What a Rules strategy is

A Rules strategy is a workflow built from Strategy nodes: indicators feed rules, the rules chain into sizing, and the chain ends at an Output.

A graph with an Entry Rule or Program and an Output declaring symbol, action and asOf is a strategy once saved; see Saving a strategy.

Your first strategy walks through a golden cross node by node.

Where the nodes are

In the workflow editor's Nodes panel, the rule cards and Program sit in the Strategy section, Input under Data Sources and Output under Core.

Wire the chain Entry Rule, Exit Rules, Position Sizing, then Output. A backtest finds the Input and every rule, sizing and filter node by type. Only the first Input, Position Sizing, Regime Filter or Risk Guard node applies, and the run names any it ignored.

Universe: the Input node

The Input node names what the strategy trades. Set Source to Universe (a screener candidate pool). A universe holds at most 500 symbols.

  • Universe preset: the list to trade. Two S&P 500 lists: the full index slice of 499 names, which is the default, and the top 129 by market cap, marked faster. Then NASDAQ 100, Dow 30 and Custom list (use field below). Orbital maintains the lists by hand, so they can lag recent index changes.
  • Custom tickers (preset = "Custom"): your own tickers, separated by commas, read only with the custom list.
  • Exclude tickers already on watchlist (optional): a backtest ignores it and trades every ticker in the preset or custom list.

Source can instead be Asset, Watchlist or Book, and a backtest ignores Subject source; see Set what a run works on.

Indicator

An Indicator node computes one series over the bars you pick. Wire it into the rules that read it, or give it a Reference name and name it in a condition. An Indicator no rule reads is not computed, and the run says so.

  • Indicator: the kind of series, SMA by default:
    • SMA, EMA (seeded with an SMA), RSI (with Wilder smoothing) and ATR, on any bars.
    • Avg volume (mean shares traded), Rel volume (today's shares divided by the average) and Return over N bars (percent change over the period), on daily bars only.
    • Rel vol at time: relative volume against this minute's own baseline, on 1-minute bars only. The period is fixed at 20 sessions.
  • Timeframe: the bars it reads. Daily bars is the default. Hourly bars, 3-minute bars, 2-minute bars and 1-minute bars are intraday.
  • Period (bars): the lookback window, in bars of the chosen timeframe, from 1 to 500. The default is 20.
  • Reference name: the handle a condition uses, such as rsi14: a letter, then letters, numbers, underscores and hyphens, up to 32 characters. Leave it blank if the indicator is only wired.

An intraday timeframe on any Indicator makes the whole strategy intraday. It then backtests on the minute tape and cannot be deployed to alerts.

The Entry Rule node

An Entry Rule opens a position when its conditions hold at a bar close, and by default the order fills at the next bar's open; see When trades happen. Several Entry Rule nodes are alternatives: any one of them can open a position.

Wire Indicator A when the first value is the wired indicator, and Indicator B when the rule compares against a second indicator.

  • Rule name: names the rule. Each trade records it, and the connector's get_backtest_trades returns it as source, but the Trades tab has no column for it.
  • Direction: Buy (long), the default, or Sell short. A strategy that sells short needs Margin account on in the Run dialog, or the run is refused.
  • First value: what the condition tests: The wired indicator (input A), The price or A fixed value. The price adds a choice of Close, Open, High or Low.
  • Fires when the first value…: Crosses above, Crosses below, Is greater than, Is at or above, Is less than or Is at or below.
  • Compare against: The second indicator (input B), The price or A fixed value. The price adds a Price field; a fixed value adds Value, the threshold, such as 30 for an RSI floor.
  • Fires when this is NOT true: wraps the condition in a NOT. Not above the 200-day differs from below it on a bar sitting on the line, and on any bar the indicator has no value for.
  • The conditions below…: how the rule joins all its conditions, the first one included: ALL of them must hold, the default, or ANY one of them is enough. ANY keeps the alternatives on one node under one Rule name.
  • And also…: extra conditions. Add condition adds a row: a NOT toggle, what to test (an indicator by its Reference name, the price or a fixed number), a trigger and what to compare against. A row is saved once it is complete.

The panel reads the rule back as a sentence, such as Buys when RSI(14) crosses below 30.

The Exit Rules node

An Exit Rules node says how positions close, with any combination of the exits below. Several Exit Rules nodes are alternatives: any one of them closes the position. A signal exit needs its indicators wired as an Entry Rule does; a stop, target or time stop needs none.

