Some traders forward test for two weeks, others for six months. How long do you run a bot on demo or a micro account before trusting it? Share what you look at: trade count, drawdown, execution differences.
When forward testing a trading bot, a good rule of thumb is to run it long enough to capture different market regimes—typically at least one to three months, combined with a meaningful sample size of a hundred trades or more. Two weeks is rarely enough because it might just catch a brief trending or consolidating phase that flatters the system.
When evaluating a bot, look closely at: - Trade count: Ensure your sample is statistically significant. - Drawdown: Check if the max drawdown on demo exceeds strict prop firm thresholds like daily loss limits. - Execution differences: Compare demo fills with real micro account fills for slippage and latency.
Testing thoroughly helps protect your account when moving to a live challenge. We'd love to hear from other members: how long do you typically forward test before deploying capital?
