Getting started

You're in. Here's how Detent goes live.

One payment, and the source is yours. Detent runs on your own machine, against your own broker, holding the limits you set. This page walks you from paid to enforcing.

01 • Your files

Key and download, by email

Your license key and download link came by email from our order provider (Lemon Squeezy). The download is the full editable Python source, the config templates, and the docs. The license unlocks the download and future updates — it does not lock the software. Nothing checks in at runtime; the source is yours to read and edit.

02 • Install

Your own machine, attended

Python 3, self-hosted. Detent runs local and attended: on your own personal device, with you watching while you trade. It is not a hands-off bot, and it is not a cloud service — most prop firms forbid remote or unattended automation, and Detent is built to fit inside those rules. The install guide is in the download's docs.

03 • First run

Six steps, then observe mode

The first run walks you from broker connection to enforcement in six steps — below in full. Accept every default and you're still protected. It ends in observe mode: alerts only, on your real trading, until you flip the switch to enforce. You flip it, not us.

The first run, step by step

Same six steps as the setup flow on the How page — restated here so you know what's ahead before you open it.

0
Connect your broker
Your credentials, your account. Everything runs between your machine and your broker.
1
Your account
Pick a size preset or enter your own. Daily loss limit defaults to 2% of the account — tighter than most firm limits on purpose. Loosen it if you disagree.
2
Your discipline rules
The Tier-1 toggles and numbers, each with a one-line "what it does." Conservative defaults, all on. Stop here and Detent already enforces your limits.
3
Setup confluences — or skip
"Skip — just enforce my limits" is the recommended default. Or start from a starter template and reshape it to your setup — it's your source to edit.
4
Review in plain English
The whole ruleset as sentences, so you confirm what it will and won't let you do before it ever touches an order.
5
Watch it first
Observe mode — alerts only, on your real trading — until you switch it to enforce. Trade a few sessions with it watching before you arm it.

What leaves your machine: nothing

The security model is structural, not a promise — same posture as the architecture page.

Credentials

Encrypted, local, yours

Your broker credentials are stored encrypted on your machine and never sent anywhere else. There is no Detent server for them to pass through.

Connections

One outbound line: your broker

The engine's only outbound connection is to your own broker's API. Your market data, positions, and audit log stay on your device.

Runtime

Nothing phones home

No license check at runtime, no telemetry, no usage pings. The license gated the download; once the software is on your machine, it answers to you.

Fail-safe • the honest limit

It has to be running

Detent acts while it's running and connected to your broker. It leans on your broker's own stop — a real order that holds even if Detent or your connection drops — and reconciles your positions when it reconnects. That's the honest limit, and it's why your stop lives at the broker, not just in the app.

Updates

By email, and on the changelog

New versions are announced by email and listed on the changelog with a checksum and signature — verify before you run, because this software acts on live orders. The bundled update helper extracts each release to its own versioned folder and never overwrites your edited config or templates.

Support

Lost key, license, questions

Re-send a lost key or manage your license through the order provider's customer portal — the link is in your delivery email. For anything else, use the contact method on this site. The legal page has the license, terms of sale, and the 7-day refund policy.