How Copy Trading Works
Copy trading lets one trader (the leader) share trades with other people (followers). When the leader trades, the same trade opens on every follower's account by itself - and closes when the leader closes.
In simple words
Sarah is good at trading gold. She makes a "copy group". You join it. From now on, whenever Sarah buys gold, your account buys gold too (in your size), and when she sells, yours sells. If you made money with her trades, you pay her a small share of that profit. If you lost, you pay nothing.The people and the parts
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Leader | The trader who is copied. Needs the Professional plan and an approved leader profile. |
| Follower | Someone who copies. Needs the Advanced or Professional plan (or a free trial). |
| Copy group | One strategy of a leader, on one of the leader's terminals. A leader can have several groups; a follower can follow several groups. |
| Profit share | The % of the follower's copied PROFIT paid to the leader (0-50%, set by the leader). Only profit counts - a losing period costs nothing. |
| Invoice | The bill for the profit share, made automatically at the Friday market close (weekly) or the last Friday of the month (monthly). |
| Magic number | The group's own number. It is stamped on the leader's trades and on every copy, so groups never mix up their trades. |
How one trade travels
Leader trades
alert or by hand
Leader EA reports
symbol, side, lots, magic
TradeHookX checks
which group, which followers
Each follower
size, filters, symbol name
Follower EA opens
with the group magic
It normally takes about a second. The leader's trade is reported by the leader's own EA, so the leader's terminal must be online - a cloud terminal is best.
Two kinds of groups
| Alerts group | Manual trading group | |
|---|---|---|
| The leader trades with | TradingView alerts | His hands - buy / sell / close in MT5 on PC or phone |
| Leader terminal | Cloud or local | Cloud only (it watches the account 24/7) |
| What is copied | Every trade opened by an alert with the group's magic | Every hand trade (magic 0) on the group's symbols |
| Stop loss / take profit on copies | Not copied - copies close when the leader closes | Copied as the same distance from the entry (if the follower allows it) |
| Read more | For Leaders (Alerts) | Manual Trading Groups |
What is copied - and what is not
| Leader does | Followers get |
|---|---|
| Opens a trade | The same trade (buy or sell) on the same symbol, in their own size |
| Closes it (alert, SL/TP or by hand) | Their copy is closed - exactly that ticket |
| Closes part of it (e.g. 40%) | The same part of their copy (40%, at least 0.01 lot) |
| Places a pending order | Nothing yet - it is copied as a normal trade when it is FILLED |
| Moves his stop loss later | Not copied |
| A trade with another magic (alerts group) | Not copied (from 24 Oct 2026 12:00 UTC; before that, with a warning) |
| A trade reported more than 60 seconds late | Not copied - opening that late would be at a different price |
Magic numbers - why every group has one
Imagine a leader runs two gold groups on one account. A close for group A must not close group B's trades. The magic number is the label that keeps them apart:
- •Every group has its own magic (it can never be used by another group).
- •Alerts group: every alert on the leader's terminal - entries AND closes - must carry one of its groups' magics. Only trades with the group's magic are copied to that group. From Saturday 24 Oct 2026 12:00 UTC an alert with no or a wrong magic is rejected on a leader terminal.
- •Every copy on a follower's account carries the group's magic too - so a follower can copy two groups (or trade their own alerts) on one account without mixing.
- •Manual groups also have a magic: it goes on the followers' copies. The leader's own hand trades carry magic 0 - that is how TradeHookX knows they were clicked by hand.
Hedging and netting accounts
| Account type | What it means | Copy groups allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Hedging (most brokers) | Can hold a buy and a sell on the same symbol at the same time; each trade is separate. | As many as your plan allows |
| Netting | Only ONE position per symbol: a new sell reduces your buy. | Only ONE group (to lead or to follow) |
On a netting account two groups would share one position, and one group's close would close the other's trades. So TradeHookX refuses a second group there. The terminal card shows HEDGING or NETTING. Need more groups? Add another terminal or open a hedging account at your broker.
How many groups can I follow or lead?
| Rule | |
|---|---|
| Follow | Each paid terminal includes 1 followed group. More? Buy extra groups (Advanced $7.90 / month each, Professional $14.99). Free trial: 1 group. |
| Lead (Professional) | Each terminal includes 1 group you lead; extra groups $14.99 / month each. Free trial: 1. |
| Followers per group | Unlimited on Professional, unless the leader sets a maximum. |
Details and buying extra groups: Billing & Plans.
What happens when...
| Situation | New trades | Trades already open | Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| The follower pauses | Not copied | Still closed with the leader | Profit of closed copies is still invoiced |
| The follower stops following (leaves) | Not copied | Still closed with the leader | Invoiced at the next normal billing date |
| The leader removes a follower | Not copied | Still closed with the leader | Invoiced at the next billing date. The follower gets an email / Telegram with the leader's message |
| The leader pauses the whole group | Not copied to anyone | Still closed with the leader | As normal; followers stay members |
| The leader archives (deletes) a group with followers | Not copied | Still closed with the leader | Followers are unfollowed; history and invoices are kept |
| An invoice is not paid in time (overdue) | Copying PAUSES | Still closed with the leader | Pay it and copying resumes by itself; you cannot follow a new group while an invoice is overdue |
| The follower's plan is downgraded or expires | Follows above the allowance are paused (newest first) | Still closed with the leader | They resume by themselves when the plan is upgraded |
| The follower's terminal is offline | Skipped ("No connected terminals...") | Closes wait up to 55 s; later ones fail - close by hand | Only real trades count |
| The follower deletes the terminal | The follow ends (Left) | No terminal = nothing can be closed; trades stay at the broker | Copied profit already made is still invoiced |
| The follower's kill switch is on | Blocked | Leader closes are blocked too! | Only real trades count |
| The leader's terminal is offline | Nothing happens - the leader cannot trade either | Closes are copied when the leader's EA reports them | - |
| A free trial ends with a copied trade open | No new copies | The terminal stays on for 7 days in close-only mode so the leader's close still arrives | Subscribe to keep copying |
Safety settings for followers
- •Lot multiplier or a fixed lot size, and a maximum lot size.
- •Maximum copies per day.
- •Only certain symbols.
- •Copy SL / Copy TP (manual groups) and Reverse (copy buys as sells - for experts only).
- •Plus every Terminal Setting (daily loss limit, max trades...) still protects the account.
All explained step by step in For Followers.
Copy trading is real trading
Past results do not promise future results. Start with a small multiplier or a demo terminal, check that your account has enough margin for the leader's trade sizes (the most common failure is "No money"), and never copy with money you cannot afford to lose.Where to go next
- •For Followers - find a group, follow, settings, pause, stop, invoices
- •For Leaders (Alerts) - become a leader, create a group, magic numbers, alert text
- •Manual Trading Groups - lead by trading by hand
- •Managing Followers - personal %, billing cycle, remove, Follower 360, analytics
- •Invoices & Payouts - how the profit share is calculated, paid and sent to the leader