Checklist, Not a Feature Pitch
Educational only — no auto-map claims. You own the accounts. Confirm the destination contract on your platforms. MimikTrader is not officially approved by any firm. No pass or payout guarantees. Confirm each firm’s rules and verify in sim.
This page does not claim Mimik auto-maps symbols, automatically maps ES/MES, auto-rolls contract months, or rewrites roots for you. Symbol examples below are educational patterns (Tradovate-documented ESZ4; Rithmic-documented ESH4.CME). They are not live tickets.
- Mixed gateways — copy across Tradovate, Rithmic, and ProjectX: Copy trades across Tradovate, Rithmic, and ProjectX
Educational only
You own the accounts. Confirm the destination contract on your platforms. MimikTrader is not officially approved by any firm. No pass or payout guarantees. Confirm each firm’s rules and verify in sim.
The Short Version
Cannot tick those on paper? Do not copy at funded size.
| Check | Fail looks like |
|---|---|
| ES vs MES (mini/micro) | Same count, 10× the notional — or 1/10th — because the root changed and size did not |
| Month / roll | Leader on the new front; a follower still on last quarter |
| Root vs full symbol | Chart says ES; the ticket needed a dated code (or the reverse) |
| Platform string | Same September contract, three spellings; one leg rejects |
| Flatten / reduce | Entry copied; flatten hits a stale symbol and leaves size |
The Checklist (Before You Copy Size)
Then sim at micro size. Skip 8–9 and you are guessing.
- 1. Accounts + routing — Tradovate, Rithmic, ProjectX, or a NinjaTrader seat that actually clears through one of those.
- 2. Name the root — ES or MES (or NQ / MNQ). Charting ES while the eval can only hold MES needs a size plan.
- 3. Name this session’s full contract — root + month + year as your platform shows it. Symbol search, not a charting continuous from memory.
- 4. Month + year style — equity index usually H / M / U / Z. As of 19 Aug 2026, September 2026 is the typical ES/MES front — re-check volume. Year digits and suffixes vary. Pattern is standard. String is not.
- 5. ES vs MES math — 1 ES ≠ 1 MES (10× point value). Leader ES / follower MES is a deliberate root + multiplier choice.
- 6. Roll calendar — after the leader rolls, re-check every follower. A stale full symbol rejects or fills the wrong month.
- 7. Root vs continuous vs full — ES / /ES / ES1! on one side and a dated ticket on the other is a chart, not a map.
- 8. Tiny round-trip per path — leader entry → read the follower’s instrument name and count → exit.
- 9. Flatten on the same map — leftover size on last month’s symbol is a fail.
- 10. Rejects + TOS — unknown / expired / wrong exchange = stop. “Compatible” ≠ “approved.”
Accounts and Routing Notes
Tradovate, Rithmic, ProjectX, or a NinjaTrader seat that actually clears through one of those. If the seat is Tradovate-brokered, the broker still needs a contract it recognizes.
- Rithmic credentials, systems, and prop routing: Rithmic trade copier for prop firms
ES vs MES: Same Index, Not the Same Contract
ES is the CME E-mini S&P 500. MES is the Micro E-mini. Same underlying. Not the same instrument.
Industry-standard point values (confirm on the CME spec): ES $50 per point, MES $5 per point. One MES is one-tenth of one ES. September MES and September ES expire together; the root is still different.
“It copied 1-for-1” can still blow an eval. Leader 1 ES → follower 1 MES is a tenth the dollars; the reverse is the 10× surprise; 1 ES on a micro-sized account is often the failed account. Same 10× idea on NQ/MNQ, YM/MYM, RTY/M2K: name the root, name the count, prove both in sim.
Do not assume a copier rewrites ES into MES. Some copy the leader contract as-is. Some let you pick a preference. You confirm destination root and count. Multipliers change quantity. They do not turn one mini into ten micros unless you set them that way and watch a fill.
Mimik’s public FAQ sizing rule: follower quantity = leader quantity × that follower’s multiplier, rounded up, floor of one contract. Quantity math. Not a symbol translator.
No auto-map
This page does not claim Mimik auto-maps symbols, automatically maps ES/MES, or rewrites roots for you. Multipliers change quantity. They do not turn one mini into ten micros unless you set them that way and watch a fill.
Contract Months, Year Codes, and Rolls
Futures symbols are root + month letter + year. Month letters are industry-standard (same list in Tradovate and Rithmic broker docs): F Jan, G Feb, H Mar, J Apr, K May, M Jun, N Jul, Q Aug, U Sep, V Oct, X Nov, Z Dec. Liquid equity-index copy books use H / M / U / Z. The other letters exist; they are not the front month you want in a prop group.
Year digits vary. Official Tradovate help: instrument + month + last digit of the year, no spaces — published example December 2024 E-mini = ESZ4. Rithmic docs: same one-digit year plus exchange suffix — ESH4.CME for March 2024 ES. Other UIs show two-digit years (ESU26). Tradovate also has a display-style setting, so two tickets can disagree. Look it up.
Roll is not expiration. Index futures typically expire the third Friday; volume usually migrates ~8 days earlier. You roll when you move. After that last quarter’s full symbol is stale, a continuous chart can hide the roll, and one login can auto-update the front month (some ProjectX-family / TopstepX help) while a Tradovate or Rithmic ticket still wants the new dated code. Reject or wrong-month fill — not “latency.”
Put the next roll on a calendar. Re-run steps 3, 8, and 9 after you change months.
