When you deploy a trading strategy, it does not simply flip from “off” to “on.” It moves through a defined lifecycle of states — each with specific rules about what is happening, who can act, and whether trading is active. Understanding these states gives you full visibility into what your strategy is doing at any moment.
The Canonical Deployment States
Every deployment in QuantumEdge moves through a defined set of backend states. The interface may display more specific labels (like “Running” or “Auto-Paused”) to explain context, but the following canonical states govern actual execution behavior:
The deployment exists but has not been submitted to run. You are still configuring it. No connection to the exchange is active.
The platform is validating your configuration, checking your exchange connection, verifying capital allocation, and activating the strategy. This is a transitional state.
The deployment is live and executing trades on your exchange account according to its configured strategy. The UI may show “Running” or “Degraded” depending on exchange connection health.
Trading is stopped but the deployment is not terminated. You can resume it. The UI may show “Auto-Paused” if the system paused it due to failures or risk limits.
Trading is suspended due to a platform-wide halt or safety condition. You cannot resume until the halt is lifted by an administrator.
The deployment encountered an unrecoverable error. It cannot be restarted. Review execution logs for details and create a new deployment if needed.
Why State Transparency Matters
Many trading platforms show you a simple on/off toggle for strategies. You either see “running” or “stopped” — with no visibility into what is actually happening behind the scenes. This creates a trust problem: when something goes wrong, you have no way to understand why or what the platform is doing about it.
A transparent state model solves this. When your deployment moves from “active” to “paused” because the system detected repeated failures, you can see that in the deployment detail view. The state change is logged. The reason is recorded. You can review the execution logs, understand the root cause, and decide how to proceed.
Every state change in QuantumEdge is recorded in the audit trail. This includes who triggered the change (you, the system, or an administrator), when it happened, and what caused it. This level of transparency is essential for trust in an automated trading system.
Auto-Pause: When the System Protects You
Auto-pause is a safety mechanism that stops a deployment automatically when certain conditions are met. This happens in two main scenarios:
If a deployment encounters consecutive execution failures (for example, due to exchange connectivity issues), the system auto-pauses it after reaching a failure threshold. This prevents continued losses during unstable conditions.
If a deployment breaches a configured risk limit (such as maximum daily loss), the system auto-pauses it immediately. You are notified and must acknowledge the situation before resuming.
Auto-pause is not a failure — it is the system working as intended. It prevents a deployment from continuing to trade under adverse conditions that could amplify losses. When you see “Auto-Paused” in the interface, the canonical state is “paused” with an auto-pause indicator that explains why.
Platform Halt vs Admin Freeze
Beyond user-initiated and system-initiated state changes, there are two administrator-level controls that affect deployments:
Platform Halt
A temporary, platform-wide suspension of all trading activity. All deployments move to the halted state. No new deployments can be created or resumed. This is a safety measure used during significant exchange outages, system incidents, or regulatory events. When the halt is lifted, deployments may be resumed according to their prior state.
Admin Freeze
An individual restriction on a specific deployment, applied by an administrator for compliance or security reasons. A frozen deployment cannot be paused, resumed, stopped, or edited by the user until an administrator lifts the restriction. The canonical state remains whatever it was before the freeze was applied.
Both controls are logged to the audit trail. During a platform halt, you can still view your portfolio, settings, and notifications. During a freeze, you can view the deployment's history and logs but cannot make changes. In both cases, support is accessible.
Why Immutability Improves Trust
Every state change, every trade, and every administrative action is recorded in an immutable, append-only audit log. Once an entry is written, it cannot be modified or deleted — not by you, not by the platform team, not by administrators. This immutability is enforced at the database level.
This matters because it means the historical record of your deployment's lifecycle cannot be tampered with. If you see that your deployment was auto-paused at a specific time due to a risk limit breach, that record is permanent. If an administrator freezes a deployment, the reason and timestamp are logged immutably. This creates an auditable trail that both the customer and the platform can rely on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I restart a failed deployment?
No. Failed is a terminal state. You can review the deployment's history and logs, but you will need to create a new deployment to resume trading.
What does “Degraded” mean in the interface?
Degraded is a UI label that maps to the canonical “active” state. It means the deployment is still running but experiencing issues, such as exchange connectivity problems. It may self-recover or may eventually auto-pause.
What happens to my funds during a platform halt?
Your funds remain in your exchange account. A platform halt stops trading activity but does not affect your balances. QuantumEdge is non-custodial — your funds are not held by the platform.
How do I resume an auto-paused deployment?
Review the deployment's execution logs to understand the cause of the auto-pause. Address the underlying issue (exchange connection, capital, risk limits) and resume from the deployment detail screen.
Are state changes logged?
Yes. Every state change is recorded in the immutable audit trail, including who triggered it, when, and why. This applies to user actions, system actions, and administrator actions.
Disclaimer: QuantumEdge is not an exchange and does not provide investment advice. All trading involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.