Stop Rules Refactor Checklist

Last updated: 2026-02-05 Scope: stop-loss and stop-gain rule additions in feature/risk-controls (bdd4407e)

Goals

• Keep stop-loss and stop-gain behavior symmetric where intended.
• Remove avoidable duplication between counterpart rules.
• Lock down edge-case behavior with targeted tests before refactoring.
• Keep API and serialization behavior stable.

Guiding Principles

• Prefer small, low-risk refactors over broad rewrites.
• Add tests before behavior changes.
• Preserve existing semantics unless a mismatch is clearly a defect.
• Use domain naming that matches behavior (stopGain* for gain-side code paths).

Current Focus Area

• Volatility-based stop rules and trailing stop counterparts.
• Constructor/API consistency between stop-loss and stop-gain variants.
• Test coverage around threshold edge conditions and invalid inputs.

Prioritized Refactor Opportunities

1. P1 Clarify and align threshold trigger semantics for volatility rules.
   • BaseVolatilityStopLossRule uses strict comparisons (< / >) while gain-side uses inclusive comparisons (>= / <=).
   • Decide expected threshold semantics and encode with tests before changing behavior.
2. P2 Replace gain-side calls to StopLossRule.stopLossPrice* with gain-focused helpers.
   • Affects trailing gain implementations that currently call stop-loss helper methods despite gain semantics.
   • Improves readability and lowers maintenance risk.
3. P2 Normalize constructor validation and API parity across stop-loss/stop-gain pairs.
   • Ensure null/invalid argument handling is explicit and consistent.
   • Align ATR trailing constructors for bar-count configurability or document intentional asymmetry.
4. P3 Reduce test duplication in stop rule test suites.
   • Consolidate repeated bar-series setup and buy/sell scenario scaffolding.

Test Coverage Gaps

• No explicit equality-boundary tests for volatility stop-loss/gain thresholds.
• No constructor validation tests for null/invalid parameters in new gain rules.
• Limited tests asserting stopPrice(...) semantics for trailing variants at entry context.

Checklist

• Identify changed stop-loss/stop-gain classes and tests in current branch.
• Run refactor scout audit pass and prioritize opportunities.
• Add boundary tests documenting expected trigger semantics at exact thresholds.
• Add constructor validation tests for new stop-gain rule variants.
• Refactor gain-side helper calls to gain-named primitives where behavior is unchanged.
• Resolve and document volatility threshold inclusivity decision.
• Reduce duplicated test fixture setup across stop-loss/stop-gain test classes.
• Re-run full build and update changelog for any code changes.