Trading as collaboration

Shared files, shared context

The workspace is a directory both you and the agent read and write. When the agent completes a research task it writes its findings to research/. When it forms a view it writes a proposal to orders/pending/. When you leave a note about a thesis you want explored you drop a file into inbox/.

Because the medium is plain text files, you can open any file in your editor, review it, annotate it, or delete it — no special tool required. The agent picks up your edits on its next run.

How a collaborative trade cycle works

1. 1

   You set direction

   You drop a brief into inbox/ (or open a GitHub issue linked via qoc run <issue>): a hypothesis, a sector you want researched, a stop-loss threshold you want re-evaluated.

2. 2

   The agent researches

   The agent reads the brief, pulls market data through the Data Hub, runs technical analysis via MCP tools, and writes its findings to research/. You can read this file at any time.

3. 3

   The agent proposes

   If the research supports action, the agent writes a structured order proposal to orders/pending/. The file includes the rationale, the specific order parameters, and a reference to the research it relied on.

4. 4

   You review

   You read the proposal file. You can approve it, edit it (e.g., adjust quantity), or reject it by deleting the file. The agent does not submit anything until you confirm.

5. 5

   Execution and record

   On approval, Qoc submits the order to the venue. The filled record lands in orders/filled/ and is captured in the next snapshot. The research and the order file persist in history.

Division of roles

You define the investment mandate, set guard thresholds, approve or reject proposals, and own all final decisions. The agent monitors the inbox, runs research tasks, maintains research notes, generates order proposals, and can execute on a schedule within the guard boundaries you set.

Neither role can replace the other. The agent can process more data faster than a human; you carry context the agent cannot infer — your risk tolerance, tax situation, off-system obligations, and judgment about model quality.

Role division at a glance

Dropping a brief into the inbox

# Write a research brief directly
cat > ~/my-desk/inbox/q3-review.md << 'EOF'
## Brief: Q3 sector rotation check

Review current sector allocations against the Q3 macro outlook.
Flag any position where concentration exceeds 15% of equity.
Propose rebalancing trades if needed. Max 3 trades.
EOF

# Kick off an agent run against the inbox
qoc run inbox/q3-review.md

Related pages