> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tbignite.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Challenge phases

> Per-stage rules of a challenge - profit targets, drawdown, leverage, trading days, and behavior toggles.

Phases define the **per-stage rules** of a challenge (The evaluation program an account is created under - its starting balance, profit target, and risk rules.) - profit target, drawdown, leverage, trading days, and behavior toggles. **Step** is a field on the phase, and it numbers that phase's place in the sequence - Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. "Step" and "phase" mean the same thing here. A challenge with one phase has a single Step 1; a three-step challenge has Steps 1, 2 and 3 (for example evaluation 1 → evaluation 2 → payout). Every challenge should have at least one phase.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Each step issues a brand-new account.** A trader who buys a three-phase challenge is given the Step 1 account first. Passing it does not convert that account - they receive a **new account, with a new account ID**, carrying the Step 2 phase's own settings. Passing Step 2 issues the Step 3 account the same way.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Where it lives:** open a challenge from [Challenges](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/challenges.md), then the **Phases** sub-tab.

![Phases sub-tab](https://mintcdn.com/tbignite/OlHmB8MlUnxshCJj/images/challenges/phases-initial.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=OlHmB8MlUnxshCJj\&q=85\&s=c5eb6c7cb23a1415f2cb3f3fdfe059a8)

The Phases sub-tab of a challenge - add and manage its phases.

## Adding a phase

Click **Add phase** to open the phase modal. Fill in the sections below, then **Create phase**.

![Phase settings](https://mintcdn.com/tbignite/OlHmB8MlUnxshCJj/images/challenges/phase-settings.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=OlHmB8MlUnxshCJj\&q=85\&s=f2c3c8521dcbdd2c44207bf31356bafd)

The phase modal - Basics, Targets, Drawdown, and Flags.

## Basics

* **Title** and **Description** - identify the phase (for example `Phase 1 - Evaluation`).
* **Step** - which step this phase is in the sequence (1, 2, 3…). The firm chooses which step it is creating.
* **Initial balance** - the balance an account gets **for this phase**.

The per-phase initial balance gives you flexibility across steps:

* Most firms keep the **same** balance across steps (for example 50K in Step 1, Step 2, and the funded/payout Step 3).
* Some make the funded step a **smaller** balance (for example 2,000–5,000) to mimic a smaller live account. Whatever balance you enter here is the account that gets created for that phase.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **The zero-balance case:** some firms ask for a "drawdown-only" account - the trader's platform balance starts at `0` and the account fails once their equity drops to −1,000 (a 1,000 loss). **This is not a valid phase configuration today:** a valid phase requires `0 < Global DD threshold < Initial balance`. Ask the Tickblaze team if you need this product shape.

## Targets

* **Target profit %** - what the account must make to complete the phase, on a 0.01–1.00 scale (`0.10` = 10%).
* **Consistency %** - optional. Records your firm's consistency rule, on the same 0.01–1.00 scale. A consistency rule compares a trader's largest winning day against their other days, to stop a phase being passed on one outsized day.
* **Leverage** - `1` for stocks; leave blank for futures.
* **Minimum trading days** - how many **trading days** the account must accumulate before the phase can be completed. Leave it blank if your firm counts trading days on its own side; fill it in if you want Tickblaze to enforce the count.
* **Total trading days** - the **calendar-day window** the phase must be completed inside. It starts the day the account places its **first trade**, and that day is **day 1** - so a `30` gives the trader that day plus 29 more.

**Leaving either blank removes that limit.** Blank **Minimum trading days** means no minimum - a trader who hits the profit target on day one completes the phase that day. Blank **Total trading days** means no window, so the phase never expires on time.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **The drawdown engine does not evaluate Consistency %.** Consistency sits outside the engine that fails accounts - nothing on the platform stops or fails an account for breaching it. The field stores your rule so it travels with the phase configuration; **enforcing it is your firm's own process**. If you need the platform to act on it, raise it with the Tickblaze team rather than assuming the value is doing work.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **These two fields share a word that means different things in each.** **Minimum trading days** counts **trading days** - days the account actually traded. **Total trading days** counts **calendar days** - it is the length of the window, not a count of trading days, despite the label. A `30` in Total trading days means thirty calendar days, weekends and holidays included, whether or not the account traded on them.

**A trading day** is any day on which the account **opened at least one position** - not a calendar day the account merely existed, and not a login. The count follows the day a position was **opened**, never the day it was closed and never how long it was held.

> [!WARNING]
>
> **A [Minimum profit](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/challenges.md#commercial-rules) on the challenge raises the bar.** When it is set, a day only counts as a trading day if it made at least that much profit. With Minimum profit `200`, a day that made \$150 does not count, and neither does a losing day - both still move the account's balance, they just do not advance the count. A five-trading-day phase then needs five *profitable enough* days, not five days with a trade.

| Example | Trading days | Why |
| - | - | - |
| Day trading: open and close on Monday | **1** | One day had an opening trade |
| Swing (The account may hold positions overnight instead of being closed out at the session end.): open Monday, close Friday | **1** | Opened on one day, however long it is held |
| Swing: open Monday, open another Tuesday, close both Friday | **2** | Two days had an opening trade |
| Swing: open **two** positions Monday, close both Friday | **1** | Both opened on the same day |

