Independent PineHook setup guide. PineHook is not affiliated with or endorsed by FTMO.
How to Connect TradingView to FTMO MT5 or cTrader (2026)
For an FTMO Global CFD account, PineHook can turn TradingView alerts into MT5 or cTrader orders. FTMO offers both platforms for its 1-Step, 2-Step, and FTMO Accounts and allows algorithmic strategies and EAs that follow its rules. But its personal-use rule forbids third parties from accessing an account or performing trades for you. Since PineHook's cTrader route uses a third-party API connection, confirm with FTMO that it is permitted for your account before authorizing it.
FTMO also offers TradingView as a trading platform through the OANDA Broker Profile, so you can place orders from a chart. That connection does not let Pine strategies place trades automatically; for automation, the steps below use alerts and PineHook. FTMO US offers MT5 and TradingView, but not cTrader, while FTMO Futures has separate rules. Neither is covered here.
FTMO rules checked against its official pages on September 21, 2026. Check the linked rules for your product and stage before trading.
Connect FTMO to PineHook#
Create a PineHook account, then follow the route that matches the platform on your FTMO account.
Connect FTMO MT5#
- Find the account login, master password, and exact server in Account MetriX, using FTMO's MT5 login guide if you need help locating them. Sign in with the master password, since a read-only password cannot place trades.
- Create an MT5 license and attach the PineHook EA to a chart. Enable algorithmic trading, enter the license key in the EA, and keep MT5 running; your FTMO password stays in MT5 rather than going to PineHook.
- Once the EA is connected, put PineHook's webhook URL, the license key, and a command in a TradingView alert.
Connect FTMO cTrader#
Once FTMO confirms that the third-party connection is allowed for your account:
- Follow FTMO's cTrader login guide to sign in with the cTrader registration linked to your FTMO account.
- Create a cTrader license, authorize PineHook, and assign the FTMO account to it. Unlike MT5, this route needs neither a local terminal nor your cTrader password in PineHook.
- Finish by adding PineHook's webhook URL, that license key, and a command to a TradingView alert.
Check the symbol, size, and first order#
Before sending an alert, check FTMO's instrument specifications in the platform and current hours in its symbol directory. A difference between the TradingView ticker and FTMO's symbol calls for a symbol map; if your strategy sends contracts or units rather than lots, lot size conversion handles the quantity. Maximum spread protection can refuse a new entry when the spread is wide, though it cannot cap slippage.
Send a small test order that fits your risk plan, with a stop. On a hedging account, magic= groups a strategy's trades while ticket= identifies one position, allowing that strategy to hold several positions on the same symbol with separate stops, take profits, or multi-level TP and SL schedules. Reuse the ticket when modifying or closing that position; netting accounts reject ticket=.
FTMO prohibits opposing positions used to get around its Best Day Rule. The hedging account setting does not change that rule.
YOUR_LICENSE_KEY,buy,EURUSD,size_lots=0.01,magic=1001,ticket=eur-long-001,sl_pips=50,tp_pips=100
Compare the filled symbol, size, stop, and target in the trading platform with Signal Logs.
Set the FTMO loss limits#
FTMO's Trading Objectives apply both loss limits to equity, including open P&L, swaps, and commissions. The daily loss amount stays fixed as a percentage of initial simulated capital, but its floor resets from the balance recorded at 00:00 Central European time. The overall floor depends on the product:
| CFD product | Daily loss amount | Overall loss floor | PineHook setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Step | 3% of initial capital | 10% below the highest balance recorded at a daily reset | Daily guard plus Trailing (closed) overall drawdown |
| 2-Step | 5% of initial capital | Static 10% below initial capital | Daily guard plus Static overall drawdown, with initial capital as baseline |
The 1-Step floor normally only rises, but FTMO resets it when it issues a new account after a reward withdrawal.
In Trading settings, choose Limit Unit: currency and enter FTMO's loss amounts in your account currency. This avoids PineHook's percentage setting, which takes a share of a changing baseline even though FTMO ties its amounts to initial capital. PineHook also starts its daily guard from the higher of balance and equity, whereas FTMO uses the midnight balance, so carrying an open winner through the reset can make PineHook stop you earlier. On 1-Step, Trailing (closed) may raise its floor after a profitable close, before FTMO's next midnight calculation. These settings give you a conservative approximation rather than an exact copy of FTMO's rules.
FTMO's 1-Step Best Day Rule sits outside those loss limits: when you pass the Challenge or claim a reward, your most profitable day cannot exceed 50% of the sum of profitable days' profits. Going over that share is not itself a breach; you must keep trading until the ratio falls. Track it in Account MetriX, because a loss guard cannot measure it.
Leave a buffer between PineHook's guard and FTMO's breach level, since a close can fill beyond the trigger price. Check PineHook's breach action as well, because it may only block new entries unless you choose a closing action.
FTMO resets its daily limits at 00:00 CE(S)T, but PineHook's reset hour is set in UTC. Use 23:00 UTC in winter and 22:00 UTC in summer, updating the setting when Europe changes clocks. MT5 midnight is not a reliable substitute, because FTMO's MT5 server clock runs GMT+2 with daylight-saving changes that can fall on different dates. You can check FTMO's countdown beside Today's Permitted Loss in Account MetriX.
Apply news and weekend rules by account stage#
During the 1-Step Challenge, 2-Step Challenge, and Verification, FTMO permits trading through news under its wider prohibited-practice rules. The rule changes on a Standard FTMO Account, where FTMO bars opening or closing affected instruments from two minutes before until two minutes after specified releases, including fills from pending orders, stop losses, and take profits. Existing positions may stay open, and Swing accounts are exempt.
On a Standard license, set PineHook's News Filter to hold new entries for that window and compare the News Calendar with FTMO's restricted-event list. The filter cannot prevent a resting order or protective exit from filling during the restriction, so review those orders yourself. If your other accounts follow different rules, use a per-license override.
FTMO allows overnight and weekend positions during evaluation, but a Standard FTMO Account must close before the weekend or any market break longer than two hours. A Swing account may hold positions through those breaks, though Swing is available only with 2-Step. PineHook's active hours can stop new entries near the cutoff; to close positions and cancel pending orders at the set time as well, enable Close Positions Outside Hours after checking the instrument's FTMO trading hours.
FTMO limits accounts to 200 orders at a time and 2,000 positions per day. It also treats more than 2,000 daily server requests from an EA as hyperactive; because order modifications count, repeatedly moving stops can reach that request limit.
Copy the strategy to other accounts#
The Trade Copier can send one strategy to your other FTMO accounts or to accounts at different brokers, with a separate license, size multiplier, and risk settings for each destination. If you copy to FTMO accounts, keep within its $400,000 total allocation limit per trader or identical strategy before scaling, across 1-Step and 2-Step. FTMO forbids coordinated trading with third parties and manipulative opposite positions across accounts and warns that shared third-party EAs can make identical strategies exceed the allocation limit. Check every destination provider's rules before copying.
FTMO is a trademark of its owner. PineHook is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by FTMO, TradingView, MetaQuotes, or Spotware.
