Create a strategy and choose its instruments

Q: What happens while a strategy is being created?

The tiles that create are the four strategy-type tiles and Combined. The one you press shows it is working while the others stop accepting clicks, so one press creates exactly one thing however many times you click, and Create new stays open for the whole request. Single strategy creates nothing on the spot: it opens the four strategy-type tiles, and the tile you pick there creates. Closing the dialog does not cancel the create. Press Esc, click the backdrop or the close button while it runs, and the strategy still exists — What happens when I pick a strategy type from Home? says how to undo it. The toast names what was saved. If you already have an Untitled strategy, the new one is saved as Untitled strategy (1), and the toast says so. The Screener tile creates nothing either, and only Create new in the sidebar shows it. It opens a new screener at once, saved only when you save it; every other route into the dialog offers Single strategy and Combined alone.

Guide4 min5 steps

You create a strategy by picking its strategy type in the Create new popup, adding its instruments, setting what the type requires, and running its first backtest.

Steps

Start a new strategy. Open Single in the sidebar and select New strategy. You need only to be signed in — no existing strategy.
Choose its type. Answer "How do you want to build this strategy?" with Single instrument, Multiple instruments, Screener or Full setup. The first time, the popup also asks "How do you prefer to work?" — Step by step (one chapter at a time, preselected) or All at once (every setting on one page); the answer is stored when the strategy is created and changes only in Profile › Preferences, under How you build strategies.
Add its instruments. The strategy opens in Step by step on its Asset selection chapter — Strategy type already confirmed — or in All at once. Add the instruments, or, on a Screener strategy, define the screener — see Choose the instruments a strategy holds.
Set what your type requires. Allocation splits the capital, Rebalance sets how often, Risk and exits adds a risk condition, which switches between Risk-On and Risk-Off, and exit rules. Single instrument requires none of them and Full setup all of them; skip an optional one with Skip this chapter — see Build a strategy step by step.
Name it and run it. On Summary, set the Strategy name, the Benchmark, the Starting year and, if you like, a description; press Save, then Run the backtest. The Backtest waits for no chapter — only for what the run gate refuses, and the strategy alerts still to decide show on the chapter that resolves each.

Done. The strategy is in your Single library and its backtest is running. You stay where you are: an alert reads Backtest running, with the percentage once known and "You can stay here or keep working.", then Results ready with View results, which opens the strategy's Analysis — CAGR among its first figures. To change it later: Edit a strategy's settings.

Why can't I continue past a chapter?

Because each strategy type requires its own count of instruments or screeners before you can confirm Asset selection or run the backtest. A dialog with OK and Change strategy type shows what is missing:

"Pick exactly 1 instrument." — Single instrument holds exactly one.
"Pick 2 or more instruments." — Multiple instruments needs at least two.
"Add at least 1 screener." — Screener needs at least one.

Add the missing instrument or screener in Asset selection, then continue — or take Change strategy type, which opens Strategy type.

Why won't the Summary accept the name I typed?

Because a strategy name needs at least two characters, and the Summary will not run the backtest with a shorter one. Clear the name or leave one character and the Strategy name field shows "Enter a name of at least 2 characters." under it, and the large button stays unavailable until you type a longer name.

Two characters is what the server requires, so a name this field accepts is one that will save. The name never blocks the backtest otherwise: you can rename the strategy at any time.

What happens while a strategy is being created?

The tiles that create are the four strategy-type tiles and Combined. The one you press shows it is working while the others stop accepting clicks, so one press creates exactly one thing however many times you click, and Create new stays open for the whole request. Single strategy creates nothing on the spot: it opens the four strategy-type tiles, and the tile you pick there creates.

Closing the dialog does not cancel the create. Press Esc, click the backdrop or the close button while it runs, and the strategy still exists — What happens when I pick a strategy type from Home? says how to undo it.
The toast names what was saved. If you already have an Untitled strategy, the new one is saved as Untitled strategy (1), and the toast says so.
The Screener tile creates nothing either, and only Create new in the sidebar shows it. It opens a new screener at once, saved only when you save it; every other route into the dialog offers Single strategy and Combined alone.

What does the Combined tile do?

It saves a real Combined and opens it, like the strategy tiles. It is the one tile that can answer "not yet": with no strategies of your own to combine, it opens a screen inside the Combined flow that reads "A Combined blends your own strategies — you have none yet. Create one to start." with a Create a strategy first button, which takes you to the strategy-type tiles; Back returns you to the Combined screen. Nothing is created until you actually create a strategy of your own. How a Combined is built: Build a Combined step by step.

Next →Build a strategy step by step

UPDATED 2026-10-07REVIEWED 2026-10-07