  • Signal exit (the label goes on: fires when the first value…): No signal exit is the default. Its triggers and its other fields work as on the Entry Rule.
  • Stop loss: No stop loss, Percent below entry or ATR multiple below entry.
  • Stop distance (%): with a percent stop, 10 by default.
  • ATR multiple and ATR period (bars): with an ATR stop, 2 and 14 by default. The distance is fixed at entry and does not widen as volatility moves.
  • Profit target (%), Trailing stop (%) and Time stop (bars): blank for none. A trailing stop trails the best price seen; a time stop exits at the open after this many completed bars.

A strategy has one stop loss, one profit target, one trailing stop and one time stop. Two Exit Rules nodes that both set one are refused; keep it on one node. A strategy with no exits at all keeps every position open to the end of the run, and the run warns you. When trades happen covers how stops fill.

The Position Sizing node

Position Sizing sets how big each position is; see position sizing. The Sizing method decides what Amount means:

  • Percent of equity, the default: percent of equity per position, 10 by default.
  • Risk percent (needs a stop): percent of equity risked per trade, against the stop distance. It needs a stop loss on Exit Rules; a trailing stop does not count.
  • Fixed share count or Fixed dollar amount: shares or dollars per position.
  • The program decides, within a range (Code strategies): for a Program only. Amount gives way to Smallest position (% of equity), default 25, and Largest position (% of equity), default 100.

A strategy with no Position Sizing node sizes every position at 10% of equity, and the run warns you. The program-chosen range on a Rules strategy is refused.

The Session Filter node

Session Filter has one field, Session, with one option: Regular hours only (09:30–16:00 ET). Every backtest already trades regular hours only, so the node states the intent without changing the run.

The Regime Filter node

Regime Filter gates every entry on a trend test of the symbol being traded: its own price against its own moving average of daily closes. It reads no index such as SPY, and needs no wires.

  • Only trade when: Price is above the moving average (uptrend), the default, or Price is below the moving average (downtrend).
  • Moving average period (bars): a whole number from 2 to 500. The default is 200.

With a Program the filter does not apply, and the run says the node was ignored.

The Risk Guard node

Risk Guard caps how many times one symbol may be entered on the same side. Its one field is Max entries per symbol: a whole number from 1 to 10, default 1. The value 1 opens once and never adds; 3 allows two adds. With a Program the guard does not apply.

Program

A Program node replaces the Entry Rule and Exit Rules nodes with compiled Rust code; see Program strategies.

The Output node

The Output node ends the chain and declares the signal columns.

  1. Wire it

    Wire Position Sizing into the Output's Data input.

  2. Untick the schema

    In its settings, untick Use upstream schema.

  3. Add the columns

    Click Add column three times. Name the columns symbol, action and asOf, with the types string, string and timestamp.

On the canvas the node then reads Produces trade signals. Orbital checks the three names, not their types.

Parameters a run can vary

A parameter is one setting a backtest may change without editing the strategy. The same idea tested on daily bars and on 1-minute bars stays one strategy with one history. A strategy may declare up to 20.

The choices a parameter offers come from the last saved version of the graph. The workflow must already be a strategy, and the Backtesting app must be on in the project. Only project editors and above can add, edit or remove a parameter.

  1. Open the settings

    Click Workflow settings (the gear) in the editor, then find Parameters in the Workflow Settings dialog.

  2. Pick a kind

    Click A bar to test on or A number to vary. A strategy can have one bar parameter.

  3. Name it

    Name is how runs and reports refer to it. Label is what the Run dialog calls it.

  4. Set its range

    For a bar: The bar this strategy is written in (the indicators reading it are the ones a run retimes) and Bars it may be tested on. For a number: The setting it changes, Lowest, Highest, Starting value and Whole numbers only.

  5. Save it

    Click Add parameter. The row shows its kind, Bar or Number, with Edit and Remove.

A number parameter offers only the settings its node currently uses. If the graph changes under a parameter, its row reads No longer matches the graph and offers Fix.

In the Run dialog, declared parameters appear under This strategy’s settings. Through the Orbital AI connector, Claude declares parameters when it saves a strategy and supplies values with run_backtest. It can also declare a Choice parameter, a list of allowed values, which the editor lists with Remove but no Edit. See Run a backtest and Versions and configurations.