# Meet Kevin — trade-execution fix (go-live)

**Date:** 2026-06-04
**Status:** shipped (Phases 1–4 merged) → deploying

## Problem

Phase 2 "paper trading" was enabled (`TRADING_KEVIN_ENABLE_TRADING=true`) but
was a **silent no-op**: 89 Kevin signals reached the executor and every one was
dropped at sizing. The Alpaca paper account had **zero** Kevin orders (all 50
historical fills were `SIMPLE` orders from the normal signal-generator path).
Six distinct breaks sat between "infer a call from Kevin's video" and "place +
record + manage the trade":

1. Sizing read price only from `sentiment_context["current_price"]` (None for
   Kevin) → `qty=0` → skip.
2. The bridge never put a price on the signal.
3. Orders were always built `SIMPLE` — `stop_loss_pct`/`take_profit_pct` were
   ignored, so no brackets.
4. Persisted trades hardcoded `strategy_id=None` → unattributed, invisible to
   the dashboard (which filters by Kevin's strategy id).
5. The exit scanner was orphaned — the cron was wired nowhere, so exits never
   ran; it also lacked an "already-closed" guard.
6. No realized P&L was ever written, and bracket stop/take-profit legs that
   fill at Alpaca never passed through our executor (close + P&L invisible).

## Fixes (TDD throughout)

| Phase | Change | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | `TradeSignal.current_price`; bridge sets it; sizing honors `target_dollars` and resolves price; BRACKET orders for LONG entries (EXIT stays SIMPLE) | `14407d3` |
| 2 | Persist `strategy_id` on the trade row + execution (record + dashboard) | `a8b0d33` |
| 3 | EXIT closes the full held position; realized P&L on close; wire exit scanner on its cron + offsetting-SELL guard | `52b3c76` |
| 4 | `broker.get_order(nested)` + `list_orders`; `Trade.broker_order_id` (migration `f6a7b8c9d0e1`); reconcile loop books bracket auto-closes + P&L idempotently, syncs status, logs drift | `82dc622` |

Design decision: sizing **honors the bridge's `target_dollars`** rather than
re-deriving in the executor — the bridge already applied conviction-weighting
and per-ticker headroom the executor can't see. Brackets trigger on entry
direction + presence of both pct legs (the bridge stamps pcts even on exits, so
the LONG guard is what keeps exits simple).

## Cold start — "new signals only"

The live state was already new-only at go-live: bridge cursor
`kevin:bridge:last_mention_id = 316` (= MAX mention id, all prior mentions
behind the cursor) and `kevin:deferred_signals` empty. No flush required. The
stale "deferred" backlog seen in `kevin_signal_bridge_state` was audit-row
*classification*, not queued orders.

## Migration handling + a latent gap

The Woodpecker pipeline (`.woodpecker.yml`) has **no migration step** — it runs
tests → builds images → patches the deployment. Migrations only run via the
TF-managed `trading-bot-migrations` Job (`alembic upgrade head`), which the
deploy does not trigger. Migration `f6a7b8c9d0e1` (nullable
`trades.broker_order_id` + index) is backward-compatible, so it was applied to
the live DB ahead of the rollout (atomic DDL + version stamp); the TF Job will
no-op on its next run.

**Recommendation (separate, not done here):** add a `run-migrations` step to the
pipeline (a K8s Job on the freshly-built image, before `update-deployment`) so
future migrations apply automatically on deploy. Requires `create jobs` RBAC for
the Woodpecker service account (infra repo).

## Guardrails (live)

Per-strategy caps already enforced in the risk manager: 10 trades/day, $20k/day
allocation, 20% equity-drawdown halt (permanent pause), 5% daily-loss circuit
(24h pause). Paper account only (`TRADING_PAPER_TRADING=true`).

## Go-live verification

1. CI green; `trading-bot-workers` 6/6 on the new image.
2. Next Kevin video → mention (id > 316) → bridge emits → executor places a
   **BRACKET** paper order → `trades` row with `strategy_id = kevin` →
   dashboard `/meet-kevin/strategy` shows it; `#trading-bot` Slack posts the
   entry. (First real trade occurs on Kevin's next upload — the watcher polls
   every ~3h.)
3. On a stop/take-profit fill, the reconcile loop books the closing SELL +
   realized P&L.