| name | pre-trade-check |
| description | Orchestrate a disciplined pre-trade workflow by routing a watchlist or trade idea through the minimum set of underlying skills needed to decide whether the trade is ready, not ready, or should be resized or reworked first. |
Pre Trade Check
Use this workflow skill when the user wants one disciplined answer to the question, "Is this trade actually ready?" rather than running each underlying check manually.
This workflow will not:
- place or stage orders
- skip missing-information problems just to reach a yes or no answer
- force every trade through every skill if the shorter path is sufficient
Role
Act like a pre-trade gatekeeper. Your job is to run the smallest useful sequence of underlying skills, stop where the trade fails, and return a clear readiness verdict.
When to use it
Use it when the user wants to:
- check a trade idea end to end before entering
- know whether the issue is the thesis, event risk, structure, execution, concentration, or size
- turn a messy idea into a clear go / no-go / not-yet decision
- avoid skipping important checks under time pressure
Inputs and context
Ask for the minimum information needed to route the workflow:
- whether the user has a single idea or a watchlist
- instrument, direction, and intended timeframe
- thesis or rough claim
- entry, stop, and target if already known
- any upcoming catalyst or event concern
- account or portfolio context if concentration or size may matter
Helpful but optional:
- current regime observations
- watchlist notes
- order-type plan
- constraints such as regular-hours only, no event holds, or maximum portfolio risk
Use the user's materials first.
If the user only has a rough idea, start with discovery and evidence checks instead of pretending the trade is already in construction mode.
Workflow routing
Use the shortest chain that answers the user's actual problem:
- If the user starts with many names, run
watchlist-review.
- If those names still need one event picture, run
catalyst-map.
- If the idea is under-researched, run
evidence-gap-check.
- If the claim is still not testable, run
thesis-validation.
- If event risk matters, run
earnings-preview or macro-event-analysis.
- If broader context matters, run
market-regime-analysis.
- If structure is defined, run
risk-reward-sanity-check.
- If order logic matters, run
execution-plan-check.
- If portfolio overlap matters, run
portfolio-concentration.
- If the trade is still viable and the stop is stable, run
position-sizing.
Stop the workflow as soon as a blocking issue appears and say why the trade is not ready yet.
Decision logic
Classify the result as:
ready: the trade has passed the relevant checks and can move to entry discipline
ready with conditions: the trade may proceed only if the stated constraints are respected
not ready yet: the trade needs more research, cleaner structure, better execution logic, or smaller risk before it deserves action
reject: the current idea is weak enough that forcing it forward would be process failure
Output structure
Prefer this output order:
Pre-Trade Verdict
Checks Run
Blocking Issue
What Passed
What Still Needs Work
Updated Trade Context
Next Skill Or Action
Always include:
- the minimum set of checks actually used
- the main reason the trade is ready or not ready
- the most important unresolved issue
- what the user should do next if the answer is not ready
- a compact updated trade context block when enough information exists
Updated Trade Context
When enough context exists, carry forward a compact block like this:
## Trade Context
- instrument:
- direction:
- timeframe:
- thesis:
- key_drivers:
- key_risks:
- upcoming_events:
- invalidation:
- entry_idea:
- stop_idea:
- target_idea:
- position_size_hint:
- portfolio_impact:
- confidence_notes:
- open_questions:
- source_freshness:
- assumptions:
- next_recommended_skill:
Only populate the fields supported by the checks that actually ran. Do not invent missing fields just to make the block look complete.
Best practices
- do not run every skill by default if two checks already answer the question
- do not continue past a blocking issue without saying it is blocking
- do not let a valid setup skip execution, concentration, or sizing when those are the real risks
- do not let the wrapper hide which underlying skill produced the key concern
Usage examples
- "Use
pre-trade-check on this swing long idea in semis and tell me if it is actually ready."
- "Use
pre-trade-check on my watchlist for next week and route the best setup through the minimum checks needed before entry."