The desktop app keeps your Telegram session, parser, and MetaTrader bridge on your own PC. It hands orders to MetaTrader over a local connection, while confirmed trade data syncs to your web journal. Broker fill time still varies with the network, instrument, liquidity, and market. This guide covers installation, activation, Telegram, MetaTrader, channels, and the available controls.
Local handoff
Parsing and the bridge run on your PC; broker processing and fill time still vary.
Local Telegram session
Your Telegram session stays on your PC; selected trade data still syncs to your journal.
Server-controlled access
Trial and paid access are rechecked online; trades still land in your web journal.
Three pieces run on your machine and talk over a private local link — nothing in this path leaves your PC:
Desktop app
Reads your Telegram channels, parses each signal, sizes the trade.
Socket Bridge
Local TCP server on 127.0.0.1:9876 carrying commands & fills.
Bridge EA in MT
Places & manages the order on your broker; reports back.
The app authenticates with your subscription token and reports every fill and close back to your web account, so the dashboard, analytics, and verified ledger look identical to the EA and Cloud lines. AI parsing for messy signals happens server-side, so no API keys live inside the app.
Prefer no PC at all? The Cloud line runs 24/7 on our servers instead. For US stocks and ETFs, follow the separate Interactive Brokers setup and paper-test guide; IBKR uses the local Client Portal Gateway rather than the MetaTrader Bridge EA.
Grab the installer from your dashboard at Account → Signal Copier → Desktop App and run it. It installs to your user folder, so no admin rights are needed.
If Windows SmartScreen warns about an unrecognized publisher, choose More info → Run anyway.
Go to Signal Copier (/signals) and copy an account token. The same token already used by your EA works; you do not need to delete it or create a special Desktop-only token.
Paste the token into the current Desktop app. The first successful activation starts your one-time 3-day Desktop trial. When it ends, the app stops new entries until that account has a paid Desktop plan; the permanent free EA continues with its 1-account, 1-channel, 30-signals/month allowance.
While Desktop is running, its heartbeat marks that account as the active executor and the EA poll receives no duplicate signals. Close Desktop and the EA resumes automatically. Always install the latest app: old builds are refused before a trial can start.
In the top bar, type your number into the PHONE field (with country code, e.g. +15551234567) and click CONNECT. Telegram sends you a login code — enter it (and your 2-step password if you have one set).
It uses the official MTProto protocol, the same as the Telegram app itself. The session is stored only on your PC. When connected, the status reads 🟢 Connected.
The app auto-detects your terminal and fills in the MT4/MT5 PATH field (it scans %AppData%\MetaQuotes\Terminal). The field is labelled for both because the scan finds both, but pick your MetaTrader 5 terminal — the Bridge EA only runs there. If you run several terminals, confirm it picked the one logged into the broker you want, or browse to the correct folder.
Tick ⚡ Enable TCP Socket Bridge (default port 9876). The app copies the Bridge EA into that terminal's MQL5\Experts (or MQL4\Experts) folder and starts a local server on 127.0.0.1:9876.
In MetaTrader, open Navigator → Expert Advisors and drag TradeJournalPro_Bridge_EA onto any chart (any symbol — one chart is enough). Leave the EA's Port input at 9876 so it matches the app.
Turn on AutoTrading (and tick Allow Algo Trading under Tools → Options → Expert Advisors if MT prompts). When the EA connects, the app's indicator flips from 🔌 TCP: OFF to 🔌 TCP: ON.
The ALL TELEGRAM CHANNELS list shows everything your account can see — use Search / FIND to locate a channel, then select it so it moves into SELECTED CHANNELS.
For each selected channel, click CONFIG and set how it should trade — risk mode, lot size or risk %, whether to skip signals with no stop loss, and the trigger mode (see the settings reference below). Click Save.
Click START MONITORING. New messages in your selected channels appear in the LIVE SIGNALS FEED, get parsed, and are handed to MetaTrader over the local bridge. Broker processing and fill time vary with the market and your connection. Confirmed trades — plus reported close and P&L data — can sync to your web journal and the channel's hash-linked recorded-outcome page. That record can be incomplete and is not an independent broker audit.
Want to dry-run first? Use TEST to paste a sample signal and watch it parse without waiting for a live one. Click STOP MONITORING any time to pause.
Every channel is configured independently from CONFIG, so you can run an aggressive channel small and a trusted one larger:
Enable signals from this channel
Master on/off for the channel without un-selecting it.
