EA is trading the wrong lot size

Causes, most likely first

1. The broker minimum overrode the calculation

If your risk percentage and stop distance imply less than 0.01 lots, the platform cannot trade smaller and the EA must round up. Your real risk is then higher than configured, and on small accounts substantially so. The lot size calculator flags exactly this case.

2. The contract size is not what the EA assumed

Standard gold is 100 troy ounces per lot, but some brokers offer 10-ounce contracts under a different symbol. An EA assuming 100 will size ten times too large on a 10-ounce contract. Verify in Market Watch → Specification.

3. The stop distance is wider than expected

Position size is inversely proportional to stop distance. A volatility-scaled stop that is twice as wide as usual produces a position half the size, and that is correct behaviour rather than a bug. Check what stop the trade actually used.

4. Risk is being computed from balance rather than equity, or vice versa

With open positions in profit or loss the two differ, sometimes considerably. Neither choice is wrong, but knowing which your EA uses explains sizes that otherwise look inconsistent.

Why this happens

Position size is the output of a formula with three inputs, so a surprising size means one of the three is not what you think. Checking them in order — risk percentage, stop distance, contract size — resolves nearly every case.

The broker minimum deserves particular attention because it fails upward. Every other error tends to produce a smaller position; this one produces a larger one, on the accounts least able to absorb it.

If sizes look right but risk feels wrong, compute the actual dollar risk of a recent trade by hand and compare it against the configured percentage. The discrepancy usually points straight at the cause.