How to Import Tradovate Trades into MetriNote (Step-by-Step)

Tradovate is one of the most popular futures platforms out there, and for good reason. Clean interface, solid execution, reasonable fees. But their built-in trade history is pretty bare bones when it comes to actual journaling.

If you want to understand WHY your trades are winning or losing (not just that they did), you need to get that data into a proper journal. Here's how to get your Tradovate trades into MetriNote.

Important: Set Up Commissions First

Before you import anything, there's one thing you need to handle. Tradovate's Position History export shows gross P&L (before commissions). The commission data lives in a completely separate file and doesn't transfer over with your trades. If you skip this step, your P&L in MetriNote will be slightly inflated on every single trade.

Here's how to fix that:

Find your commission rate: When you get to the Account Reports page (we'll cover how in Step 1), check the Cash History tab. You'll see itemized fees for each trade: commission, exchange fee, clearing fee, and NFA fee. Add them up for one side of a trade to get your per-execution cost.

If you don't feel like digging through Cash History, here are some typical Tradovate all-in ballparks (commission + exchange + clearing + NFA combined):

Micro E-minis (MES, MNQ, M2K): roughly $0.50-$0.60 per side depending on your plan.

Micro Crude (MCL): roughly $0.95 per side (higher exchange fees than index micros).

Full-size contracts (ES, NQ, CL): roughly $1.50-$2.10 per side depending on your plan.

These vary based on which Tradovate pricing plan you're on (Free, Monthly, or Lifetime). You can check Tradovate's full commission rate breakdown for exact all-in rates per instrument and plan. Or just check your Cash History for your actual numbers. A close estimate is better than ignoring commissions entirely.

Set it up in MetriNote: Go to your Accounts tab, find the account you'll be importing into, and set up your commission rules in the commissions section. Set it to per execution (not round trip) since that's how the fees are actually applied. Do this before importing so every trade comes in with accurate net P&L from the start.

Step 1: Export Your Trades from Tradovate

In the Tradovate platform, look at the top right corner of the screen, right next to the logout button. You'll see a button showing your day margin / initial margin. Click that. It'll take you to the Account Reports page.

From there, navigate to Position History. This is the only export that works properly for trade imports. Don't use Fills, Orders, or the Performance tab. They either show individual executions that can't be paired into complete trades, or they're missing data needed to group everything correctly. MetriNote will actually warn you if you accidentally upload the wrong file type.

Select your date range and download the CSV.

Step 2: Upload to MetriNote

Go to Settings in MetriNote. Right at the top of the page you'll see the Import & Export section. Upload your Position History file there. MetriNote auto-detects Tradovate's column format and maps everything automatically.

You'll see a blue notice reminding you that Tradovate P&L is gross (before fees) and pointing you to the commission setup if you haven't done it already.

If you scaled in and out of positions, don't worry. MetriNote automatically groups Tradovate's paired fills into the actual trades you took so everything looks clean in your journal.

Preview your trades, confirm everything looks right, and hit Import.

Step 3: Add the Data Tradovate Can't Track

Your execution data is in. Now do the part that actually matters.

Go through your imported trades and add context. How were you feeling before each trade? Were you following your pre-market routine or did you skip it? Did you stick to your rules or break them? Was this a clean setup or a revenge trade?

This is the data that transforms a trade log into an actual journal. Over time you'll start seeing things like "my win rate tanks when I sleep under 6 hours" or "I chase entries every time I miss the first move." You can't see those behavioral patterns in Tradovate's reports.

Tips for Tradovate Users

Import weekly, not monthly. If you wait a month to import, you won't remember the context behind each trade. Import at the end of each week while the trades are still fresh, then add your notes and tags.

Use account labels. If you run multiple Tradovate accounts (sim, live, different sizes), label them in MetriNote so your analytics stay clean. Mixing sim data with live data will skew everything.

Review weekly. Importing is step one. Reviewing is where the breakthroughs happen. Set aside 15-20 minutes every weekend to go through your flagged trades and look for behavioral patterns.

The Bottom Line

Getting Tradovate trades into MetriNote takes a few minutes. Just remember to set up your commissions first so your P&L is accurate from the start.

The execution data is the easy part. The real value comes from tracking the psychology alongside the numbers, which is the stuff Tradovate doesn't capture for you.

Running prop firm accounts too? Check out the TopstepX import guide.

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