Setup & usage guide

What you are installing

TrainingWheels runs on your own Windows PC alongside NinjaTrader 8. It has two parts:

• The compliance engine — a small program that checks your account against Apex rules (trailing drawdown, contract limits, daily loss, trading hours). It listens on localhost:8080.
• The NinjaTrader AddOn — the files that connect NinjaTrader 8 to the engine, plus the Canfield chart tools.

Which features you can use depends on your plan: Canfield Candles (Starter), Apex Account Safety (Pro) and the Automated Strategies (Elite). See pricing.

System requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• NinjaTrader 8 (for the AddOn integration)
• Administrator rights for installation
• An internet connection for licence validation
• An Apex Trader Funding account (recommended for Apex Account Safety)

Install on Windows

1. Purchase a plan on the pricing page and keep your licence key somewhere safe.
2. Download TrainingWheels-Setup-v1.0.0.exe.
3. Run the installer as administrator and accept the End User License Agreement.
4. Choose the install location (default: C:\Program Files\TrainingWheels).
5. Choose components: Install NinjaTrader AddOn files (recommended) and Create Start Menu shortcuts. A desktop shortcut is optional.
6. When asked, point the installer at your NinjaTrader 8 folder (default: Documents\NinjaTrader 8).

The AddOn files are copied to Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\AddOns\TrainingWheels.

Set up NinjaTrader 8

1. Open NinjaTrader 8 and go to Tools → Edit NinjaScript → AddOn.
2. Open TrainingWheelsAddOn.cs and press F5 to compile. Review any errors in the NinjaScript Editor, then close it.
3. Go to Tools → AddOns, tick TrainingWheelsAddOn to enable it, and click OK.

Start the compliance engine

The installer offers to launch the engine when it finishes. After that, start it from Start → TrainingWheels → TrainingWheels. A console window opens and the engine listens on localhost:8080.

With the engine running, the AddOn connects to it from NinjaTrader. Set your Apex account plan in the AddOn settings.

Check that everything is connected

• The engine’s console window is open and running.
• In NinjaTrader, Tools → AddOns shows TrainingWheelsAddOn as Enabled.
• The NinjaTrader Output window shows the connection messages.

Canfield Candles

Included in every plan.

Add the Canfield bar type to your chart. Candles print in three states: trending up, trending down, and gray for consolidation. BUY and SELL signals fire when the gray zone clears; EXIT appears on the first gray candle after a trend.

Risk zones

The risk zone indicator draws profit-target and drawdown-risk bands on your chart, tied to your live account balance. The safe trading zone sits between them and flips with market direction.

Other platforms

Canfield Candle scripts are also available for TradingView and MetaTrader 5. The compliance engine works only with NinjaTrader 8. TradingView cannot read a live broker balance, so its risk zones use a balance you enter by hand.

Apex Account Safety

Included in Pro and Elite.

Orders are checked against trailing drawdown, contract limits and revenge-trading rules. If your account approaches its drawdown limit, the system flattens positions and locks out new trades.

Guardrails cannot prevent losses from market gaps, broker outages or execution failure. Read the risk disclaimer.

Automated Strategies

Included in Elite.

Enable AutoTrader or the Canfield Strategy to have Canfield signals executed for you during the London and New York sessions. The same account guardrails apply to every strategy entry. Supervise them while they run.

Troubleshooting

The AddOn won’t compile

• Make sure NinjaTrader 8 is up to date.
• Check that all .cs files are in Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\AddOns\TrainingWheels.
• Review the errors listed in the NinjaScript Editor.

The engine won’t start

• Allow the TrainingWheels engine through Windows Firewall.
• Check that nothing else is using port 8080.
• Try running it as administrator.

The AddOn can’t connect

• Confirm the engine’s console window is open and running.
• Check that it is listening on localhost:8080.
• Review your firewall settings.

Trading is disabled

• The engine has locked out new orders because a risk limit was hit. The reason is shown in the NinjaTrader Output window.
• Check the buffer percentage in the AddOn panel.
• A lockout for the day is lifted when the next Apex trading session starts.

Still stuck? Contact support.

Uninstall

1. Open Control Panel → Programs and Features.
2. Select TrainingWheels and click Uninstall.
3. Follow the uninstall wizard.

This removes the engine and Start Menu shortcuts but not the NinjaTrader AddOn files. To remove those, delete Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\AddOns\TrainingWheels.