Every trader who uses automated trading asks the same question at some point: "What actually happens between the moment TradingView fires an alert and the moment the trade appears in MT5?" This deep-dive article walks through the entire TradingView alert to MT5 execution path — with a step-by-step breakdown of every component and what affects its timing.
⚡ The short answer: With TradingView Copier Pro, the Expert Advisor checks for new signals every half second, so the app passes a trade to MT5 in under a second after the alert arrives. Total time also depends on TradingView's webhook delivery and your broker.
Phase 0: The Alert Condition (TradingView)
Before any webhook is sent, TradingView has to detect that your alert condition is true. TradingView re-evaluates indicator and strategy conditions on every new tick or bar close, depending on your alert's settings. As soon as the condition evaluates to true, TradingView queues a webhook send.
Important: TradingView's alert evaluation happens on TradingView's servers, not your PC. This means alerts fire even when your browser is closed — which is why webhooks are so powerful for overnight and 24/7 trading.
The Full Execution Timeline
Alert Condition Evaluates True
TradingView's alert engine detects your condition (price crosses level, indicator fires, strategy entry, etc.)
TradingView Prepares Webhook POST
TradingView substitutes any {{placeholders}} in your message with real values and prepares the HTTP POST request
POST Travels to Your Cloudflare URL
The request travels from TradingView's servers through the internet to your Cloudflare tunnel endpoint, then to your PC
TradingView Copier Pro Parses the JSON
The local Express server receives the POST, validates the JSON structure, and extracts the action, symbol and stop price
Command Picked Up by MT5 EA
The TV_Copier Expert Advisor running in MT5 checks the app's local server over HTTP every half second and picks up the parsed command
MT5 OrderSend() Called
The EA calculates the lot size from the account's risk setting and sends a market order with MT5's native OrderSend() function. The order travels from your PC to your broker's server and is filled; fill time and price depend on your broker and the market.
What Affects Execution Speed?
Not all alerts execute in the same time. The main variables are:
- Your internet connection speed: A faster ISP reduces the network transit phase (Step 3)
- Time of day: During peak market hours (London/NY open), slight delays may occur as TradingView processes more alerts simultaneously
- Broker server location: Your MT5 broker's servers are geographically located somewhere — a broker in Europe will fill faster if you're in Europe
- VPS vs home PC: A VPS in a data center typically has lower ping to both Cloudflare and the broker server
Types of TradingView Alerts and How They Behave
Price Level Alerts
Fires when price touches or crosses a horizontal level. Triggers once, then can be set to auto-reset. Great for breakout trading. Webhook fires immediately when the condition is met on the next tick.
Indicator Alerts
Fires when an indicator value crosses a condition (e.g. RSI below 30). May fire multiple times per bar if the indicator oscillates around the threshold. Use "Once per bar close" to prevent this.
Strategy Alerts
Pine Script strategy() objects fire alerts when strategy.entry() or strategy.exit() is called. Set to "Order fills only" for cleanest signal. The {{strategy.order.alert_message}} placeholder forwards your custom message from the Pine Script alert() call.
Setting Up Your TradingView Alert for MT5
For the most reliable alert-to-MT5 flow:
- Set alert frequency to "Once per bar close" (for indicators) or "Order fills only" (for strategies)
- Enable Webhook URL in Notifications tab
- Paste your TradingView Copier Pro webhook URL
- Set the message to valid JSON:
{"action":"BUY","symbol":"EURUSD","sl":"1.0850"}— position size comes from the account's risk setting (percentage and dollar risk use the stop price sent as "sl") - Optionally set an expiry date if you don't want the alert running forever
Set Up Your TradingView Alert to MT5 Pipeline
TradingView Copier Pro handles everything from webhook reception to MT5 execution. Sub-second hand-off to MT5.
Get TradingView Copier Pro →Common Alert-to-MT5 Issues
- Alert fires but no trade: Check the App's Logs tab — if the webhook was received, the issue is with the EA. If not received, the tunnel may be down.
- Alert fires too many times: Change frequency to "Once per bar close"
- TradingView says "Webhook error 400": Your JSON may be malformed — validate it at jsonlint.com
- TradingView says "Webhook error 52x": The URL is unreachable — restart the app and ensure the tunnel is connected
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a TradingView alert become an MT5 trade?
Four steps: (1) TradingView's servers detect your alert condition, (2) they POST your JSON message to the webhook URL, (3) the copier app on your machine parses the action, symbol and stop price, (4) the MT5 EA, which checks the app for new signals every half second, picks the trade up and calls OrderSend(). The app passes a trade to MT5 in under a second after the alert arrives; total time also depends on TradingView's webhook delivery and your broker. Your browser doesn't need to be open — alerts run server-side.
What should the TradingView alert message contain for MT5?
Minimum: action and symbol — e.g. {"action":"buy","symbol":"EURUSD"}. For percentage or fixed-dollar risk, add the stop price as sl so the EA can calculate the position size. There is no lot field, and exits are sent by your strategy's close alerts. Template variables like {{ticker}} and {{strategy.order.action}} fill values dynamically.
Why does my alert fire but no MT5 trade appears?
Check in order: webhook URL correct and reachable (copier log shows arrival), JSON valid (no trailing commas), symbol mapped to your broker's naming, AutoTrading enabled in MT5, and sufficient margin. The copier's log pinpoints which step failed.