Portfolio Lab publishes updated target weights for your strategies each US market day. This guide is about when to run the prompt that tells your AI agent to trade those weights. Running it late in the trading day, in the recommended window of 12:30 to 1pm Pacific (3:30 to 4pm Eastern), gives you the most accurate result. Running it yourself is the most reliable way to do this today.
Prices move constantly while the market is open, so when you place your trades changes how closely your portfolio ends up matching Portfolio Lab's target weights. The weights are built around end-of-day prices. Running your prompt in the last half hour before US markets close, between 12:30 and 1pm Pacific (3:30 to 4pm Eastern), means your agent trades at prices closest to what the weights are based on, which gives you the most accurate result. Earlier in the day, prices can move more before the close, widening the gap between your actual trades and the weights Portfolio Lab intended.
The most reliable way is to paste the prompt into your agent yourself, once per market day, in that window. It takes a few seconds, and you see exactly what your agent is about to do before it acts. This is the method we recommend.
Some agents can run a saved prompt automatically on a schedule. This is a newer and fast-changing area, and support varies from one agent to the next. Some can run a prompt on a schedule but only report back rather than act. Because this changes often, the simplest way to find out what your agent can do is to ask it directly. Paste something like this:
Can you run a saved prompt automatically on a schedule? I want to run my Portfolio Lab trading prompt every US market day between 12:30 and 1pm Pacific (3:30 to 4pm Eastern). If you can, walk me through how to set it up. If you cannot, let me know so I can run it manually.
If your agent can schedule it, follow its instructions. If it cannot, or if you want to see every trade before it happens, run the prompt manually in the window above.
The prompt you generate in Portfolio Lab's prompt builder, which tells your AI agent to trade your current target weights.
No. Anywhere between 12:30 and 1pm Pacific (3:30 to 4pm Eastern) works well. That is the last half hour before US markets close.
It still works, but earlier in the day prices can move more before the close, so your trades may match Portfolio Lab's target weights less accurately.
Some agents support scheduling, but it is new and varies. Manual is the most reliable method today. Ask your agent whether it can run a recurring prompt.
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