💨Quickstart
Optimise your first strategy in just a few minutes
Follow these steps to optimise your first strategy:
1. Load a TradingView Chart & Strategy
After installing The Optimiser,
Open TradingView and select a strategy (not an indicator).
Ensure the strategy is active on your chart, so The Optimiser can detect its parameters (settings).
2. Open The Optimiser
Click the Optimiser's icon in your browser, while on the TradingView chart.
You’ll see several tabs (e.g., Backtesting Parameters, Strategy Backtest, etc.).
3. Save Parameters to the Optimiser
Go to the Backtesting Parameters tab.
Click Get Parameters to save all adjustable parameters of your strategy to the Optimiser. This will also download a CSV listing these parameters.
You will see a success message indicating that parameters have been successfully saved.
Refresh the browser page if nothing happens after clicking Get Parameters
Now, you can either choose to optimize all parameters or select which ones to optimize. If you'd like to optimize all parameters skip the next step.
Optimizing all parameters at once is not recommended, especially for users with weaker computers, as it can be very computationally intensive.
It is often better to optimize bit by bit (in "blocks") as it is not only less demanding but offers greater insight into the effect of the various parameters.
4. Edit and Upload Parameters (Optional)
Open the CSV file and edit it as desired—leaving only the rows of parameters you want to optimize, while deleting the rest.
If the CSV doesn't appear correctly formatted (for example, using commas instead of semicolons), in your spreadsheet editor, go to the Data tab, then select Text to Columns to adjust the delimiters.
Editing the CSV
The CSV file has eight different columns which can be edited to adjust The Optimiser's behavior.
These columns represent the settings used for each parameter.
Here's a quick rundown of what they mean.
CSV file Columns/Settings
Parameter: The name of the parameter, corresponding to the setting in TradingView (e.g. “Stop Loss Long %”).
From: The minimum value for this parameter.
To: The maximum value for this parameter.
Step: The increment size used while testing. For example, if step is 0.1 and from is 0.5, it will move in 0.5, 0.6, 0.7… up to the to value.
Default: The parameter’s current default value in TradingView.
Priority: A number indicating the level of priority of the parameter .
Conditions: Optional constraints (e.g. <, >, =, etc.) to avoid unwanted results.
Source: This is what the parameter is compared against under the provided condition. For instance, So if your condition is < and your parameter is “Stop Loss Long %” while the source is “Take Profit Long %,” it filters for cases where the stop-loss percentage is lower than the take-profit percentage.
Return to the Backtesting Parameters tab in The Optimiser.
Click Upload Parameters and select your edited CSV.
The Optimiser will now optimize only the uploaded parameters.
5. Select your Strategy Optimization Parameters
Switch to the Strategy Backtest tab.
Tweak the Strategy Optimization Parameters settings to determine what to optimize for, such as max net profit, minimum drawdown, etc.
You can also set filters and choose a preferred search method to further fine-tune results.
6. Run the Test & Review Results
Click Test Strategy to launch the optimization.
Choose the number of test cycles (the suggested number—44 in the case below—is a good minimum target) then click Save & Run.
For best results, choose at least a few hundred test cycles.
When it completes, a CSV of the test results is downloaded (which logs each test iteration) with the best settings automatically applied to your TradingView strategy.
At any time, you can use the Download results button under the Strategy Backtest tab to download the last test results.
7. Re-upload Preferred Settings (Optional)
You can also Sort or filter the downloaded CSV to find the best settings to maximise a preferred outcome, such as max drawdown, average winning trade, etc.
If desired, re-upload the downloaded CSV with your desired “best” row (delete all other rows) to automatically set those parameters in TradingView.
To do this, click the Strategy Settings button in TradingView then the Upload Icon as shown below.
Always double-check applied settings after an upload, especially if they've not been used for a while or you got them from someone else as parameter names could have changed!
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