IKIGAI Trade Journal — Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1

What is IKIGAI Trade Journal?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI Trade Journal is an AI-powered trading journal designed for active forex, stocks, futures, and cryptocurrency traders. It automatically imports your trade history from MT4, MT5, Bybit, and Binance, tracks performance metrics such as win rate, expectancy, R-multiples, profit factor, and drawdown, detects emotional trading patterns including tilt and revenge trading in real time, and provides personalized AI coaching to help you improve over time.

Question 2

How is IKIGAI different from a spreadsheet or basic trading journal?

Accepted Answer

Unlike a spreadsheet, IKIGAI auto-imports your trades directly from your broker — no manual entry or CSV upload required. It layers in AI pattern recognition to detect emotional behavior like overtrading and revenge trades, enforces your risk rules automatically, and gives you a personal AI coach that reads your actual trading history rather than offering generic advice. Everything updates in real time as you trade.

Question 3

Who is IKIGAI Trade Journal designed for?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI is built for disciplined retail traders and serious traders who trade forex, stocks, futures, or crypto. It is especially useful for MetaTrader 4 and MT5 users, Bybit and Binance traders, and anyone who wants to build consistent trading habits, track performance quantitatively, and reduce emotionally driven decision-making.

Question 4

Is IKIGAI Trade Journal a web app or a desktop app?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI Trade Journal is a progressive web app (PWA) accessible from any modern browser on desktop, tablet, or mobile. No download or installation is required. The MT4/MT5 integration uses a lightweight Expert Advisor installed in your MetaTrader terminal, but the journal itself runs entirely in your browser.

Question 5

What does a trading journal do?

Accepted Answer

A trading journal records every trade you make — entry price, exit price, position size, profit or loss, and your reasoning — so you can review patterns over time, identify what is working and what is costing you money, and build the discipline needed for consistent long-term performance. IKIGAI automates the recording step entirely so you can focus on review and improvement.

Question 6

How do I start journaling my trades with IKIGAI?

Accepted Answer

Create an account, connect your broker via the MT4/MT5 Expert Advisor or an API key (Bybit/Binance), and your trades begin importing automatically. The initial setup takes under five minutes. Once connected, every new trade appears in your journal in real time — no manual logging needed.

Question 7

Can I add notes, screenshots, and tags to my trades?

Accepted Answer

Yes. IKIGAI lets you attach screenshots, written notes, and custom tags to every trade. You can tag by strategy, setup type, session, emotional state, or any label you define. The journal view filters by any tag, so you can instantly review all trades of a given type and spot patterns across them.

Question 8

Does IKIGAI support multiple accounts or brokers at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can connect multiple broker accounts — for example, two different MT5 accounts, or an MT4 account alongside a Bybit API — and track them within a single IKIGAI workspace. Trades from all connected sources appear in one unified journal.

Question 9

Which brokers and trading platforms does IKIGAI support?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI currently supports MT4 (MetaTrader 4), MT5 (MetaTrader 5), Bybit, and Binance. These integrations cover the majority of retail forex, CFD, and cryptocurrency traders. Support for additional brokers and platforms is being added on an ongoing basis.

Question 10

How does the MT4 and MT5 integration work?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI uses a lightweight Expert Advisor (EA) that you install in your MetaTrader 4 or MT5 terminal. Once attached to a chart, the EA sends your closed trade data — including symbol, lot size, entry and exit price, open and close times, and P&L — to IKIGAI automatically over an encrypted connection. No manual export, CSV file, or clipboard copying is required.

Question 11

Is my broker connection secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The MT4/MT5 Expert Advisor reads trade history only — it cannot place, modify, or cancel orders on your behalf. Bybit and Binance connections use read-only API keys; IKIGAI never requests withdrawal permissions or trading access. Credential and API keys are encrypted at rest and in transit.

Question 12

Do I need a specific broker to use IKIGAI?

Accepted Answer

No. IKIGAI works with any broker that supports MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, which covers the vast majority of retail forex and CFD brokers worldwide. For crypto traders, Bybit and Binance are currently supported directly via API.

Question 13

What does the AI coach do in IKIGAI?

Accepted Answer

The AI coach analyzes your actual trade history, equity curve, and recent behavioral patterns — not generic trading rules. It identifies patterns such as losing streaks that follow large wins, setups where your win rate is statistically below your average, high-loss periods on specific instruments or sessions, and behavioral signs of emotional overtrading. It then gives you specific, actionable suggestions based on your data.

Question 14

How is IKIGAI's AI coaching different from generic trading advice?

Accepted Answer

The AI reads your specific trading data. If you consistently lose on EURUSD after 3 PM, or your win rate on Monday is significantly lower than the rest of the week, the AI tells you that — not a general rule about currency pairs or day-of-week effects. Every insight is derived from your personal history, not a textbook.

Question 15

Does IKIGAI's AI help with trading psychology?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The AI identifies emotional trading patterns — including tilt, revenge trading, FOMO entries, and overtrading following a losing run — and suggests specific behavioral adjustments. It acts as a structured accountability partner rather than just a data viewer, helping you bridge the gap between knowing what you should do and actually doing it.

Question 16

How often does the AI coaching update?

Accepted Answer

The AI coaching summary updates regularly as new trade data arrives. You can request an on-demand review at any time, and a weekly summary is generated automatically each week covering your performance trends, behavioral patterns, and suggested focus areas for the upcoming week.

Question 17

What is tilt in trading, and how does IKIGAI detect it?

Accepted Answer

Tilt is the emotional state where a trader deviates from their plan — usually after a loss or a frustrating session — and begins making impulsive, oversized, or revenge trades. IKIGAI monitors your real-time trading behavior for patterns associated with tilt: rapid position sizing increases, unusually fast re-entries after a loss, trading outside your normal session hours, and overtrading frequency. An alert fires before your next trade when these patterns appear.

