Appearance
Are you an LLM? You can read better optimized documentation at /core-concepts/signal-processing.md for this page in Markdown format
Signal Processing
TTMT eliminates the need for rigid syntax or strict message formats. It uses advanced AI to understand trading signals the way a human would — regardless of how a channel formats its messages.
Signal Lifecycle
Every Telegram message passes through a multi-stage pipeline before it becomes a trade:
| Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Message Monitor | Receives messages from your connected Telegram channels. Only processes channels you have enabled. |
| Signal Queue | Messages are processed one at a time to ensure each signal is handled correctly, even when multiple arrive at once. |
| OpenAI Parser | AI reads the message and extracts the trade details (symbol, direction, entry, SL, TPs). |
| Validation Pipeline | Multi-step safety checks: stop-loss validation, take-profit validation, entry zone validation, duplicate detection, and pre-trade verification. |
| Trade Executor | Builds the 12-order structure and submits orders to your broker. |
Signal Types
TTMT recognizes four distinct signal types. The AI parser classifies every message into one of these categories.
Complete Signals
A complete signal contains all the information needed to open a trade immediately:
- Direction: BUY or SELL
- Symbol: EURUSD, XAUUSD, NAS100, etc.
- Entry Price: Specific price or "NOW" (market execution)
- Stop Loss: The invalidation price
- Take Profits: One or more TP levels (TP1 through TP6)
Example
SELL GOLD @ 2850
SL: 2856
TP1: 2847
TP2: 2844
TP3: 2840Alert Signals
An alert contains only direction and symbol — the minimum needed to identify an opportunity. Full details arrive in a followup message.
Example
BUY EURUSD NOW!
Details coming soon...How alerts are handled depends on the channel's execution mode.
Modification Signals
Modification signals update an existing open trade. The AI correlates them to the original signal by symbol and direction.
Supported modifications:
- Stop Loss update: "Move SL to 2050"
- Take Profit update: "New TP: 1.1200"
- Breakeven: "Move SL to Entry", "Set BE"
- Partial close: "Close half", "Close 50%", "Take partials"
- Full close: "Close GOLD now", "Close all"
Followup Signals
A followup provides additional details for a previously received alert signal. The system correlates followups to their parent signal using symbol, direction, and a configurable time window.
Example
Alert (Phase 1): "Prepare for BUY GOLD"
Followup (Phase 2, 5 minutes later):
BUY GOLD
Entry: 2850
SL: 2844
TP1: 2853
TP2: 2856
TP3: 2860Execution Modes
Each channel can be configured with an execution mode that determines how signals are processed. This is set per channel in your channel settings.
| Mode | Behavior | Best For |
|---|---|---|
complete_only | Only execute signals that contain Entry + SL + at least 1 TP. Alerts and incomplete signals are logged but not traded. | Channels that send complete, well-formatted signals. Conservative approach. |
execute_on_alert | Execute immediately when an alert is received (using defaults for missing values). Apply followup details as modifications to the open trade. | Channels that use a two-phase alert-then-details pattern. Speed-focused approach. |
WARNING
execute_on_alert mode requires you to configure sensible default SL and TP values. When the initial alert arrives without these values, the system uses your defaults to open the trade immediately.
Signal Patterns
Signal patterns are admin-defined classifications that describe how a particular channel structures its messages. They help the system anticipate what kind of messages to expect.
| Pattern | Description |
|---|---|
complete_signals | Channel sends fully formed signals with all trade details in a single message. |
alert_then_details | Channel sends a quick alert first, then follows up with entry, SL, and TP details in a separate message. |
alerts_only | Channel only sends directional alerts without specific entry details. |
The Parsing Engine
AI-Powered Extraction
TTMT uses advanced AI for all signal parsing. The parser handles:
- Text signals: Standard typed messages in any format or language.
- Reply context: "Close half now" sent as a reply to the original signal.