Risk Mode
Choose Fixed Lot (always the same volume) or Risk % (volume calculated from the signal's stop-loss distance and your account balance).
Lot Size
The fixed volume per trade, used when Risk Mode is Fixed Lot.
Risk % (per trade)
The percent of balance to risk per trade, used when Risk Mode is Risk %. Needs a stop loss to size correctly.
Skip signals without Stop Loss
Ignore any signal that has no SL — a safety net against unbounded risk on vague posts.
Trigger Mode
How an order is placed — at market now, or as a pending order at the signal's entry price when one is given.
The parser handles the formats real channels actually post — see the full list on the signal formats page. In short:
Market & pending orders
Fires at market when the signal says “now”, or sets a pending order at the given entry price.
Multiple take-profits
Splits the position across TP1–TP5 and manages each leg, so partial targets bank as price runs.
Exact-TP protection
Choose which TP moves the remaining legs to breakeven and, independently, which TP activates trailing. Trailing distance and modification step are configured separately.
Split / multi-message signals
When the entry comes in one message and the SL/TP arrive in a follow-up (a reply, the same symbol, or just bare numbers), the app links them and updates the open order — including SL-only, TP-only, both, or plain numbers.
Management commands
Posts like “close all”, “close half”, “move SL to breakeven”, or a partial close act on that channel's open positions only — they never touch trades from a different channel.
Symbol mapping
Broker-specific names and suffixes (XAUUSD vs GOLD vs XAUUSD.m) are mapped to your broker's symbols — adjustable under Symbol Mapping.
Image / OCR signals
Signals posted as screenshots are read with OCR, then parsed like text.
Prop-firm mode
Set a daily-loss limit and max drawdown; the app stops opening trades before you breach an evaluation rule.
Equity Guardian
Define an equity floor — trading halts automatically if the account drops to it.
Correlation guard
Avoid stacking heavily-correlated pairs so one move doesn't hit every position at once.
News filter
Pause execution around high-impact economic news to dodge the worst spreads and slippage.
Combined with per-channel Skip signals without Stop Loss and Risk % sizing, these let you bound risk tightly — useful for funded-account challenges. See the prop-firm mode and risk management guides.
Open the Multi-Broker Manager to copy the same signals to several MetaTrader terminals at once — for example a funded account and a personal account, or two prop firms in parallel. Each terminal runs its own Bridge EA and keeps its own per-channel risk, so you can size them differently from one signal source.
The desktop app executes locally for speed, but it stays part of the platform. It authenticates with an account token and reports every fill and close back to your account. Your dashboard, analytics, channel grades, and the tamper-evident ledger look identical whether a trade came from the Cloud line, the EA line, or the Desktop app. The one-time Desktop trial demonstrates the full product; after it ends, ongoing local execution requires a Desktop plan.
Latency at a glance
Desktop — local parse + localhost handoff; broker fill varies
EA — server polling + terminal execution; timing varies
Cloud — persistent provider connection; provider and broker latency vary
TCP shows OFF / Bridge disconnected
Confirm the Bridge EA is on a chart with AutoTrading ON, and that its Port input is 9876 (matching the app). Windows Firewall or antivirus can block the local socket — allow the app, or use CHECK to switch to the file-bridge fallback.
The app didn't find my MetaTrader
Open MetaTrader once so Windows registers it under %AppData%\MetaQuotes\Terminal, then re-open the path picker — or Browse to the terminal folder of the account you want to trade.
My token is invalid / update required
Any current EA or Desktop account token works. Download the latest Desktop installer first: old builds are refused because they do not enforce the expiring online entitlement. Then paste the token again.
My Desktop trial ended
The permanent free offer is the EA, not Desktop. Subscribe to a Desktop plan to restore new entries. If positions are already open when access ends, the running app continues managing their stops and closes safely.
“This device is already in use”
A Desktop token is bound to one machine at a time. Close the app on the old PC; the binding releases itself after 12 hours without a heartbeat, so a machine you no longer have access to unblocks on its own.
Trades fire but don't show in the journal
Journaling is best-effort and never blocks a trade. Check the app is still signed in (valid token) and online; reconnect if needed. The trade still executed in MetaTrader.
A messy signal didn't parse
The app parses common formats locally and falls back to our AI for the rest. If a specific channel's format is missed, use TEST to inspect it and set a per-channel format hint in its settings.
No channels appear in the list
Make sure your Telegram is connected (🟢 Connected) and that your account is actually a member of the channels. Hit FIND/refresh after joining a new one.
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