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Updating WS Terminal

WS Terminal updates are manual in the current version: when a new release ships, the bot tells you, you download the new zip, and you replace your install folder. Your license, trade history, presets, and settings carry over automatically because they live outside the install folder. The whole thing takes a minute or two.

This is normal for desktop trading software — TradingView Desktop, NinjaTrader, and ThinkorSwim all ship manual updates too. A built-in auto-updater is on the roadmap (see the bottom of this page).

The in-app update notifier

WS Terminal checks the cloud for a newer release on launch — and whenever you click Check for updates (in the sidebar, or on the Settings page). If a newer version exists, a modal appears. There are two kinds.

"Update available" — optional

The normal case. The modal shows your current version, the latest version, and the release date, and gives you three choices:

  • Update now — starts the download (see the manual process below)
  • Later — dismisses the notice for 24 hours, then it reappears
  • Release notes — opens the release page in your browser so you can see what changed first

You can keep trading on your current version; an optional update never interrupts a session. (If you're mid-trade or have a resting order, the optional prompt politely waits until you're flat before appearing.)

"Update required" — mandatory

Occasionally a release sets a minimum supported version — usually for a fix important enough that older builds shouldn't keep trading. If your version is below that floor you'll see an Update required modal instead:

  • It cannot be dismissed — there's no "Later" button, and clicking outside it does nothing. The modal stays over the dashboard until you update.
  • Its message reads "Trading is disabled until you update" — the intent is that you stop trading the deprecated build and install the new one.
  • You can still open the release notes and download the new version.

Don't sit on a forced update

A required update means a deprecated build shouldn't keep trading. Install the new version promptly — especially if you run the bot unattended, where a stale build could otherwise keep operating between the times you check on it.

The manual update process

When you click Update now (or Download update on a forced notice):

  1. The new zip downloads. Your browser downloads WSTerminal-X.Y.Z.zip from the official GitHub releases page, and the dashboard shows a "download started" message.
  2. Close WS Terminal. Fully quit the running app — close the console window (or press Ctrl+C in it). A running .exe can't be replaced while it's open. Confirm there's no WSTerminal.exe left under Task Manager → Background processes.
  3. Replace the install folder. Extract the new zip and replace your existing install folder (e.g. C:\WSTerminal\) with the new contents. Extract over the top of the old folder, or extract to a fresh folder and delete the old one — either works.
  4. Reopen the app. Double-click the new WSTerminal.exe and open the dashboard at http://localhost:8080. The About panel should now show the new version.

That's it — you do not re-activate your license or reconfigure anything (next section).

Why nothing installs itself

A running program can't overwrite its own files on Windows, so the safe pattern is download → quit → replace → reopen. The bot kicks off the download for you but deliberately leaves the file-swap in your hands, so an update can never interrupt a live trade.

What carries over — and what doesn't

Everything personal to you lives in %APPDATA%\WSTerminal\, which is outside the install folder, so replacing the install folder never touches it. On most machines that path is C:\Users\<your-username>\AppData\Roaming\WSTerminal\.

Carries over automatically (in %APPDATA%\WSTerminal\):

File What it is
license.json Your activated license — no re-activation needed
trade_log.json Your full trade history / equity curve
presets.json Your custom presets (Pro)
last_active_config.json Your live config edits
acknowledgments.json Your legal-acknowledgment audit log
settings.json Connection + app settings (host, port, client ID, dashboard port, log level)

Does not carry over (shipped fresh inside each new zip):

  • config_product.py — the compiled-in defaults that ship with the .exe. Your own edits live in last_active_config.json and override these, so a replaced config_product.py doesn't change your running config. Only defaults you hadn't overridden could shift.
  • The two shipping presets (WS Terminal Standard and WS Terminal Max) — these may be retuned between releases. If a release retunes a preset and you had it loaded, your last_active_config.json keeps your previous values until you re-load the preset to pick up the new tuning.

Belt-and-suspenders

Before a big update you can copy your %APPDATA%\WSTerminal\ folder somewhere safe. You shouldn't need it — updates don't touch that folder — but a one-time copy of your trade history and license costs nothing.

Rolling back to a previous version

If a new release misbehaves on your machine:

  1. Close WS Terminal.
  2. Re-download the previous version's zip from the releases page (every version stays available there).
  3. Replace your install folder with the older build, the same way you updated.
  4. Reopen.

Your %APPDATA%\WSTerminal\ data comes right back — license, history, config, and presets are untouched by a folder swap.

Rollback vs. forced updates

If the version you roll back to is below a current minimum supported version, you'll get the forced-update lockout and won't be able to trade on it. In that case roll forward instead and email support@ws-trading.co about whatever broke.

What's coming — automatic updates

A true one-click auto-updater — download, swap, and restart handled for you, with signed packages and automatic rollback — is planned for a future release, alongside a native desktop-window wrapper for the dashboard. Until then, the manual flow above is the supported path. It's quick, it's the norm for trading software, and it keeps you in control of exactly when your install changes.

Where to go next