Paper Bot Halt-Lift Audit

Dated: October 16, 2026
Scope: The overnight window when the paper bot's halt lifted, October 8–9, 2026. The earlier September 27 stop is context only, not the subject.
Method: Read-only. No bot state, flag, config, or schedule was changed. No re-arm was attempted.

How the halt works

The bot halts when a local KILL file exists. There is also a remote flag, but it has been returning "not found" (404) for weeks, so the local file is what actually stops the bot. Clearing the halt means removing the local KILL file.

Timeline — what the records show, in order

When (PDT)	What happened	Source
Sep 27, 2026, 11:54 AM (context)	The KILL flag was accidentally engaged by a routine check that ran the kill script. The bot halted. It was left halted and not re-armed.	Cycle logs, Sep 27–Oct 8
Oct 6, 2026 (context)	The KILL file's timestamp was overwritten when the kill script was run again by mistake (it has no status mode — any run engages it). The bot was already halted, so nothing functionally changed.	Oct 6 cycle log
Oct 8, 2026, 4:54 PM (context)	The KILL file was re-stamped again by the same accidental kill-script run. Still halted.	Oct 8 cycle log
Oct 8, 2026, 8:24 PM	Last halted cycle. The runner exited with "KILLED — halting." KILL flag still active.	Oct 8 run log
Oct 8, 2026, between 8:24 PM and 11:15 PM	The KILL file was removed. No record identifies who removed it or by what command. The logs guess it was lifted by hand, but that is an inference, not evidence. This is the gap: the clearing action itself is unrecorded.	Gap — see below
Oct 8, 2026, 11:15 PM	First trading cycle after the lift. DCA dip-buy: $50 at $2,493.20 (executed, in the ledger). In the same cycle, a trend sell of $92.44 was blocked by the risk cap ($50 max per trade) and did not execute. The block is recorded in the run log only — it does not appear in the current ledger file.	Oct 9 run log (5:54 AM entry); ledger
Oct 9, 2026, 5:54 AM	Discovery entry: "KILL FLAG GONE — bot is trading again." An alert was sent that the bot was trading again and that the risk cap had blocked the trend sell.	Oct 9 run log
Oct 9, 2026, 7:54 AM	The kill script was accidentally invoked again. The KILL file was removed within about a minute, the bot never halted mid-cycle, and no remote flag was set.	Cycle log, Oct 9
Oct 9, 2026, 11:24 AM / 4:24 PM / 5:24 PM	Routine cycles, trading normally. Remote flag still returning 404 (failing open). No new blocks.	Oct 9 run log
Oct 12, 2026	The bot's ledger record ends here (last update Oct 12, 6:24 AM UTC). The cycle definition on file shows the schedule as disabled. Why the record stops is outside this audit's window and is not answered by these records.	Ledger file; cycle definition

Ledger entries around the lift

Last trade before the halt: Sep 27 — DCA buy, $25 at $2,716.74.
First trade after the lift: Oct 8, 11:15 PM — DCA dip-buy, $50 at $2,493.20 (executed).
Blocked by risk cap: Oct 8, 11:15 PM — trend sell, $92.44, blocked (over the $50 per-trade cap), did not execute. Recorded in the run log only.

What the records do NOT show

Who removed the KILL file. No log, command history, or audit entry names the person or process. The log's suggestion that it was lifted by hand is an inference, not evidence.
Whether the re-arm script ran. There is no evidence it did. The remote flag reads 404 (not ACTIVE), which is consistent with a manual file deletion rather than the re-arm script.
Why the bot's record stops Oct 12. The records in this window do not answer that.

End state and verification

No KILL file exists. The remote flag reads 404 (failing open). The bot is not halted by the kill flag.
Paper-only posture unchanged: paper mode, live trading off, no private key on this machine.
This audit changed nothing: the config file's checksum matches its pre-audit value, every command was a read, and no re-arm was attempted.
One housekeeping note: the dashboard published under a second page ID after the lift while the config still names the older one. The bot's trading records are unaffected.