The single entry point that executes a Public Portfolio Challenge episode or attempt runbook end-to-end, delegating each stage to the functional skills. Use when asked to run/execute/replay an episode — e.g. 'run episode 10', 'execute episode 11 attempt 3', 'run the bakeoff', 'replay the runbook' — with the NexusTrade MCP connected. Reads the target runbook, pins its real artifacts (IDs, the incumbent bar), sequences the stages, and stops at the gated deploy. It orchestrates; the functional skills do the work.
Build alternative-data custom indicators on NexusTrade (Reddit/WSB mentions, congressional disclosures, insider filings, news-flow) and wire them into a certified book as a rank/tilt/filter signal. Use when adding alt-data to a strategy, building a CustomIndicator via compute sessions, auditing lookahead safety or per-ticker coverage, or deciding whether a data series is dense enough to drive a rank. Covers the compute-session workflow, the sparse-series rule, and source recipes (see references/). Invoke with the NexusTrade MCP connected.
Measure a NexusTrade options book's TRUE participation at a fixed cold-start capital base, defeating the compounded-NAV breadth illusion. Use whenever a book's headline "holds N/21 names" needs validating, when a live book collapses to a single name (the OSCR trap), when checking whether a SelectTop / per-name-allocation / total-budget change degraded simultaneous participation, or when a certification needs a breadth gate. Uses audit_backtest_breadth at held-fixed $25k.
The "loudly declare" protocol for platform, engine, or data bugs during a NexusTrade certification campaign — bugs are a first-class deliverable, not something to route around. Use whenever a NexusTrade tool errors, hangs, or returns numbers that contradict the config; whenever you're tempted to write "probably an engine quirk"; or when a discovered bug invalidates prior backtests and results must be quarantined. Includes the bug hand-off doc template (see references/BUG_TEMPLATE.md).
The GATED deploy + cleanup flow for a NexusTrade live book — clone the finalist, preview a delta reconcile, stage UNAPPROVED orders, verify fills. Use ONLY after the human explicitly says "deploy + clean up" and names a finalist. Covers the clone-before-reconcile ordering, the single-tick reconcile expectation, stale-pending-order hygiene, the signal-freshness gate, and why you can never approve orders yourself. Nothing here runs during certification.
The mandatory pre-flight contract checks (Stage S0) that must pass before trusting NexusTrade's certification engine for any strategy work. Use at the start of a bakeoff or certification campaign to prove the walk-forward engine runs end-to-end, windows don't leak, fold winners persist, and the engine doesn't fabricate values for dead/not-yet-listed names. Each check has a STOP-and-report failure mode; these runs do NOT count toward any certification minimum.
The single-touch lockbox — a final anti-overfitting holdout run once, after design freeze, on a window held out from every fold, sweep, and search. Use when finalizing a bakeoff winner before deploy, setting up the A/B/C baselines as OOS bars, or running the S1.5 gate-coherence auto-relax. Covers why looking at the lockbox twice burns it, the lockbox pass conditions, and the three baselines. The lockbox is distinct from the walk-forward OOS folds.
The hard structural constraints for the Public Portfolio Challenge momentum-LEAP options book — the spread-shape rule, the take-profit convexity-cap footgun, the affordability ladder, and the known losers not to re-test. Use whenever building or auditing an options strategy structure, checking spread-shape compliance before a certification, choosing DTE/strike rungs, or deciding whether a proposed structure change is even allowed. A violation is an automatic certification FAIL.