Run Modes & Safety

The scalper has three run modes, selected by the mode field in config.yaml. Every send funnels through one enforcement point — the Broadcaster in src/executor/broadcaster.ts — so no code path can accidentally send a real transaction in a non-live mode.

The three modes

Mode	Wallet needed	Sends real transactions?	Purpose
paper	No	No — fully simulated fills and fees	Default. Exercises the full detect → screen → fill → exit pipeline with no funds at risk.
dry-run	Yes (real key)	No — simulates sends, but uses the real wallet for conclusive H4 and balance reads	Validates the live code paths (including honeypot probing) without committing capital.
live	Yes (funded)	Yes — sends via Jito (primary) with an RPC fallback	Real trading. Gated behind the Live Gate below.

Because mode gating is centralized, the broadcaster.test.ts unit test asserts that no real sends occur in paper or dry-run.

The Live Gate

Before switching to mode: live, the README defines a manual Live Gate checklist that must be satisfied. In spirit it requires:

The bot has run in paper long enough to trust the pipeline end-to-end.
A funded dry-run with the real wallet key succeeds, and H4 sellability telemetry is visible; any enabled relaxed H4 lane is capped and monitored separately.
Circuit breakers, the kill switch, wallet floor, and alerting are all configured and tested.
You have reviewed config.yaml (sizes, slippage, tip caps, risk limits) and the committed values match your intent — see the warning on the Configuration page.

Live trading is real money on a hostile, low-latency market. The sub-second exit is a target, not a guarantee — network conditions, congestion, and rug speed can beat it. Guardrails reduce but do not eliminate rug risk.

Operator warnings

Sub-second exit is a target; Solana congestion, Jito auction losses, or RPC degradation can extend exits to several seconds — that is why the slippage ladder exists.
Soft rugs (unflagged wallets, coordinated exits, social abandonment) can pass structural checks. Prove viability in paper first; past patterns can stop working as the meta shifts.
pump.fun / PumpSwap program IDs are pinned in core/constants.ts, overridable in config, and asserted on-chain at startup — expect maintenance when interfaces change.
External APIs (RugCheck, PumpPortal) rate-limit and go down; hard-fail logic must be verifiable on-chain. APIs are advisory only.
Priority fees plus Jito tips on both legs can consume a large share of a +50% move on small positions — include fee-adjusted PnL in the paper soak before going live.
For realistic sub-second exits, run on a VPS close to your RPC edge (commonly US-East or Frankfurt) with a paid low-latency plan.
Automated trading may carry regulatory and tax implications; the operator is responsible for compliance.

Circuit breakers

The RiskManager (src/risk/manager.ts) consumes closed positions and trips breakers that block new entries (open positions still exit normally). Counters rehydrate from the database on restart so limits survive a crash. The breakers:

Breaker	Trips when…
`DAILY_LOSS`	Cumulative realized loss for the day exceeds the configured limit.
`CONSECUTIVE_LOSSES`	Too many losing trades in a row.
`EMERGENCY_EXITS`	Too many emergency exits within 24h.
`WALLET_FLOOR`	Wallet balance drops below the configured floor.
`STREAM_DOWN`	Detection feeds are stale/disconnected.
`KILL_SWITCH`	The kill switch is engaged (see below).

Breaker trips and resets are emitted as breaker events and shown on the dashboard.

Kill switch

src/risk/killswitch.ts provides an emergency stop through two independent channels:

File sentinel — a watched file on disk; creating it engages the kill switch. This works even if Telegram is down.
Telegram admin commands — authorized admins can send /kill (and /status) to the bot.

When engaged, the kill switch trips the KILL_SWITCH breaker (blocking new entries) and can drive open positions toward an emergency exit. src/positions/exitSupervisor.ts provides a durable live exit supervisor with persisted exit intent, retry/escalation, and wallet-balance reconciliation so an in-flight exit isn’t lost to a crash.

Emergency in-position monitors

Even after entry, src/positions/monitors.ts watches for LP pulls and dev dumps and can fire an EMERGENCY_EXIT ahead of the normal take-profit/stop ladder.