Set up before your first real session
Here's what to configure before you sit down to trade. You don't need to get everything perfect on day one — but these are the settings that actually matter before the market opens.
Your data provider is where Dome gets its price data. Think of it like choosing a news channel — you pick the source, Dome does the rest. You can connect multiple providers and set a priority order so that if one drops, another takes over automatically.
Add your first provider
Go to Settings → Data Providers → Add Provider. Give it a name, pick the connection type (WebSocket for real-time feeds, REST for polled data), and paste in your API key if required. Click Test Connection. The status dot should go green within a few seconds.
Set a backup provider
In the providers list, drag them into priority order. If your primary feed drops, Dome switches to the next one automatically. You'll see a brief "Reconnecting..." message in the status bar, then the backup feed takes over — usually within 3–5 seconds.
The status dot in your header tells you exactly what you're working with:
| Status | What it means | Should you trade on it? |
|---|---|---|
| Live | Green = live data flowing. This is what you want. | Yes — this is normal operating state |
| Cached | Orange = connected but showing old data. Could be minutes or hours stale. | No — reconnect before you trade anything |
| Unavailable | Red = something's wrong. Check your internet or the provider's status page. | No — don't trade on this. Fix the connection first. |
Your watchlist is your shortlist for the session. Start small — put your 3–5 most-traded markets in there first. You can always add more later, but a shorter list means you actually watch everything on it.
Create your first watchlist
Click the + icon in the Watchlist panel header and name it — "Futures", "Crypto", "Forex", whatever fits. You can have as many as you like and switch between them with a single click or keyboard shortcut.
To add a symbol, type the ticker into the search bar at the top of the watchlist. Dome searches across everything available from your connected provider.
Organize by session or market
Think about creating separate lists for different parts of the day — a morning list for the high-volatility open, a quieter list for the afternoon. You can color-code symbols and add notes that appear on hover so you always remember why something's on your radar.
💡 Multi-timeframe column
Turn on the MTF column in Watchlist settings. Each row shows trend direction across three timeframes at once — so you can spot alignment without opening every chart individually.
💡 Sort by volatility
In the first 30 minutes of a session, sort by "ATR %" to find what's actually moving. Switch back to your custom sort once you've picked your instrument for the day.
💡 Tag your setups
Right-click any row to add a setup tag — "breakout watch", "inside day", "earnings". The tags show as colored dots and remind you why something is on your list in the first place.
💡 Keep it short
Most traders who are actually profitable watch fewer than 10 instruments per session. A longer list splits your attention. Your watchlist is a shortlist — not an inventory of everything you might want to trade someday.
Pick the candle style you're used to. Everything else — panel arrangement, color theme — you can adjust while you're trading. Don't spend an hour configuring this before your first chart.
Chart style and colors
Go to Settings → Charts → Style. Pick your chart type — candlestick, Heikin-Ashi, bar, or line. Candlesticks are the standard for discretionary trading. Heikin-Ashi smooths out the noise and is useful for trend-following on higher timeframes.
Under Color Scheme, you can change candle colors, background, grid opacity, and volume bars. The default dark theme works for long sessions — but if you prefer a slightly lighter background to reduce eye fatigue, that's in the same menu.
Save your layout
Once you've arranged your panels the way you like, go to Layout → Save Layout As and name it. You can have separate layouts for different workflows — a "pre-market" layout, a "live trading" layout, a "review" layout. Switching between them is one click.
To split the chart area, right-click the chart surface and choose Split Horizontal or Split Vertical. Each pane runs its own symbol and timeframe independently.
Multi-monitor setup
Go to View → New Window to open a second instance and drag it to your other monitor. Both windows share the same data connection but keep independent chart states — changing the symbol on Monitor 2 won't touch Monitor 1.
A practical split: primary chart plus orderflow on Monitor 1, watchlist plus journal plus alert log on Monitor 2.
If you want to use local AI — which runs on your computer, costs nothing per query, and keeps everything private — you need to download a model first. This is optional, but worth doing before your first session.
Runs entirely on your machine
When you use a local model, your journal entries, strategy logic, and chart questions never leave your computer. Nothing is sent anywhere. If you later decide to use a remote AI provider, you control exactly which data it can see.
Download a local model
Go to Settings → AI → Local Models. The 1.5B model is a good starting point — fast enough on most computers, capable enough for real analysis. Click Download and the progress appears in the status bar. Larger models need more RAM or a GPU to run at a useful speed.
Choose what the AI can see
In Settings → AI → Context, pick what data the AI reads when you ask a question. Options: current chart, today's journal, watchlist, Quant Brain readings, open alerts. Turn on what's relevant to how you'll actually use it. Focused context gives better answers than sharing everything at once.
Your journal template is the 5–7 fields you'll fill in after every trade. Keep it short enough that you'll actually use it. The most important ones: what you saw, why you acted, how you felt, what happened.
Go to Journal → Templates → New Template. Here are the fields worth including and why each one earns its place:
Same fields, every trade — that's the whole point
A journal that changes structure every week is just a log. A journal with the same fields in the same order — every single trade — becomes a dataset. After 100 entries, you can actually answer questions like "do I lose more in the first hour?" or "is my win rate different when I was anxious vs. calm?"
Set at least one alert before your first real session — your daily loss limit alert. That way Dome tells you when you've hit your limit, even if you're deep in a trade and not watching the status bar.
In-app notification
A banner appears in the top-right corner. Every alert also gets logged in the Alert History panel — so even if you miss the banner, you can review what fired.
Sound alert
Plays a tone when the alert fires. Six tone options, volume set independently from your system volume. Useful when you're watching the chart and might miss a visual banner.
Sends a summary to your inbox when an alert fires. Good for monitoring positions you're not actively watching. Add your address in Settings → Notifications → Email.
Test your alerts before you go live
Use the Test Alert button in Alert settings to fire a dummy notification through every channel you've set up. An alert you think is working but isn't is worse than no alert — it gives you false confidence that you're covered.
Eight things to verify before your first live session. Each one has a short reason — so you understand what you're checking, not just that you're checking it.
- ☐ At least one data provider connected — status dot is green. Without live data, everything else is guesswork.
- ☐ Backup provider configured, even if it's just a delayed feed. Your primary will drop eventually. Have a fallback ready.
- ☐ Watchlist created with your main instruments. Start with 3–5. You can always add more as you learn the platform.
- ☐ Chart layout saved. So you don't have to rebuild your workspace every single session.
- ☐ Journal template created — at minimum: Setup Type, Entry Reason, Outcome. Blank journal = no learning loop.
- ☐ At least one alert channel tested and confirmed firing. Untested alerts are the same as no alerts.
- ☐ Daily risk limit set in Settings → Risk. This is the one setting that can save your account on a bad day.
- ☐ AI model downloaded if you want to use ORACLE. Optional — but worth doing before your first session, not during it.