How a strategy starts and continues

An activation is one occasion on which a strategy evaluates an executable path. Every valid strategy has exactly one primary activation appropriate to its mode. The canvas is a diagram of possible behavior, not a list of steps that execute left to right simply because they are drawn that way.

Primary activation

A Tactical graph uses Event Trigger. A Portfolio graph uses Schedule Trigger as its primary activation. Safety Trigger is an auxiliary guard for bounded emergency paths; it does not replace Schedule Trigger or create another general entry point. A newly created graph already has its primary activation. Adding or duplicating a second primary is disabled; it does not replace the existing node. Use the explicit Replace primary action when you need to replace it. The last primary cannot be deleted.

For example, an Event Trigger configured for a bar close can start a Tactical evaluation whenever the selected market bar closes. A bar is price information for one time interval; a one-minute bar represents that interval, not a promise of one Alert per minute. A Schedule Trigger starts Portfolio evaluation according to its configured schedule. The validation area reports a missing or invalid primary.

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Explore an illustrative replay

Understand primary activation, control outcomes, and why data alone does not execute an action.

Exercise steps

1. Move forward and backward through the fixed illustrative sequence.
2. Inspect the current node and captured values. This read-only trace does not execute your edits.

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Control outcomes

Control connections determine what can run next. A Condition, for example, can continue through Match or No Match. An action connected to Match runs only when that outcome is selected.

A path can branch and later converge through a suitable node, but it cannot form a cycle. If Condition.Left is 58 and its operator is > with a literal right value of 60, No Match is selected. If Left is 62, Match is selected. An Alert connected only to Match runs on the latter path; the order of node placement on screen does not change this. With > the condition can match on several consecutive evaluations; it is not a crossing detector.

Order submits a request and exposes immediate submission outcomes. It does not itself mean that the order filled. Await Order Event can continue the originating path when a later order lifecycle event occurs. Delay likewise resumes a path after waiting; neither creates a second primary activation.

Data does not start a path

Data connections provide values to inputs. They do not continue the control path. In the RSI Starter, the Indicator provides a value to Condition, but Event Trigger still provides the control arrival that causes Condition to evaluate.

For an executable node such as Condition or Alert, inspect its control input. Data-only nodes such as Data Source and Indicator are evaluated as dependencies and do not need control connections. Use this three-part check when nothing happens: (1) Does the primary reach the intended node through control edges? (2) Are its required active data inputs connected or configured with a valid literal? (3) Does the outcome you connected actually occur? A valid graph can still produce no alert in a chosen Backtest window if its condition never matches.