Announcing NinjaForge: A NinjaTrader Launcher and Cleaner

General Discussions
1

Hi Everyone,

In my time working with NT I’ve been frustrated by it’s inability to launch a specific workspace. My workflows involve several different workspaces that serve very different purposes. To that end I created a simple utility that can resolve this problem by modifying the _Workspaces.xml file prior to launch in order to preselect a specific workspace. I’ve also added the ability to perform common cleanup tasks prior to launch (or separately if needed). The utility also handles command line options in order to launch directly and immediately into the workspace of your choosing.

NinjaForgeScreenshot
NinjaForgeScreenshot434×304 6.25 KB

The project is available on my github at:

NinjaForge: A NinjaTrader Launcher & Cleaner

Overview:
NinjaForge is a lightweight WPF utility designed to streamline your NinjaTrader 8 workflow. It allows quick selection and launching of workspaces, optional safe mode startup, and one-click cleaning of temporary files, logs, and databases to keep your installation running smoothly. Ideal for traders who manage multiple workspaces or need to free up disk space without manual file hunting.

Key Features

Workspace Management:
Detects and lists all available workspaces from your NinjaTrader documents folder. Select and set your default workspace with a single click.

Safe Mode Launch:
Toggle safe mode to launch NinjaTrader without loading add-ons or custom indicators—perfect for troubleshooting.

Command-Line Support:
Launch directly from the command line (e.g., /l WorkspaceName for quick starts, /s for safe mode, /h for help).

Cleaning Tools:
Safely delete caches, logs, traces, strategy analyzer logs, and historical databases (tick, minute, day, replay) to reclaim space. Options for full clean or targeted selections.

Lightweight & Portable:

No installation required - just run the .exe. Works with standard NinjaTrader 8 setups.

How It Works:

Run the app to see your workspaces listed.
Select a workspace and optionally enable safe mode.
Click “Launch” to start NinjaTrader, or “Launch & Clean” to clean first.
Use the “Clean” tab to manually clear specific data types.

Requirements:

Windows 10/11
.NET Framework 4.8+
NinjaTrader 8 installed (reads from registry for paths)

Warnings:

Cleaning operations permanently delete files—back up important data first!
Ensure NinjaTrader is closed before cleaning to avoid file locks.

Developed for the NinjaTrader community.
Feedback welcome!

6 Likes
2

hi your latest version is incompatible with 8.1.6.3 FYI

3

Can you be more specific about the problem you are experiencing? I’m on NT 8.1.6.3 and have been using this daily without issue for months.

4

Thats the message that comes up when i try to import it

5

Thanks for taking a look. I appreciate the feedback.

Are you trying to import this into NT like an addon or indicator? I’m afraid you are misunderstanding the use case of the tool. NinjaForge is a stand alone application that is used to 1) prime your NT setup to launch into a specific workspace (by modifying _Workspaces.xml) and 2) perform various NT cleanup tasks. Neither of these tasks are are performed from inside a running NT window. In fact, if NinjaForge detects your NT is running it won’t allow you to launch or clean in order to prevent corrupting what may be open files.

1 Like
6

Doh! That would explain the issue :grimacing:

7

This is so good, have not tried it yet, but will I not need to enter my password for ninjatrader to start, is it possible to save the password in your app so ninjatrader starts up straight away…

8

Unfortunately, no password entry at this point. It’s a feature I would love to add. I miss the old days when NT launched directly without the new login window.

9

This is something i’ve wanted for some time now. Thank you for your efforts.
Is it possible to add other folders to clean out? It does clean out data/tick files but I would also like to clearn out data/cache files as well.

10

Hi James,
Thanks for taking a look. Currently the clean “Price Data” option should be cleaning the files as described below. If you are seeing something different, let me know and I will fix it asap.

Cleanup:

The following folders are cleaned of all files when running the associated clean option.

    Reflection Cache:
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\cache\
    Log Files:
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\log\
    Trace Files:
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\trace\
    Price Data:
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\db\tick\
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\db\minute\
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\db\day\
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\db\replay\
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\db\cache\
    Analyzer Logs:
        <%MyDocuments%>\NinjaTrader 8\strategyanalyzerlogs\
1 Like
11

My bad, I must have fooled myself. When I went back and did it carefully, it does work.
Thanks again for the great tool… Exactly what I’ve been looking for.

1 Like