- Edited messages: If a channel edits a message to fix a typo or change a TP, TTMT detects the edit and updates accordingly.
- Emoji and formatting: Signals with emojis, bold text, or unusual formatting are handled correctly.
- Multi-signal messages: A single message containing multiple trade signals is split and processed individually.
Custom Per-Channel Prompts
Administrators can define custom prompts for specific channels. This is critical for channels with unusual formats, non-standard terminology, or complex multi-phase workflows.
Custom prompts give the parser additional context about:
- How the channel typically formats its signals
- Whether the channel uses aliases (e.g., "GOLD" instead of "XAUUSD")
- The expected signal pattern (alert-first vs. complete)
- Any channel-specific quirks
Two-Stage AI Analysis
For channel analysis (not individual signal parsing), TTMT uses a two-stage AI process:
- Stage 1: Initial classification and extraction
- Stage 2: Verification and confidence scoring
Signal Validation Pipeline
After parsing, every signal passes through a rigorous validation pipeline before reaching the trade executor:
Signal Sanitizer
Two-phase validation that checks the AI's confidence in the parsed values and corrects obviously wrong data.
SL Validator
- Wrong-side detection: Catches a BUY signal with SL above entry.
- Too-far detection: Flags SL distances exceeding 5x the TP1 distance.
- Correction modes: Depending on your settings, the system can auto-correct, reject, or substitute a default SL.
TP Validator
Five-step correction pipeline:
- Wrong-side TP detection (uses entry zone boundaries, not live market price)
- Duplicate TP removal
- TP ordering validation
- TP distance validation
- TP count validation
Entry Zone Validator
Five-way classification: valid, inverted (auto-corrected), narrow (compressed), wide (capped), or invalid (rejected).
Duplicate Signal Detection
TTMT creates a unique identifier from each signal's key details (symbol, direction, entry, SL, TPs). If a matching signal has already been processed, the duplicate is blocked. This handles situations where a channel reposts or forwards the same signal.
Pre-Trade Validation
Five final checks before execution:
- Account connection is healthy
- Symbol is available on the broker
- Volume is within configured limits
- Margin is sufficient
- Automatic safety pause has not been triggered
Handling Invalid Signals
Not every message can become a trade. Here is how the system handles common issues:
| Issue | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Missing Stop Loss | Uses your configured default SL. If no default is set, the signal is rejected. |
| Missing Entry Price | Treated as market execution at current price. |
| Missing Take Profits | Uses your configured default TP levels per asset class. |
| Ambiguous Symbol | Signal is rejected and logged for review. See Symbol Mapping for resolution. |
| Non-trade message | Ignored. Chat messages, advertisements, and greetings are filtered out by the parser. |
| Duplicate signal | Blocked by fingerprint deduplication. Logged as skipped. |
Signal Statuses
Every signal is tracked with a status throughout its lifecycle:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
pending | Received, awaiting processing |
queued | Waiting to be processed (signals are handled one at a time) |
parsing | Currently being parsed by the AI |
executing | Trade execution in progress |
executed | Trade successfully opened |
executed_awaiting_modification | Trade opened, waiting for followup modifications |
executed_via_followup | Trade opened after receiving followup details |
pending_followup | Alert received, waiting for followup details |
execution_paused | Execution paused (e.g., channel paused mid-processing) |
failed | Execution failed (broker error, validation error) |
delivery_failed | The signal could not be processed due to an internal error |
rejected | Failed validation (invalid SL, wrong-side TP, etc.) |
ignored | Non-trade message or filtered by symbol/time rules |
skipped | Duplicate signal (fingerprint match) |
You can review every signal and its status in the Signals Log on your dashboard.
Related Pages
- Order Execution -- How validated signals become 12-order trades
- Order Management -- Complete trade lifecycle reference
- Risk Management -- Position sizing and safety controls
- Symbol Mapping -- How signal symbols map to broker symbols

