trader-mcp/strategies/grid_trader.md

Grid Trader

Passive, structure-based liquidity strategy.

Best used when

• price is range-bound or choppy
• volatility is low to moderate
• liquidity is decent
• Hermes wants to harvest mean reversion inside a structure

Avoid when

• trend is strong and persistent
• event risk is high
• liquidity is thin or chaotic
• execution quality is poor

Core parameters

• grid_levels: number of orders per side
• grid_step_pct: base spacing between levels before inventory skew is applied
• inventory_rebalance_step_factor: max fractional reduction applied to the rebalance side's step when the wallet is imbalanced
• recenter_pct: when to rebuild the grid
• volatility_timeframe: timeframe used for adaptive sizing
• order_notional_quote: quote-currency notional target per order
• max_order_notional_quote: optional quote-currency cap per order

Hermes policy mapping

• risk_posture adjusts grid spacing, levels, and recentering
• priority adjusts aggressiveness and order cadence

Notes

• The strategy does not decide regime fit itself.
• Hermes decides activation.
• Trader applies policy on reconcile.
• report().supervision is descriptive, not imperative.
• side_capacity and inventory_pressure describe the grid's current shape.
• The grid step is now asymmetric when inventory drifts away from balance.
• If base value dominates quote value, the sell ladder is tightened to encourage rebalancing back into quote.
• If quote value dominates base value, the buy ladder is tightened to encourage rebalancing back into base.
• inventory_rebalance_step_factor is a cap, not a fixed override: small imbalances apply a small reduction and extreme imbalances apply up to the configured maximum reduction on the favored side only.
• report() and render() expose the live base step plus the effective buy/sell step split and current rebalance bias.
• ordinary directional conditions alone should not force a rebuild or switch.
• live fee rates are used directly, and the quote notional is the canonical sizing unit.