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Platform — Governance

No lower signal may override capital protection. Ever.

The six-layer decision chain

From capital state to audit trail.

Straight from the Cycle-to-Throttle workflow manual: each layer has a decision function and an explicit list of what it cannot override.

  • 1. Gate / Drawdown — highest capital-state authority. Defines the capital-state row, brake tone, and risk envelope. Cannot be overridden by Daily EV.
  • 2. Weekly SDE / structural permissions — confirms whether higher deployment is structurally justified. Cannot expand beyond the gate cap.
  • 3. Daily EV / Cycle P&L — tactical evidence. Supports or cautions near-term posture. Cannot redefine the drawdown gate.
  • 4. Smart Open Exposure — subtracts active open risk from the authorized pool. Cannot create capital beyond it.
  • 5. Manual Override — operator exception layer. Must be logged; does not erase risk reality.
  • 6. Cycle Decision Log — the audit layer. Records decisions; makes none.

The six-layer decision chain

From capital state to audit trail.

Straight from the Cycle-to-Throttle workflow manual: each layer has a decision function and an explicit list of what it cannot override.

011. Gate / Drawdown — highest capital-state authority. Defines the capital-state row, brake tone, and risk envelope. Cannot be overridden by Daily EV.
022. Weekly SDE / structural permissions — confirms whether higher deployment is structurally justified. Cannot expand beyond the gate cap.
033. Daily EV / Cycle P&L — tactical evidence. Supports or cautions near-term posture. Cannot redefine the drawdown gate.
044. Smart Open Exposure — subtracts active open risk from the authorized pool. Cannot create capital beyond it.
055. Manual Override — operator exception layer. Must be logged; does not erase risk reality.
066. Cycle Decision Log — the audit layer. Records decisions; makes none.

The core idea

How MARS uses this

Every decision in MARS is routed through this hierarchy in order. The plan defines doctrine; gate state defines capital posture; the throttle converts posture into deployment numbers; evidence and diagnostics inform from below; R&D stays sandboxed at the bottom until validated. When layers disagree, the higher layer wins - always.

AUTHORITY FLOWS DOWN ▼TRADING PLAN & HARD RULESdoctrineGATE / DRAWDOWN STATEcapital authorityTHROTTLE CONTROL PANELdeployment authorityCYCLE COMMAND CONSOLEevidence & exposureVOLATILITY LAYER — VIP + VDMcoefficient supportCP3 & WEEKLY SCORECARDexpectancy evidenceSDE & REGIME ENGINEstructural interpretationR&D — EV LAB / MC TOOLSsandboxed

How it benefits you

The system stays coherent under pressure. A confident setup cannot bypass a damaged gate, a green daily EV cannot outrank drawdown authority, and experiments cannot contaminate live rules. That one constraint eliminates the failure mode that kills most complex trading systems: everything modifying everything.

The MARS authority stack. Authority flows down; evidence flows up; nothing lower may override anything above it.

Why it matters

The hierarchy is what keeps the trader on rails.

A good setup cannot override a restricted gate. A green daily EV cannot override drawdown authority. A high-confidence trade cannot justify violating capital-state rules. Every failure mode MARS was built against begins with a lower layer trying to outrank a higher one.

Reference

The authority chain — who answers what

LayerPrimary questionPrimary tool
Pre-entry verificationIs this trade allowed before risk is deployed?Trade Launch Checklist
Raw evidenceWhat did each trade actually do?CP3 Journal
Weekly expectancyIs the system still +EV by branch and blend?Weekly Scorecard + EV Scorecard
Capital governanceWhat gate and brake state controls risk?Gate/Brake State + Throttle
Cycle deploymentHow much risk can be deployed this cycle?Cycle Command + Throttle
Volatility authorityWhat regime governs stop and trail logic?Volatility Intelligence + Distance Matrix
Structural diagnosticsIs the machine improving or contradicting itself?SDE + Regime Engine

Inside this module

2 pages go deeper than this one.

Connected inside MARS

This module doesn't work alone.

Edge cases & failure modes

Where it can mislead

  • !Override abuse: Full Tier Risk override exists for rare, documented exceptions. Used casually, it defeats the entire exposure-governance system.
  • !Dashboard-green / gate-defensive conflict: different layers measure different things. When they disagree, the gate wins — drill into Gate_Brake_State, don't negotiate with it.
  • !SDE optimism during Floor states: constructive structure cannot unlock capital that drawdown authority has locked.

Go deeper

Operator briefs on this territory.

Every module ships in the complete MARS package.

One price. Eleven workbooks, three TradingView indicators, and the full manual library — $497.