Strategy Not Starting or Stopped
Published Jul 9, 2026 · Updated Oct 16, 2026
A strategy errors when you start it, shows “Failed”, or stopped on its own? Find the reason on its detail page first, then fix that reason. Go to Strategy → My strategies.
How do you find why it stopped or failed?
Open the strategy
Open the affected strategy from My strategies. With many strategies, set the “Runtime status” filter to Failed or Stopped.
Check the status and the Runtime status alert
The current status sits next to the strategy name, such as Starting, Running, Stopping, Stopped, Failed, or Error. When something is wrong, an alert titled “Runtime status” appears below it with the specific cause, such as an exchange error or a plan limit.
Check Strategy Events
Under “Orders & Events”, find “Strategy Events” and look for entries of type “Strategy stopped”, “Strategy start failed”, or “Strategy runtime failed”. The “Reason” column is the stop reason; match it in the next section.
What does each stop reason mean?
| Reason column | What happened | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Manual stop | The strategy was stopped manually | Click Start / restart when you want it back |
| Take-profit triggered | The strategy’s take-profit condition was met; the engine stopped it and closed positions | Not a fault. Review the settings before restarting |
| Strategy stop-loss triggered by signal-source drawdown | The strategy-level stop-loss was met; the engine stopped it and closed positions | Not a fault. Review the stop-loss before restarting |
| Insufficient balance | Strategy margin fell below the 5 USDT or USDC floor; the strategy was paused and flattened, with a matching “Low-margin auto close” event | Add margin to the trading account, then restart |
| Billing failure | Strategies beyond your plan’s included slots are charged credits hourly; when a charge fails, the strategy stops and closes positions where supported | Top up credits or stop extra strategies, then restart |
| Insufficient copy-profit rebate | The copy-profit rebate charge on a rebate copy strategy failed for lack of balance; the strategy was paused and flattened | Top up, then restart |
| API error | The exchange API kept returning errors | Read the exchange error in “Runtime status” and follow Exchange Connection Failed |
| Grid boundary reached | The price left the grid strategy’s configured range | Adjust the grid range, then restart |
| Inconsistent state | The engine found the strategy’s state out of line with the account | Don’t keep restarting; contact support with the strategy ID |
| System maintenance | The strategy was stopped during platform maintenance | If it still shows Stopped after maintenance, click Start / restart |
| Reason not recorded | Older events have no stored reason | Check other events around the same time |
What if Start / restart shows an error?
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Not enough credits to pay this strategy’s hourly fee. Buy credits with your Funding Account USDC first; moving USDC to the Trading Account does not add credits. | The strategy is beyond your included slots and needs an hourly charge, but credits are short | Use Buy credits in the message to buy credits with Funding Account USDC (top up first as in Top Up and Subscribe if the Funding Account is empty), or stop other strategies to get back within your slots. Moving USDC to the Trading Account does not add credits |
| Smart DCA 1h/2h/4h intervals are available to Pro users only. | A setting exceeds your plan (Smart Combo has the same rule) | Upgrade or renew Pro, or change the interval back to one your plan allows |
| Grid supports at most N symbols for the current subscription tier. | Too many grid symbols for your plan (Smart Combo topN works the same way) | Remove symbols or upgrade |
| Stop the strategy before changing its API connection. | You tried to switch trading accounts while it runs | Stop the strategy, then change the connection |
| This paid signal source has no active coverage, so copy trading cannot start. Refresh and try again. | Billing coverage for the paid signal source is not active yet | Refresh the page and retry |
| Paid signal fee has changed. Please refresh the billing preview and confirm start again. | The signal source price changed before start | Refresh the billing preview and confirm again |
| System is upgrading. Please wait. | The platform is upgrading | Retry later |
Exchange-side errors also appear under “Runtime status”. Common ones:
- “Binance position mode conflict. Check one-way vs hedge mode against the strategy settings.” Check that the trading account’s “Use dual-side position mode” matches what the strategy needs.
- “Bybit requires you to sign the contract agreement / trading terms before trading…” or “This Binance account has not signed the TradFi perpetual agreement…” Sign the agreement on the exchange.
- Insufficient-margin messages: add margin to the trading account or reduce size.
- “Hyperliquid agent wallet is missing; it will be re-authorized automatically”: wait a moment; the system handles it.
Start / restart resumes from the saved account snapshot and positions, so history is kept. When stopping, choose Stop and keep positions or Stop and close positions; a stopped strategy does not restart on its own.
A trading account serves one running strategy at a time. Before switching accounts or adding margin, decide what happens to the live positions so none are left unmanaged.
Still stuck?
Send the strategy name or ID, the time, and the exact text from “Runtime status” and “Strategy Events” to support@alphafox.app.