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# Pre-Trade Risk

> Configure risk rules that are evaluated before trades execute

Pre-Trade Risk is evaluated before a trade is executed. This means that an account can't enter a position if the risk setting causes the order to be rejected.

## Types of Pre-Trade Risk

Pre-trade risk has several components:

* **RiskCategory** - a configuration for pre-trade risk rules such as lot limits and restricted products. Evaluation Support must create these for you, but you will be able to review them in the Admin Dashboards once created.
* **AutoLiqProfile** - a configuration for margin-based liquidation and EOD behavior. This must be created by Evaluation Support.
* **RiskTimePeriod** - a configuration for time-based liquidation. This must be created by Evaluation Support, but you can edit it after it's created. You can use this entity to prevent overnight holding, and to manage special [holiday hours](/overview/prop-firm-management/halt-trading/scheduled-trading-halts).

### Risk Categories

Risk categories are initially defined by your [Template Account](/overview/prop-firm-management/create-and-manage-users-and-accounts#template-account-id) and applied at creation, but you can adjust risk categories after by contacting Eval Support.

**Setting Initial Category**

Use your Template Accounts. When you create an account using a `templateAccountId`, it will inherit pre-trade risk settings such as RiskCategory.

**Switching Risk Categories**

After an account is created, you can switch its risk category. If you have multiple categories defined, you can switch an account's (or group of accounts') risk category using the [`accountRiskStatus/switchRiskCategory`](/api/rest-api-endpoints/risks/switch-risk-category) endpoint with the following JSON request body:

```json
{
  "accountIds": [12345, 67890],
  "riskCategoryId": 789
}
```

* `accountIds` - the account IDs to be switched.
* `riskCategoryId` - the ID of the `riskCategory` that accounts will be switched to.

Switch risk categories outside of trading hours or when affected accounts have no open positions. Switching risk categories re-evaluates open positions, potentially causing open positions to be auto-liquidated.

### Auto-Liquidation Profile

The Auto-Liquidation Profile (`AutoLiqProfile`) entity configures margin-related liquidation rules. This includes overnight margin, which is how users are restricted from opening positions during market close. This is tightly coupled with RiskTimePeriod, which is the entity you use to manage auto-liquidation of accounts holding positions at close.

The `AutoLiqProfile` is created by Evaluation Support and not editable by your organization.

When submitting a subaccount request, you can specify which auto-liquidation profile to assign to the new account. If you don't specify one, the system uses your organization's default. See [Changing Users from Demo to Live](/overview/prop-firm-management/changing-users-from-demo-to-live) for the full workflow.

### Risk Time Period

The Risk Time Period (`RiskTimePeriod`) entity controls time-based liquidation. Use `RiskTimePeriod` to:

1. Prevent overnight holding. Users will be liquidated at `startTime`.
2. Manage [holiday hours](/overview/prop-firm-management/halt-trading/scheduled-trading-halts); `startTime` can be manually adjusted ahead of the holiday to prevent users from holding over.

There are two components of RiskTimePeriod:

* `startTime` - the time at which the time-based liquidation rules turn on; this is when positions are flattened and new orders are rejected. This value is normally set to 4:00 PM CT to mimic the CME trading hours.
* `stopTime` - the time at which the time-based liquidation rules turn off. Users can place trades again from this time on until the next `startTime`. This value is normally set to 5:00 PM CT to mimic the CME trading hours.

To change your Risk Time Period settings for an upcoming holiday, see [Scheduled Trading Halts](/overview/prop-firm-management/halt-trading/scheduled-trading-halts).