# Trading Journal Apps With Automatic MT4 Sync > Automatic MT4 sync changes everything about trade journaling. Here is how it works and which apps actually offer it. **Tags:** mt4, automatic-sync, trading-journal, expert-advisor **URL:** https://traderjournal.app/trading-tools/trading-journal-apps-automatic-mt4-sync --- # Trading Journal Apps With Automatic MT4 Sync The single biggest obstacle to consistent trade journaling is data entry. Copying trade data from MT4 into a journal manually takes time, and after a bad trading day it is the last thing you want to do. Automatic sync solves this. --- ## How MT4 Auto-Sync Works MetaTrader 4 does not have a public API that third-party applications can connect to directly. The way automatic sync works is through an Expert Advisor - a script that runs inside your MT4 terminal. The EA monitors your account in real time. When trades close, it packages the trade data - ticket number, symbol, direction, lot size, open and close prices and times, pips, gross profit, commission, swap - and sends it to the journal server via an HTTP request. From there the server processes, stores, and surfaces the data in your journal app. This process is idempotent, which means the EA can push the same trade multiple times without creating duplicates. The server deduplicates by ticket number. This matters if you restart the EA or if there is a connection issue - no data is lost or doubled. --- ## What the Setup Actually Looks Like 1. Download the EA file from your journal app 2. Copy it into your MT4 terminal's Expert Advisors folder 3. Attach it to any chart in MT4 (it does not need to be the chart you are trading) 4. Configure two settings: your API key and the push interval (typically 30 seconds) 5. Enable WebRequest for the journal server's domain in MT4 settings After that, the EA runs automatically whenever your terminal is open. You do not need to do anything else. --- ## What Gets Synced A well-built sync pushes more than just trade data. Look for: - Closed trade details (all fields, not just P&L) - Open position snapshots (so you can see live trades in the journal) - Balance and equity snapshots over time (this powers the equity curve) Equity snapshots are often missed in journal apps that only sync closed trades. Without them, you cannot see a meaningful equity curve - only a running total that does not reflect drawdown during open trades. --- ## Apps With Real MT4 Auto-Sync **Trader Journal** uses a native MQL4 EA that runs inside MT4. It pushes closed trades every 30 seconds, open positions on each cycle, and equity snapshots. The push interval is configurable. The server deduplicates by ticket ID. Setup takes about 5 minutes. Available at android.traderjournal.app (Android) and ios.traderjournal.app (iOS). Most other journal apps support MT4 through CSV import rather than live sync. This is worth verifying directly before committing to any app - "MT4 compatible" often means "accepts MT4 CSV exports" rather than "runs a live EA sync." --- ## The Practical Difference With CSV import, your journal is current as of your last session review. If you trade five days a week and review on weekends, your journal is always 5 days behind. With live EA sync, your journal is current within 30 seconds of every trade close. When you open the app after trading, everything is already there. You just need to add notes and tags. For traders who journal seriously, the difference in data freshness translates directly into better quality journal entries because the trade context is still clear. --- ## Limitations of EA-Based Sync The EA only runs when MT4 is running. If your terminal is closed, no data is pushed. When you reopen MT4, the EA catches up automatically - it checks the timestamp of the last sync and pushes any closed trades since then. Historical data is not lost. The EA also requires MT4's WebRequest feature to be enabled for the journal's domain. This is a one-time configuration in MT4's Tools menu and takes about 30 seconds. --- Start with automatic sync at android.traderjournal.app. Connect your MT4 account and let 30 days of trades accumulate before doing your first real analysis session. The data quality after a full month is substantially better than after a week.