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Step 3 — Symbol

Step 3 — Symbol

Wizard step

The trading context: broker, segment, instrument, timeframe and session mode. These choices decide what data exists, what order types are available, and when the strategy is permitted to act.

Get this right first

Everything downstream depends on this step. The indicators you can use depend on the the broker provides; the order available depend on the broker; and the timeframe silently determines what your conditions mean — (14) on a 1-minute chart and on a daily chart are different indicators wearing the same name. Settle the context before building signals, not after.

Broker

The broker supplies market and executes orders. It determines which instruments appear in the picker and which order the Entry step will offer.

FieldTypeDescription
broker*stringThe broker or exchange . Determines available segments, instruments and order .

Indian brokers

  • ·Zerodha (NSE, BSE, MCX)
  • ·Fyers (NSE, BSE)
  • ·Angel One (NSE)
  • ·Upstox (NSE, BSE)

Crypto exchanges

  • ·Binance (spot, futures)
  • ·Delta Exchange (futures, options)
  • ·WazirX (spot)
  • ·CoinDCX (spot)

Markets covered

  • ·Equities (cash)
  • ·Equity futures and options
  • ·Commodity futures
  • ·Currency futures
  • ·Crypto spot and futures

Segment and product type

Segment picks the exchange division — equity, commodity, currency. Product type picks what you are actually trading in it: the instrument itself, a dated , or an option contract.

FieldTypeDescription
subAssetType*stringMarket segment — stock (equity cash), commodity (MCX), currency. depend on the selected broker.
productType*"spot" | "futures" | "options"Spot: the instrument directly. : expiry-dated contracts. : strike plus expiry, with call or put.

Instruments

The instrument search finds symbols within the selected broker and segment. need an expiry; additionally need a strike selection rule rather than a strike, so the keeps working as price moves and the at-the-money strike changes.

FieldTypeDefaultDescription
symbols*Symbol[]—Selected instruments. Each carries a symbol name, product type, and for derivatives an expiry, strike type and offset.
symbol.symbol*string—The ticker — NIFTY, RELIANCE, BTCUSDT, BANKNIFTY.
symbol.expirystring (YYYY-MM-DD)—Contract expiry. Required for and .
symbol.strikeType"ATM" | "ITM" | "OTM"—Strike selection rule for , relative to price at signal time rather than at build time.
symbol.strikeLevelOffsetnumber0Strikes away from at-the-money. 0 is ATM, +1 is one strike out of the money, −1 one strike in.

Timeframe

The timeframe is the candle interval the evaluates on. Each bar carries one open, high, low, close and volume, and conditions are checked once per bar at its close. Shorter intervals produce more signals; they do not produce more edge, they produce more noise and more commission.

FieldTypeDescription
timeframe*stringCandle interval: 1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1H, 4H, 1D, 1W, or multi. "tick" evaluates on every trade; "multi" allows analysis.
TIMEFRAME — MORE SIGNALS MEANS MORE NOISE, ALWAYSsignal frequencynoise1m – 5mscalping15m – 1Hintraday4H – 1Dswing1Wpositionala shorter timeframe does not give you a better strategy — it gives you more chances to be wrong per day
Frequency and noise move together. Choosing a timeframe is choosing a point on this trade-off, not escaping it.
BandTypeDescription
1m – 5mscalpingHigh frequency, needs tight spreads and fast . Viable only on genuinely liquid instruments, and commission becomes a first-order cost rather than a rounding error.
15m – 1HintradayThe usual balance of signal quality and frequency, and where most day-trading strategies .
4H – 1DswingMulti-day holds. Smoother signals, fewer false positives, higher conviction per trade — and overnight gap risk.
1WpositionalVery few signals. A whole year produces a sample too to evaluate statistically, so judge these on thesis rather than on backtest .

Session mode

Session mode decides when the is and what happens to open positions at the end of a trading day. It is the difference between a strategy that carries overnight risk and one that does not.

FieldTypeDescription
sessionMode*"continuous" | "intraday" | "positional"Continuous: 24/7, for crypto. Intraday: auto square-off before the ends. Positional: positions carry overnight.
sessionStartstring (HH:MM) open for intraday , pre- from exchange — NSE 09:15, MCX 09:00.
sessionEndstring (HH:MM) close. Positions are force-closed before this. NSE 15:30, MCX 23:30.
What each session mode does at the boundary
CONTINUOUS                  INTRADAY                    POSITIONAL

00:00 ─────────── 24:00     09:15 ─────────── 15:30     day 1 ─────────── day N
│ always evaluating   │     │ open        close │       │ always evaluating   │
│ no session limits   │     │  ▲            ▼   │       │ positions carry over│
│ crypto markets      │     │  force exit 15:25 │       │ no auto square-off  │
│ no gaps             │     │  gaps between     │       │ overnight gaps exist│
│                     │     │  sessions         │       │                     │
!
Caution:In intraday every open position is closed five minutes before the end — 15:25 IST on NSE — regardless of your exit conditions and regardless of whether the trade is winning. A take-profit target wider than a session can travel will be squared off flat instead, every day, and the backtest will show you exactly that if you read the exit-reason column.

Before moving on

  • Broker matches the exchange you actually hold an account with
  • Segment and product type match the instrument you intend to trade
  • For : the expiry is the contract you mean, not last month’s
  • For : strike type and offset set, so the rule survives a price move
  • Timeframe matches the holding the is designed for
  • Session mode chosen deliberately — intraday, continuous, or positional
  • If intraday: start and end verified against the exchange

See also

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