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Quickstart

Write a strategy, define its config, publish it, and run your first backtest.

Seven steps from sign in to a running backtest.

1. Open Strategies

After sign in, the app either lands on Strategies or Runs. If you have no strategies yet, it opens Strategies. Click New Strategy in the top right.

2. Name the strategy

In the left sidebar of the editor, enter a Strategy name. A short description is optional but helpful when you have several.

3. Edit strategy.py

The editor opens with a starter strategy.py. Edit it with your strategy logic, or paste from Strategy Examples if you want a complete starting point. For imports, hook signatures, and available actions, see Strategy SDK. For the lifecycle of a running strategy, see Strategy Protocol.

4. Define strategy parameters

Open Strategy Parameters in the sidebar and define the per-run settings for your strategy: the knobs you want to change from run to run without editing the code, like symbol, size, threshold, or lookback window. Periscøpe turns these into the run config form automatically.

Each parameter has a Type. Generic types (Text, Integer, Decimal, Boolean, Choice) cover most knobs; system types (Symbol, Bar Frequency) add inline validation and pickers to the run form. Use Symbol for any ticker, and Bar Frequency for the bar aggregation. Drag the row handle to reorder; operators see parameters in this order. See Strategies for the full type reference.

5. Publish

Click Publish in the top right. On success the app shows a toast with a Create run action that takes you to a new run preloaded with this strategy version.

6. Create a backtest run

In the Create Run dialog, choose Backtest as the mode, fill in the strategy parameters shown in the form, and save. The run starts in new status.

7. Start and observe

Select the run in the list and click Start Run. Open the Performance tab to watch the portfolio, positions, and order metrics update while it runs. The Issues & Logs tab surfaces classified failures and a tail of strategy logs.

What to do next

  • Strategy Examples has three complete strategies you can paste, publish, and run as a first backtest.
  • Workflow covers the full write, publish, run, observe, refine loop.
  • Runs explains run actions, status meanings, and the tabs in detail.
  • Strategy SDK is the reference you will return to while writing code.
  • AI Assistant shows what the in editor assistant is grounded in and when to use it.