Why live prices matter
To know an account's P&L while a trade is open, Copilink needs current prices for what the account holds. Your daily loss and profit limits act on that number. With live prices, P&L updates as the market moves. Without them, Copilink falls back to a slower balance snapshot from Tradovate, or has nothing to go on.
Market data doesn't affect copying. Orders are copied the same way with or without it. Only P&L and the limits that use it are affected.
Keep one Rithmic account connected
Most Tradovate logins, including most prop-firm logins, don't share market data with apps like Copilink. Rithmic logins do. Copilink uses one feed for all your connections, so a single connected Rithmic account supplies live prices to every Tradovate account trading the same contracts.
- Any prop firm's Rithmic account works. Apex is usually the cheapest; Lucid Trading and Tradeify work too.
- You don't have to trade it. Leave it connected, or use it as a follower.
- It covers the contracts that Rithmic login has data for. Check yours with one micro contract position before you rely on it.
Until you connect a Rithmic account, the Connections page recommends one and offers an Add Rithmic connection button.
The Tradovate snapshot fallback
If an open Tradovate account has no live price, Copilink asks Tradovate for an account-wide balance snapshot instead, one account at a time. Live P&L then shows Reduced protection. Your limits still work, but more slowly: a snapshot is trusted for only 10 seconds, and every snapshot uses one Tradovate request.
The fallback is on by default. You can turn off Use Tradovate snapshot P&L without live market data in Settings → Live P&L if you run many Tradovate accounts and want to keep requests for trading. With it off and no live feed, P&L limits for those accounts aren't checked at all. Live market-data P&L itself is always on and can't be turned off.
Live P&L statuses
The Live P&L badge in the top bar sums up every account with an open position. Hover over it for details.
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Live P&L ready | No open position needs a price right now. | Nothing. Open a position (one micro contract is enough) to see it become active. |
| Checking market data | Copilink is still confirming that a feed is available. | Wait. If it stays, check the Market data column on Connections. |
| Live P&L active | Live prices are updating P&L for every open position. | Nothing. This is the best input your limits can have. |
| Live P&L waiting | Either an account with an open position is disconnected, or a position just opened and its first price hasn't arrived. Copilink waits about 30 seconds for that price. | Reconnect the account, or check that a feed covers the contract. |
| Reduced protection | No live price, so Copilink is using Tradovate balance snapshots. Limits work, but slower. | Connect a Rithmic account if you can. Don't trade right up to a limit. |
| Live P&L unavailable | No live price and no usable snapshot. P&L limits for that account aren't checked. | Restore the feed or connection, check whether the snapshot fallback is off, and watch P&L at your broker. |
| Market data unavailable | A feed failed or was refused, and nothing else is supplying prices. | Check the Market data column on Connections and your data subscription. |
Market data statuses
Each row on Connections has its own Market data status. The Market data box on the Follower profiles page shows the best of them.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Idle | No price is needed from this connection right now. Normal when nothing is open. |
| Waiting | Copilink is checking access or waiting for the first price. |
| Standby | Another connection in the same Tradovate environment (Demo or Live) is supplying the feed. Normal. |
| Available | Access is confirmed and no open position needs a price. |
| Active | Every open contract has a fresh price. |
| Partial | Some open contracts have prices and others don't, so limits can't be fully checked. Find the contract without data. |
| Unavailable | Access was refused or the feed failed. Live P&L falls back to snapshots or becomes unavailable. |
| Not provided | This Tradovate login doesn't share market data. Normal for most Tradovate logins; a connected Rithmic account can supply the prices. |
| Disconnected | The connection is down. |
Check it worked
- With a position open (one micro contract is enough), the top bar shows Live P&L active.
If something goes wrong
- Reduced protection won't clear: connect a Rithmic account with data for your contracts, then open a small position and check again.
- Partial: list your open contracts and find the one without a price.
- Live P&L unavailable: check the connection, the contract, and whether the snapshot fallback is turned off in Settings.
Still stuck? Open Troubleshooting or email [email protected].