Root vs Full Symbol vs the Other Platform’s String
Same September 2026 E-mini, depending on feed and UI. Patterns, not live tickets. ProjectX-family UIs are the least safe to guess: some third-party help mentions continuous-style symbols; TopstepX help says the platform updates the front month. Neither sentence is a ticker. Open symbol search on the account you copy into.
NinjaTrader can add spaces or a month-year form; if the seat is Tradovate-brokered, the broker still needs a contract it recognizes. Cross-platform copy lives here: the copier must send a string the destination API accepts. If you never read the follower ticket, you do not know.
| Style | Illustrative pattern | Treat as |
|---|---|---|
| Root / continuous | ES, /ES, ES1!, similar | Often charting. Confirm before orders. |
| Dated, 1-digit year | ESU6 | Matches Tradovate’s documented pattern (ESZ4 = Dec 2024). |
| Dated, 2-digit year | ESU26 | Common on other platforms and some display modes. |
| Rithmic + exchange | ESU6.CME | Matches Rithmic docs (ESH4.CME / ESU4.CME style). |
| MES equivalents | MESU6, MESU26, MESU6.CME | Same month/year idea, different root. |
Why Mapping Mistakes Blow Up a Copy
Wrong size. ES vs MES at the same count — or a “half size” multiplier on the wrong root. Fill looks fine. Daily loss does not.
Wrong month. Leader in the new front; follower still in last quarter. That is a spread you did not ask for.
Rejected orders. Expired month, missing .CME, continuous on a dated-only API, or a root the account cannot trade. Public Mimik FAQ: the reject is recorded; siblings can keep following unless their rules trip. The missed leg is still a fail.
Flatten / hedge failures. Flatten has to hit the contract you are on. Public Mimik FAQ: closes, reducing, and flattening are never blocked by risk limits, account locks, or the symbol whitelist — exit permission, not a promise the map is right. Prove flatten in sim on the contract you opened.
Partials. One clip on MES, the next on ES — or last month vs this month — leaves leftover you will hate.
No millisecond table. Re-check the map after the last roll.
Run This Map in Sim (Including on Mimik)
Same weekend discipline as a sim bake-off. Add three mapping rows:
- 1. Same root, tiny size — leader 1 MES (or 1 ES if that is truly the book) → every follower shows the dated contract you intended.
- 2. If you mean to mix ES and MES — write the multiplier first. Read both tickets. Confirm notional, not just “1 lot.”
- 3. Reject + flatten — a visible reject is useful; then flatten the good legs. Clean flat on the intended contract, not a silent miss.
No auto-map, auto-roll, or rewrite
MimikTrader is one cloud futures trade copier you can run that bake-off on — not the only option, not “official” anything. Public FAQ: you can review copy groups, follower sizing, and risk rules before a live trade. That review is your mapping pass. This page does not claim Mimik auto-maps symbols, auto-rolls months, or rewrites ES into MES for you. You set the group; you read the sim tickets.
Where MimikTrader Fits (Facts Only)
Product truths as of 19 Aug 2026, from public FAQ / Plans and existing Mimik pages. Starter proves copy + multipliers inside those caps. Pro if you also need live per-account flatten/lock, the journal, unlimited connections, or TradingView webhooks. Neither replaces firm risk.
- Cloud futures trade copier; no VPS required
- Brokers today: Tradovate, NinjaTrader, ProjectX, Rithmic
- Tradovate connects via OAuth — Mimik never stores your Tradovate password
- Copy groups: exactly one leader; the leader is mirror-only (Mimik does not place, modify, or cancel on the leader)
- Starter — $29/mo: copy-only; up to 5 broker connections; unlimited accounts per connection; up to 5 copy groups; multiplier sizing; no risk suite; no journal
- Pro — $49.99/mo: unlimited connections/accounts; risk suite; journal/analytics; TradingView webhook strategies; about 25% off yearly
- Risk suite (Pro), FAQ/Plans wording: daily and weekly limits, trailing drawdown, auto-flatten and account locking, configured per account
- Trial: 7-day free trial, card required, cancel anytime
- Not a signal service; no eval-pass or payout guarantees
- MimikTrader does not claim any prop firm “officially approved” the product
FAQ
Does a copier — or Mimik — automatically map ES to MES or roll months? Do not count on it. This page does not claim Mimik auto-maps or auto-rolls. Treat every root change as configured and watched on a sim ticket. Multipliers are not a 10× notional translator unless you set them that way.
Continuous symbol or dated month — and what is front now? Use whatever that ticket accepts today. Continuous is often a chart; dated is what most Tradovate and Rithmic tickets expect. ProjectX-family: look it up. As of 19 Aug 2026, September 2026 (U) is the usual ES/MES front — verify volume. Next typical quarter is December (Z).
Why did a follower reject — and can a bad map break flatten? Expired month, wrong year-digit style, missing .CME, continuous on a dated-only API, or a forbidden root. Read the reject; fix the string. Flatten has to hit the contract you are in — prove it in sim. Public FAQ: Mimik does not block closes; siblings can keep copying unless their own rules trip.
Pass, payout, or official approval? No. Not a signal service. No eval-pass or payout guarantees. Independent software — firm names are compatibility context only.
Starter or Pro just to test mapping? Starter ($29/mo) for copy + multipliers inside 5 connections / 5 groups. Pro ($49.99/mo) for the risk suite, journal, unlimited connections, or TradingView webhooks.
Soft Next Step
Write the map on paper. Run the three sim rows — same root, intentional ES/MES if you actually need it, flatten — on whatever copier you already have. If you want a cloud stack for that bake-off, MimikTrader’s 7-day free trial is the soft path (card required, cancel anytime). Keep whatever wins the tickets. Sim-first. TOS-first.
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