User Guide : Signal Types, States, and Lifecycle — User Guide

Signal Types, States, and Lifecycle — User Guide

Table of Contents

1. What Is a Signal?
2. Signal Lifecycle
3. Signal States Explained
4. Trade Results
5. Reading Signals on the Chart
6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
7. Usage Tips

1. What Is a Signal?

A signal is the system's notification when it detects a qualifying candlestick pattern on the chart. Each signal tells you the expected price direction and provides suggested entry, stop loss, and take profit levels.

There are two signal types:

BUY Signal

A green upward arrow (▲) appears below the signal candle. The system expects price to move up. The entry level sits above the signal candle.

SELL Signal

A red downward arrow (▼) appears above the signal candle. The system expects price to move down. The entry level sits below the signal candle.

Important: Signals are suggestions based on technical pattern recognition — not guarantees. Always apply proper risk management to every trade.

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2. Signal Lifecycle

Every signal passes through a sequence of states from the moment it appears until it ends:

The path PREVIEW → PENDING → ACTIVE → WIN/LOSS is the ideal lifecycle. EXPIRED and CANCELLED are neutral exits with no trade opened. BLOCKED signals never enter the lifecycle at all.

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3. Signal States Explained

State 1: PREVIEW

The pattern was just detected. The system draws the entry line as a preview — the line extends to the current bar and updates in real time.

• Signal is "alive" but entry has not been hit yet
• No SL or TP lines drawn yet
• Use this state for observation only, no action needed

State 2: PENDING

The signal has been confirmed. The system is now waiting for price to reach the entry level.

• Entry, SL, and TP1-TP4 lines are all drawn on the chart
• If price never reaches entry within N bars (default 30-50 bars), the signal auto-expires
• Dashboard shows "PENDING"

State 3: ACTIVE

Price has crossed the entry level — the trade is considered open. The system begins full tracking.

• Monitors whether price hits TP1, TP2, TP3, TP4, or SL
• TSL (if enabled) activates and begins trailing with price
• Dashboard shows "ACTIVE" with real-time P/L in pips

State 4: COMPLETED

The signal has ended — price reached a TP level or hit the SL.

• TP hit: signal turns green, dashboard records WIN at TPx
• SL hit: signal turns red, dashboard records LOSS at SL
• The signal dims or changes color based on the outcome

State 5: EXPIRED

The entry level was never reached within the allowed time window (pendingExpiry bars).

• Signal disappears or is shown as expired depending on settings
• This is NOT a loss — no trade was ever opened

State 6: CANCELLED

The pattern failed post-detection validation or was invalidated after initial detection.

• Signal is removed or marked as cancelled
• This is also NOT a loss — no trade was ever opened

State 7: BLOCKED

The pattern was detected but blocked by one or more of the 7 active filters (spacing, quality, extreme zone, direction, stoploss hunt, signal zone, opposite).

• If "Show blocked signal markers" is enabled: a small X marker appears on the chart
• If disabled: the signal is completely hidden
• This is NOT a loss — the signal never qualified to open a trade

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4. Trade Results

Result	Description	Dashboard Label
WIN at TP1/TP2/TP3/TP4	Price reached a take profit level	WIN @ TP1 (green)
LOSS at SL	Price hit the stop loss	LOSS @ SL (red)
TSL HIT	Trailing stop was triggered	TSL HIT (win or loss)
EXPIRED	Entry was never reached in time	EXPIRED (gray)
CANCELLED	Signal was invalidated	CANCELLED (gray)

Note on TSL HIT: Whether the result is a win or loss depends on where the TSL was positioned when triggered. If TSL had already moved beyond the entry level — the result is profitable. If not — the result is a loss, but smaller than the original SL. See the TSL User Guide for full details.

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5. Reading Signals on the Chart

Visual Elements

Element	Description
Green arrow (▲)	BUY signal at the detection candle
Red arrow (▼)	SELL signal at the detection candle
Entry line	Horizontal line at the entry price
SL line	Red horizontal — stop loss (below entry for BUY, above for SELL)
TP1-TP4 lines	Green/blue horizontals — take profit levels
Zone Fill	Colored area between Entry-SL (red tint) and Entry-TP (green tint)
Tracking path	Dotted diagonal line showing price path after entry (if enabled)
Green checkmark	Win outcome marker at the result point
Red X marker	Loss outcome marker at the result point

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6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: Does EXPIRED mean I lost money? No. EXPIRED means price never reached the entry level within the allowed time. No trade was opened — there is no profit or loss.

Q2: Does BLOCKED mean the signal is bad? Not necessarily. BLOCKED means one of the 7 filters rejected the signal because it did not meet the current filter criteria — for example, it was against the trend or scored too low on quality. The pattern itself still exists, but the system decided not to allow a trade.

Q3: Why do I see small X markers on the chart? Those are blocked signal markers. You can turn them off in the indicator settings if you prefer a cleaner chart.

Q4: How many bars does a PENDING signal wait before expiring? The default is 30-50 bars, controlled by the "Pending Expiry" input parameter. You can adjust this in the indicator settings.

Q5: Is TSL HIT a win or a loss? It depends on where the TSL was positioned when price hit it. If TSL had moved past the entry price, the result is a win. Refer to the Trailing Stop Loss User Guide for full details on TSL mechanics.

Q6: Why are there multiple signals on the same instrument? The dashboard shows signals from all scanned timeframes (M5, M15, H1, H4, etc.) simultaneously. Each signal includes its own TF label in the TF column so you can identify which timeframe generated it.

Q7: What does the Quality score mean? Quality (0-100%) measures how cleanly the pattern meets the technical detection criteria. A higher score means the pattern is more textbook — not that it is more likely to win. It is a pattern quality measure, not a win probability.

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7. Usage Tips

Tip 1: Prioritize high-Quality signals Focus on signals with Quality >= 70%. These signals satisfy more technical criteria and are generally stronger pattern formations — though no score guarantees a winning trade.

Tip 2: Do not manually trade EXPIRED or BLOCKED signals The filters exist for a reason. EXPIRED signals may have lost momentum. BLOCKED signals did not pass the system's market condition requirements at that time.

Tip 3: Check the Dashboard before acting The dashboard gives you the full picture — how many signals are ACTIVE, which trades are winning, which timeframes are generating signals. Use this context to inform your decisions rather than acting on individual signals in isolation.

Tip 4: Test Pending Expiry settings before going live Setting "Pending Expiry" too short causes valid signals to expire before price has a chance to reach entry. Test any changes in Strategy Tester before applying them to a live chart.