any real trade is your own decision, placed by you at your broker, outside Tradewink.

Step 4: Build Your Watchlist

Your watchlist tells Tradewink which stocks to prioritize. Tickers on your watchlist get scanned first and receive a score boost in the screener, so they surface as signals more often than tickers you haven't added.

To add tickers: /watchlist add AAPL MSFT NVDA

To view your current watchlist: /watchlist

The scanner also monitors a liquid default universe (about 180 names, plus micro-account names when that mode applies) and merges dynamic movers from sources such as Finviz, so you can still see names outside your watchlist — but your list ensures those tickers are scanned first.

Step 5: Understand What Tradewink Monitors

Tradewink's AI monitors the following data streams continuously during market hours:

• Price and volume — Breakouts, momentum, volume surges, gap-and-go patterns
• Options activity — Unusual options and dark-pool prints may be used as context; the options-flow signal type is paused and is not delivered on any plan
• Technical indicators — RSI, MACD, VWAP, Bollinger Bands, ATR, moving averages, and others
• Earnings calendar — Upcoming earnings dates, historical beat/miss rates, guidance trends
• Insider transactions — Form 4 filings showing when executives buy or sell their own shares
• SEC filings — 8-K announcements, 10-Q quarterly reports, prospectus filings
• News and sentiment — Headlines scored by the AI stack (FinBERT is not a live production gate)
• Macro indicators — VIX level, sector relative strength, market regime classification
• Market regime — Regime detection (bull / sideways / bear, with descriptive labels) used to adapt scanning

When multiple signals align on a single ticker — say, a momentum breakout coinciding with insider buying and an upcoming catalyst — the composite score rises and you get an alert.

Step 6: Understanding Tradewink's Alerts and Signals

Tradewink generates several types of signals:

Which types are actively publishing changes over time as types are enabled or paused — check the /signals page for what is live right now rather than treating any fixed list as current. Advisory types (informational, not trade setups) and actionable types (with entry/stop/target) are both represented in the catalog when enabled.

Each published signal includes ticker, direction (currently bullish or informational; bearish signals are not delivered), and, for actionable types, an entry zone, stop-loss, target, risk/reward, confidence score, and written analysis. Advisory types such as market outlook and weekly digest should not be treated as entry orders.

Don't just look at the ticker and direction. Read the full analysis. It explains:

• WHY the signal was generated
• What catalysts are driving the opportunity
• Where to enter, where to place your stop, and where to take profit
• What could invalidate the trade thesis

Understanding the "why" makes you a better trader over time.

Step 7: Configure Your Trading Preferences

Tradewink offers 50+ configurable trading preferences. Key settings to review when starting out:

Risk management:

• Risk per trade: How much of your account to risk per position (default: 1% — keep this at 1-2% until you've validated the system)
• Max daily trades: Limit how many trades the AI can take per day (per-user default: 3)
• Max daily loss: Dollar or percentage limit that pauses trading for the day if hit

Strategy preferences:

• Enabled strategies: Toggle which signal types you want (momentum, mean reversion, options flow, etc.)
• Min confidence score: Minimum confidence required before a signal triggers (trading default is 70 — raise it when starting out)
• Regime filter: Only trade when the market regime aligns with the strategy type

Filtering:

• Excluded tickers: Block specific stocks from being traded (e.g., stocks you already hold manually)
• Excluded sectors: Block entire sectors if you want to avoid energy, biotech, or other volatile industries
• Quiet hours / monk mode: Skip unfavorable windows (defaults include the first and last 15 minutes of regular hours, plus a midday dead zone)

Adjust settings via Discord with /settings or through the web dashboard preferences panel.

Step 8: Paper Trading Mode Explained

Paper trading mode lets the AI run the full pipeline — scan, analyze, score, size, and "execute" — without touching real money. Orders are simulated at real market prices so results accurately reflect what would have happened.

Why paper trade first? Because seeing the system work (or stumble) in real time with zero risk is worth far more than reading documentation. You'll understand how signals are generated, how the AI reasons about exits, and how often the system actually fires before you commit capital.

What to track during paper trading (aim for 20-30 trades):

• Win rate (treat any figure as hypothetical; Tradewink does not publish a standalone audited win rate)
• Average winner vs. average loser (target 2:1 or better)
• Maximum drawdown (how deep did the paper account go?)
• Confidence score accuracy (did higher-confidence signals outperform lower ones?)

Tradewink's public offering is paper trading only, so paper mode is where every account stays. Give it 2-4 weeks — understanding how the system behaves is the most important thing you can do.

Understanding Confidence Scores

Every signal has a confidence score (0-100):

• 80+: High conviction — multiple factors align (the AI Conviction signal type is paused on every plan)
• 70-79: Strong signal — high probability setup with multiple confirming factors
• 65-69: Standard signal — meets all minimum criteria but with fewer confirming signals

New users should start by following only 75+ confidence signals until they're comfortable with the system. The AI still logs all signals regardless of whether you act on them, so you can review the 65-69 signals in hindsight to understand what they look like.

Upgrading Your Plan

• Free ($0): Up to 3 signals/day across the 2 sampler types, 15-minute delay, 5-ticker watchlist, 7-day history. No card required.
• Starter ($19/mo, 7-day trial with card required): Real-time delivery of currently enabled signal types, email + webhook, unlimited watchlist, 90-day history.
• Pro ($79/mo): Everything in Starter plus REST API access and unlimited history.
• Elite ($149/mo): Everything in Pro plus expanded analysis capacity and dedicated support.

Public subscriptions are paper-only; separately approved private beta accounts may submit live broker orders. Start on the tier that matches how you want signals delivered.