This guide shows how to connect MetaTrader 4 to Journalit so trades flow into your vault without manual data entry and stay consistent with the rest of your journalling workflow.
MetaTrader 5 users must use Trade Import
MetaTrader 5 Build 6060 removed FTP report publishing on 23 July 2026. This FTP-based Trade Sync guide therefore applies to MetaTrader 4 only. For MT5, export an English HTML statement and follow the MetaTrader 4 / 5 Trade Import guide.
Want a shorter overview page? See MetaTrader trading journal in Obsidian.
What Trade Sync is really for
The value is not just speed. The real value is that your trade history gets captured consistently, updated automatically, and fed into the rest of Journalit without manual admin work.
The setup follows a simple cycle.
Your MetaTrader 4 terminal generates HTML reports and uploads them to the Journalit FTP server.
Journalit checks the uploaded reports on an hourly cycle and brings in new or updated trades without creating a new copy for every repeated upload.
Trades are associated with the correct Journalit account, with confirmation when new account IDs appear.
Journalit writes the markdown files into your vault using the same broader structure as the rest of the system.
The point of automation is not laziness. It is data quality and consistency.
Trade Sync runs automatically, so forgotten trades do not quietly disappear from your journal.
Entry price, exit price, lot size, timestamps, and result data come directly from MetaTrader.
Files land in the correct vault structure automatically instead of becoming scattered or inconsistently named.
When a trade closes later, Journalit updates the existing note instead of creating a second file.
You can keep using the same workflow as your trade history grows.
Open Settings → Account & Sync → Trade Sync. When you are signed out, it shows the 14-day Pro trial offer and an Already subscribed? Sign in path. The Account, MetaTrader, and Trade Import sub-navigation appears after you sign in. Use the MetaTrader tab for the FTP and sync controls below.
Start in Settings → Account & Sync → Trade Sync → MetaTrader inside the Obsidian plugin, or complete this during onboarding if you are setting Trade Sync up for the first time.
Use <code>sync.journalit.co:2121</code> as the upload destination.
Journalit generates a unique FTP username for your account.
Journalit also generates the FTP password used by MetaTrader to upload reports.
If you open FTP setup on another device, Journalit reuses the password already stored for that account when it is available. A device without the stored password must reset it. Journalit shows a warning because every MetaTrader installation using the previous password must then be updated.
In MetaTrader 4, set the platform up to generate and upload HTML reports.
Journalit expects HTML reports rather than manual copy-pasted trade summaries.
English is currently the only supported report language for parsing.
Use the server, username, and password from the plugin setup flow.
This is the safer default for FTP connectivity and avoids common network issues.
Hourly uploads are usually the right balance between freshness and unnecessary churn.
The first time a new MetaTrader account appears, Journalit prompts you inside Obsidian to link it to your account management setup.
Related page
See the Account Management documentation for the deeper account-linking workflow.
Trade Sync is useful because it does more than just import raw records.
MetaTrader can upload overlapping reports without creating a fresh copy of every previously synced trade.
If the same trade appears twice without manual entry being involved, use the support links in Journalit to report it.
Trades that later close are updated instead of being recreated from scratch.
An open position can create the first version of the trade note immediately.
When the trade closes, Journalit updates that same note with exit data and final P&L.
The trade stays together as one markdown record instead of splitting open and closed states into separate notes.
If you do not want to wait for the next hourly cycle, use the Sync Now button inside Settings → Account & Sync → Trade Sync → MetaTrader. While a sync is active, the same area shows a Cancel action. Journalit stops at a safe point and reports the run as cancelled rather than failed.
Most force-sync runs finish in about 2 to 3 minutes.
Longer runs can take up to roughly 5 minutes.
Useful when you just closed a trade and want the synced record available before your review flow starts.
Synced trades are written into the vault using a predictable structure.
Trades are organised under <code>year/month/week/trades/</code>.
Files follow the pattern <code>TICKER-DIRECTION-TIMESTAMP.md</code>.
Entry data, exit data, P&L, and account context are included in structured metadata.
Synced trades follow the same broader note structure as manually created trades.
Trade Sync is useful, but the boundaries matter.
This FTP workflow covers MT4 only. MT5 statements are supported through Trade Import.
Reports exported in other languages are currently unsupported.
Trade Sync is not meant to be a tick-by-tick live journalling feed.
If you need immediate logging
Use Manual Entry when you want a trade note right away during the session instead of waiting for the next sync cycle.
Synced trades appear alongside the rest of your Journalit workflow.
Synced trades use the same note format as manual entries, so the journal stays structurally consistent.
Synced stop loss and take profit values are stored in trade notes and feed risk calculations where the broker data provides them.
Synced trades appear in the same analysis views as manual and imported trades.
Daily and higher-level reviews automatically include synced trade activity without extra admin work.
Each synced MT4 account can be linked once and then tracked independently inside multi-account workflows.
Bottom line
Set up Trade Sync once and let it handle the repetitive data entry layer. That leaves you free to spend time on analysis, review, and decision-making instead of clerical work.
