Indicators are the computed series your rules reference. You add an indicator to a strategy, it produces one or more named output lines, and your signal and bias rules compare those lines against constants or against each other.
Adding one#
On the Indicators tab, click Add Indicator. Search for the indicator by name in the picker, set its parameters (RSI has a length; Bollinger Bands have a length and a standard-deviation multiplier), and add it.
Two optional fields are worth knowing:
- Custom Name — leave it blank and the indicator is auto-named; fill it in
and that name becomes the prefix on its lines. Naming pays off once a
strategy has two of the same indicator:
EMA_fastandEMA_slowread far better in a condition thanEMAandEMA2. - Timeframe (optional override) — compute the indicator on a different
timeframe from the strategy. A 200-EMA set to
4hon a 30m strategy measures the longer trend — the basis of a higher-timeframe bias filter.
Candlestick patterns live behind the separate Add Pattern button beside Add Indicator.
Lines: how rules reference an indicator#
Every indicator produces one or more named output lines. A condition
references a line by its qualified name, IndicatorName.line — where
IndicatorName is the name of the indicator (yours, or the auto-generated
one). For example RSI.rsi, MACD.macd, BollingerBands.bband_top, or
NewsSentiment.sentiment_score.
You never have to remember these: open the Line dropdown in any condition and every available line is listed, grouped by indicator.
You can also reference the raw price lines directly, with no indicator
prefix: open, high, low, close, and volume.
A line only becomes available once its indicator has been added to the strategy. If a line is missing from the dropdown, the indicator that produces it has not been added yet — add it first, then build conditions against its lines.
The families of indicator#
There are over 130 indicators, which is far too many to memorise and not worth listing here. They fall into a handful of families, and knowing which family answers your question is most of the battle — the rest is picking one and reading its description in the builder.
| Family | Answers the question | A few you'll recognise |
|---|---|---|
| Moving averages | Which way is price trending, and how smoothly? | Simple, Exponential and Weighted Moving Averages; VWAP; Bollinger Bands; Supertrend |
| Momentum | Is the move overextended, speeding up, or fading? | Relative Strength Index; MACD; Stochastic; CCI |
| Trend | Is the market trending at all, or just chopping? | ADX; Parabolic SAR; Aroon; Vortex |
| Volatility | How much is price moving around right now? | Average True Range; Keltner Channels; Ulcer Index |
| Volume | Is the move backed by participation? | On-Balance Volume; Money Flow Index; Chaikin Money Flow |
| Statistics | How unusual is the current value? | Z-Score; Standard Deviation; Skew; Kurtosis |
| Candlestick patterns | Is a recognised bar pattern forming? | Doji, engulfing, hammer, and 60+ more (via Add Pattern) |
| News sentiment | What is the news flow saying? | NewsSentiment — see below |
The Add Indicator picker is the real reference. It groups every indicator by these families, is searchable, and shows each one's full name and a short note on how and when to use it as you highlight it. Browse there rather than trying to hold the whole list in your head.
News sentiment#
NewsSentiment turns tagged market news into per-bar lines you can trade or filter on — a sentiment score, article counts, and more. It is the bridge between the news feed and your rules, and it works as either a signal input or a bias. See news and sentiment for how articles are scored and what each line means.