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  D["A calendar day"] --> O{"Did the account open at least one position?"}
  O -- No --> N1["Not a trading day"]
  O -- Yes --> M{"Is Minimum profit set on the challenge?"}
  M -- No --> Y["Counts as a trading day"]
  M -- Yes --> P{"Did the day make at least that much profit?"}
  P -- Yes --> Y
  P -- No --> N2["Not a trading day. The profit or loss still counts toward the account balance"]
```

### Passing a phase takes both

Hitting **Target profit %** is not enough on its own. If **Minimum trading days** is set, the account must also have reached that many trading days.

**Step-by-step example - Target profit 10%, Minimum trading days 5, Total trading days 30.** A trader reaches +10% on their first day. The phase is **not** complete - that is one trading day. They must open a position on four more days. Once they have five trading days and the target is still met, the phase completes. The 30-day window runs from that first trade.

If the window runs out before the phase is complete, the account **fails**, and the reason is that the phase's day window expired without the phase being completed - whether what was missing is the profit target, the **Minimum trading days**, or both.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Running out of window before reaching the minimum.** A trader can hit the profit target early and still run short of calendar days before accumulating enough trading days. A firm may want to extend that account's window rather than fail it. **This is not self-service today** - ask the Tickblaze team to extend an account's **Total trading days**. Firm-side extension is planned.

### What happens when a phase is passed

```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart TD
  S["Step 1 account"] --> T{"Profit target AND minimum trading days both met?"}
  T -- No --> K["Keep trading within the phase rules"]
  T -- Yes --> N["Next step is issued as a NEW account: new account ID, that phase's own settings"]
  N --> F{"No activation fee on that phase"}
  F -- "On: there is no fee" --> G["Trading opens straight away"]
  F -- "Off: a fee applies" --> P["Firm collects the fee on its own checkout"]
  P --> G2["Trading opens once the firm confirms payment"]
```

> [!NOTE]
>
> The activation-fee half of this is **not live yet** - see [Commercial Rules](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/challenges.md#commercial-rules). Today a trader who passes a phase gets the next account regardless of how that toggle is set.

### The last phase does not end

There is no step after the final one. **The trader stays on that account and keeps trading it**, under that phase's rules, for as long as the firm leaves them there.

Most firms leave **Target profit %** blank on the final phase, so there is nothing left to pass - the account simply continues. Its drawdown rules still apply in full, so it can still fail; it just has nowhere to advance to.

The trader leaves that account only when your firm moves them on - typically to a live, real-money account at a broker, which happens outside Tickblaze. **The same is true of a single-phase challenge:** the trader stays on that one account indefinitely.

## Drawdown

> [!NOTE]
>
> These four fields sit in the **Drawdown** section of the phase modal and decide **when an account fails**. For the full mechanics - the three types, the "breach (The moment an account crosses one of its loss limits.) is the touch" rule, charts with the numbers filled in, and the scenario library - see [How drawdown & failure work](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md).

* **Daily drawdown** - the daily loss limit in dollars. Required to have a value, but only enforced when **Check daily drawdown** is on (see Flags). → [How the daily floor works](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#daily-loss-limit)
* **Global drawdown type (Which maximum-loss rule the account uses: a fixed limit, or a trailing limit that moves up as the account makes new highs.)** - **Static**, **Trailing** (intraday), or **End of day**. Decides where the account's anchor sits and when it moves. → [The three types](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#the-three-types)
* **Global DD threshold** - the **max drawdown**: the account's overall loss limit in dollars. It sets the **failure threshold** (`anchor - this value`), and for trailing and end-of-day types it is the **anchor** moving up that carries the threshold up with it. **Always a hard breach.** → [The one rule](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#the-one-rule)
* **Max trailing DD limit** - an **offset** that caps how high a trailing floor can climb: it stops at **the initial balance plus this offset**. Example: on a 50K account, a `100` limit stops the floor at 50,100. Only takes effect when **Lock trailing drawdown** is on. → [Locking a trailing floor](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#locking-a-trailing-floor)

## Flags (six toggles)

| Toggle | What it does |
| - | - |
| Live phase | Marks the phase as real-money. Tickblaze is SIM-only today - leave off. |
| Check daily drawdown | **Master switch** for the Daily drawdown value. Off = it is ignored entirely, whatever amount is stored. → [Daily loss limit](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#daily-loss-limit) |
| Lock trailing drawdown | Activates the Max trailing DD limit, so a trailing floor stops climbing at the ceiling. → [Locking](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#locking-a-trailing-floor) |
| Lock drawdown on withdrawal | Preserves the drawdown buffer at withdrawal time. |
| Soft breach | Applies **only** to the daily drawdown: on = the account is suspended for the session, off = it fails. It never affects the Global DD threshold, which always fails permanently. → [Soft vs hard](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#daily-loss-limit) |
| Auto-flatten before market close | The switch that makes the challenge **intraday** (on) or **swing (The account may hold positions overnight instead of being closed out at the session end.)** (off). → [Swing accounts](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md#swing-accounts) |

> [card] [The detailed drawdown fields and rules](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/drawdown-and-failure.md)
>
> What each of these fields actually does when the market moves - the three drawdown types with charts, soft vs hard breach and the exact message the trader sees, which floor stops the trader first, locking, and swing accounts.

## Auto-flatten - intraday vs swing

**Auto-flatten before market close** is the single switch that makes a challenge **intraday** (on - positions auto-close at session end) or **swing** (off - positions can carry overnight).

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Phase settings override challenge settings** where the same field exists on both.

## After creating phases

Click **Create phase**, then save the challenge. Repeat for each step. See [Challenges](https://tbignite.mintlify.site/challenges.md#one-challenge-with-phases-or-separate-challenges) for how to structure multi-step products (one challenge with phases vs. separate challenges).


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