Dry Run
A dry run executes a trading system's full decision pipeline while suppressing the final step — no order is sent anywhere. The system reads live data, generates signals, and logs exactly what it would have done. It is a safety rehearsal for the machinery itself, distinct from paper trading's focus on strategy results.
What does a dry run test?
A dry run validates plumbing, not profitability. It answers operational questions: does the data feed arrive and parse correctly, do signals fire when their conditions occur, are the orders the system composes valid — right symbol, sane size, correct side — and do risk checks trigger where they should? Because nothing is executed, mistakes are free; a bug that would have sprayed bad orders instead produces an alarming log line. Dry runs are standard before first activation of any automated system and after any significant change, and the discipline is only as good as the log review that follows it.
Dry run vs paper trading — what is the difference?
They rehearse different things. Paper trading simulates fills and tracks a hypothetical account, asking "would this strategy have made money?" — its output is performance statistics. A dry run asks "does this system behave correctly?" — its output is evidence that each component did what it should, with real execution disabled. The two are complementary stages of the same safety ladder: dry run to prove the machinery is sound, paper trading to estimate whether the strategy is worth running, and only then live trading at small size. Skipping straight to live skips both answers at once.
Educational content — not financial advice. Trading digital assets carries substantial risk of loss. See the full Risk Disclosure.
Volume Catcher is an analytical tool, not financial advice. Trading digital assets involves substantial risk of loss. Past performance of signals does not guarantee future results. You are solely responsible for your execution decisions and for complying with the laws of your jurisdiction.