Demo-mode is a one-click loader that creates ~80 sample trades, three playbooks (`Trend Pullback`, `Range Break`, `FOMO Re-entry`) and a tag pool (`fomo`, `over-sized`, `revenge`, `disciplined`, …) on your account. Every row is flagged `is_demo=true` so it can be wiped in a single click. Real trades you've imported are never touched.
The sample data isn't random — it's hand-shaped so each Onyx-Engine detector finds its specific pattern: a Friday-Drift cohort that under-performs other weekdays, a stretch of red AAPL trades for Symbol-Persistence, an over-trading day with eight quick entries, a revenge-cluster (loss → two oversized re-entries within 30 minutes), a same-day same-direction AAPL+MSFT pair for Correlation-Cluster, a recovery streak after the drawdown, and so on.
Demo-mode is meant for two situations: - First five minutes after signup. You haven't imported anything yet, /dashboard/patterns says "need 20 trades", you have no idea what the platform actually does. Loading the demo turns every empty card into a fully populated example so you can decide if it's worth importing your real history. - Showing TradeOnyx to a friend or in a screenshot. The sample data is realistic enough that you can demo Symbol-Persistence or Friday-Drift on a fresh account without exposing your own trading.
What demo-mode is *not*: it's not a backtest. The numbers don't reflect real market behaviour, just enough structure for the detectors to fire. If you want to evaluate a strategy's edge, import real trades — the platform is built to study your own data.
Workflow: 1. Welcome wizard step 3 — pick the Demo-Daten tab next to *Upload file* and *Connect API*. Click *Install demo data*. Step 4 then lands on a fully populated patterns teaser. 2. Persistent banner — a gold strip ("Demo data loaded") sits above every dashboard page while demo data is loaded. The banner has its own *Clear demo* button so the moment you import real trades, one click wipes the sample set and a hard reload redraws every panel against your real book. 3. Side-by-side? No. Loading demo a second time is a no-op (`already_loaded=true`); the demo and your real data don't co-exist as separate views. If you want both, use a separate account.
Gotchas: - Demo trades count toward the Free-tier 500-trade cap while loaded. Clear them before you start importing your real history if you're on Free. - Tags created during demo (`FOMO`, `disciplined`, …) are removed on clear, so don't manually attach them to real trades while demo is active — those links get cascade-deleted with the tag.