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

# Pre-Session Planning

> How to complete your pre-session readiness check, understand your readiness score, and prepare for the trading day.

The pre-session form is designed to take about 60 seconds. It captures your physical and emotional state, confirms your trading plan, and gives you a readiness score before you start trading.

## Completing the form

### 1. Daily Statement

A commitment affirmation that sets your intention for the day. Read it and check the acknowledgment box.

> "Today, I will execute my playbook as written. I accept what the market provides, respect risk, follow my edge and accept the outcome."

<Note>
  The Daily Statement starts expanded on your first visit and collapses on subsequent visits once acknowledged.
</Note>

### 2. Playbook Selection

Select the playbook you plan to trade today from the dropdown. After selecting, you can click **View Playbook** to review your rules inline without leaving the Game Plan.

### 3. Wellbeing Check

Four inputs that measure your physical and mental readiness. Answer honestly — even when you want to trade. These inputs only protect you if they reflect how you actually feel, not how you wish you felt.

**Hours slept**
Pick the chip that matches how many hours you actually slept: `<5`, `5`, `6`, `7`, `8`, or `9+`. This is the objective anchor — duration, not how you feel about it. Selecting `<5` automatically flags your readiness as red.

**Sleep quality (1-10)**
Drag the slider to rate the *quality* of your sleep — not the duration. Eight broken hours is not the same as six deep ones. The gradient track runs from red (terrible) through amber (okay) to green (great). Your rating number follows the slider thumb with matching color.

**Energy Level**
Choose one: Low, Moderate, or High. This maps to your physical energy, not your motivation.

**Emotional State**
Select one or more emotions from three categories:

| Category              | Emotions                                                       | What it means                  |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| **Composed** (green)  | Confident, Focused, Patient, Calm                              | Supports disciplined execution |
| **Reactive** (red)    | Anxious, Frustrated, Fearful, Impulsive, Angry, Revenge-driven | Likely to break rules          |
| **Unsettled** (amber) | Excited, Bored, Uncertain, Distracted, Indifferent             | Could go either way            |

<Warning>
  If you select **Revenge-driven**, your readiness score will automatically go red. This emotion is directly linked to revenge trading — the most destructive pattern in day trading.
</Warning>

### 4. Readiness Check

**How do I feel right now?**
Select one or more feelings. These are color-coded from green (Calm, Focused) through amber (Tension, Distracted) to red (Urgency/FOMO).

<Warning>
  Selecting **Urgency / FOMO** triggers an inline warning and forces your readiness score to red. Trading from urgency or FOMO rarely ends well.
</Warning>

**Reviewed my trading plan**
Toggle this on after reviewing your playbook rules.

**Max losses today**
Set the maximum number of losing trades you will accept before walking away. Default is 2. If you selected a playbook, this auto-populates from your playbook's **maximum losing trades per day** value — but you can adjust it for any given session.

### 5. Today's Risk Parameters

A section for setting your dollar-based risk values for the session. These are separate from your playbook because they change based on your current account state — a $50k account risks differently than a $42k account in drawdown.

| Field                         | Description                                                                     | Example |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| **Risk per trade (\$)**       | Your 1R for today — the dollar amount you are willing to lose on a single trade | \$150   |
| **Position size (contracts)** | How many contracts you will trade today                                         | 3       |
| **Daily loss limit (\$)**     | The cumulative loss at which you stop trading for the day                       | \$300   |
| **Daily profit target (\$)**  | The cumulative profit at which you protect gains and stop                       | \$500   |

All four fields are optional. If you set them, they are checked against your actual trade data in the [post-session review](/game-plan/post-session#risk-parameter-compliance).

<Tip>
  These values complement your playbook's count-based rules. Your playbook defines *how many* trades and losses you allow. Your Game Plan defines *how much* dollar risk you accept today.
</Tip>

### 6. Session Commitment

A checklist of six trading commitments. All must be checked before you can start your session:

1. I will only take \[X] losses max today *(dynamically references your Max losses today value)*
2. I will only take trades that meet my playbook
3. I will respect my risk management plan
4. I accept that no trade is a valid outcome
5. I will not chase or force setups
6. I will walk away after hitting my daily profit target or daily loss limit

<Note>
  When all 6 items are checked, the counter changes to a green checkmark with "Committed". Each check triggers a brief highlight animation to make the process feel deliberate.
</Note>

### 7. Notes (optional)

A freeform text field for anything else on your mind — market observations, personal notes, or reminders.

## Readiness Score

After completing all required sections, a readiness score badge appears at both the top and bottom of the form:

| Score                    | Color  | Meaning                 | Conditions                                                                                                   |
| ------------------------ | ------ | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Ready to trade**       | Green  | All indicators positive | Hours slept 7+, sleep quality 6+, moderate/high energy, composed emotions, calm/focused feelings             |
| **Trade with caution**   | Yellow | Mixed signals           | Some positive, some concerning — including 5-6 hours of sleep                                                |
| **Consider sitting out** | Red    | Multiple warning signs  | Hours slept under 5, OR sleep quality 3 or below, OR low energy + reactive emotions, OR Urgency/FOMO feeling |

<Note>
  A red readiness score does not block you from starting your session. It is a signal, not a gate. The decision to trade is always yours.
</Note>

## Session Focus

Below the form, a **Session Focus** card shows template-driven insights from your recent trade history:

* Your most common recent mistake
* Current winning/losing streak
* Day-of-week performance pattern
* Emotion-to-performance correlation

These insights require at least 10 closed trades to appear.

## Starting your session

Once all sections are complete, click **Start Session**. This:

* Timestamps the start of your trading session
* Locks the form to read-only
* Changes the action button to "End Session"

You can now trade and log entries in the Journal as usual. Return to the Game Plan when you are done trading.

## Backfilling a missed day

If you missed completing a Game Plan before trading, you can backfill it for any of the last 7 days. Click the date in the header to open the calendar and select a past date.

* If no game plan exists for that date, the form opens in full edit mode with a violet **Backfill** badge
* Fill in your fields as usual — the form auto-saves just like today's plan
* Instead of "Start Session", you will see a **Complete Game Plan** button
* Clicking it opens the post-session feeling dialog, then marks the game plan as complete
* The full [post-session review](/game-plan/post-session) renders with that day's trade data, including execution breakdown, takeaways, and risk compliance checks
* You can edit or delete a backfilled game plan using the pencil and trash icons in the header