Question 18

What risk management features does IKIGAI offer?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI provides: fixed risk-per-trade automation with position sizing based on your account balance and defined risk percentage; stop-loss discipline tracking from entry to closure; daily loss limit enforcement with automatic session pause when the threshold is reached; a configurable cooldown timer that locks trading for a set period after a triggered tilt event; and a pre-trade rules checklist that requires you to confirm your plan criteria before each entry.

Question 19

What is the daily loss limit feature?

Accepted Answer

You define a maximum acceptable daily loss — either as a percentage of your account or a fixed dollar amount. When your realized P&L for the day crosses that threshold, IKIGAI pauses your session and prevents further entries for the remainder of the trading day. This removes one of the most dangerous decisions — whether to keep trading after a bad day — from emotional discretion entirely.

Question 20

Can I customize the rules for tilt detection and risk limits?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Tilt detection thresholds, daily loss limits, risk-per-trade percentages, and cooldown durations are all configurable to match your trading style and account size. The system works with the parameters you set, not generic defaults.

Question 21

What performance metrics does IKIGAI track?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI tracks win rate, loss rate, expectancy (average reward per unit of risk), R-multiple distribution, profit factor, maximum drawdown, recovery factor, average trade duration, average holding time by session and instrument, and full equity curve progression. All metrics update automatically with each new trade imported from your broker.

Question 22

Can I filter performance statistics by instrument, session, or strategy?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The performance dashboard can be filtered by trading symbol, session (London, New York, Asian), strategy tag, setup type, date range, or any custom label you have applied to your trades. This lets you isolate exactly which setups, instruments, and time conditions are profitable for you specifically — and which are dragging down your overall results.

Question 23

What is the equity curve in IKIGAI?

Accepted Answer

Your equity curve is a real-time chart of your account balance over time, updated as each trade closes. IKIGAI overlays drawdown markers to show you exactly when and how far your account fell from its peak value, and how long each recovery took. The equity curve is one of the clearest ways to evaluate consistency and identify periods of degraded performance.

Question 24

What is expectancy and why does it matter for traders?

Accepted Answer

Expectancy is the average amount you can expect to gain (or lose) per unit of risk across many trades. A positive expectancy means your edge is mathematically profitable over time; a negative expectancy means you lose on average even if individual trades occasionally win. IKIGAI calculates your expectancy from your actual trade history and tracks how it changes over time as your strategy evolves.

Question 25

How much does IKIGAI Trade Journal cost?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI offers a free plan and a Pro plan. The free plan includes up to 100 trades and basic performance statistics. Pro is $14.95 per month or $149 per year (crypto, 7-day trial) and includes unlimited trades, full AI coaching, real-time tilt detection, advanced performance analytics, all broker integrations, and risk management automation.

Question 26

Is there a free trial for the Pro plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Pro plan includes a 7-day free trial. You start the subscription at checkout (pay in crypto/USDC via BoomFi) and get full Pro access — AI coaching, tilt detection, and advanced analytics — free for 7 days. Cancel anytime before the trial ends and you won't be charged.

Question 27

Can I cancel my subscription at any time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There are no long-term contracts or cancellation fees. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. You will retain Pro access until the end of your current billing period.

Question 28

What happens to my trade data if I cancel my subscription?

Accepted Answer

Your trade history and journal entries remain accessible on the free plan after cancellation, subject to the free plan's trade limit. You will not lose historical data. See the Billing Policy for full details on data retention.

Question 29

What data does IKIGAI store about my trades?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI stores your trade history (symbol, open and close time, lot size, entry and exit price, P&L), equity snapshots, any notes and screenshots you manually attach, and standard usage analytics. Your broker login credentials are never stored — only the trade data transmitted by the EA or API key is retained.

Question 30

Is my trading data shared with third parties?

Accepted Answer

No. Your individual trade history and journal entries are private and visible only to you. IKIGAI does not sell, share, or disclose individual trading data to third parties. Aggregated, anonymized data may be used to improve AI models. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Question 31

How is my account secured?

Accepted Answer

IKIGAI supports email/password authentication as well as OAuth sign-in via Google, Apple, and Discord. All data is transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections. Database access uses row-level security so your data is isolated from other users at the database layer.

Question 32

How do I get started with IKIGAI Trade Journal?

Accepted Answer

Create a free account, navigate to the Connect section of your dashboard, and choose your broker. For MT4/MT5, download the Expert Advisor and install it in your MetaTrader terminal. For Bybit or Binance, generate a read-only API key and paste it into IKIGAI. Your trades will start importing automatically within minutes.

Question 33

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

Most traders are fully connected and importing live trades within 5 minutes. The MT4/MT5 EA installation takes approximately 3 minutes. Bybit and Binance API connections take about 2 minutes.

Question 34

Does IKIGAI work on mobile?

Accepted Answer

Yes. IKIGAI is a progressive web app (PWA) that works on any modern browser — desktop, tablet, or mobile. The full journal, analytics dashboard, AI coaching interface, and risk management settings are available on all screen sizes. You can also add IKIGAI to your phone's home screen for app-like access.

Question 35

Can I use IKIGAI if I'm a beginner trader?

Accepted Answer

Yes. IKIGAI is valuable at every experience level. Beginners benefit from the structured journaling habits, pre-trade checklists, and clear performance feedback that help build a disciplined foundation. Experienced traders use the advanced analytics and AI coaching to refine their edge and eliminate costly behavioral patterns.

Ready to start journaling?

Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

Product Overview

What is IKIGAI Trade Journal?