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---
title: Strategy Development
description: Build, test, and deploy JSON-defined trading strategies
---

A strategy is a named, versioned set of trading rules stored as a JSON definition. The platform evaluates your conditions against real-time indicator values and generates orders automatically — no code required to run a strategy.

---

## What Strategies Are

Every strategy is a JSON document that describes:

- **Which pairs to trade** — one or more USDT pairs (e.g. `BTCUSDT`, `ETHUSDT`)
- **What timeframe** — the candle interval used to compute indicators
- **Entry conditions** — rules that must ALL be true before entering a position
- **Exit conditions** — rules where ANY one triggers a position close
- **Position sizing** — how much equity to allocate per position
- **Position limit** — how many positions to hold simultaneously

The platform's `StrategyExecutor` evaluates these rules against live indicator values computed by the `IndicatorEngine` (pure numpy — no external TA-Lib dependency). When entry conditions align, it places buy orders. When any exit condition fires, it places sell orders and updates trailing stop levels.

---

## Strategy Lifecycle

```
draft → testing → validated → deployed → archived
                                  ↓
                              undeploy → validated
```

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| `draft` | Just created — not yet tested |
| `testing` | A test run is in progress |
| `validated` | At least one test run has completed |
| `deployed` | Actively evaluating conditions and placing orders |
| `archived` | Soft-deleted — no longer active |

A strategy moves from `draft` to `testing` automatically when you start a test run. After the test completes it becomes `validated`. You can only deploy from `validated`. To archive a deployed strategy, undeploy it first.

> **Info:**
> Strategy versions are immutable. You never overwrite a version — you always create a new one. This means you always have a full audit trail.

---

## Strategy Definition Schema

```json
{
  "pairs": ["BTCUSDT", "ETHUSDT"],
  "timeframe": "1h",
  "entry_conditions": {
    "rsi_below": 30,
    "macd_cross_above": true,
    "adx_above": 25
  },
  "exit_conditions": {
    "stop_loss_pct": 3,
    "take_profit_pct": 8,
    "trailing_stop_pct": 2,
    "max_hold_candles": 48
  },
  "position_size_pct": 10,
  "max_positions": 3
}
```

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `pairs` | `string[]` | Yes | One or more USDT trading pair symbols |
| `timeframe` | `string` | Yes | Candle interval: `1m`, `5m`, `15m`, `1h`, `4h`, or `1d` |
| `entry_conditions` | `object` | Yes | All non-null conditions must be true to enter |
| `exit_conditions` | `object` | Yes | Any condition triggers exit |
| `position_size_pct` | `number` | Yes | Percent of equity to allocate per position (1–100) |
| `max_positions` | `number` | Yes | Maximum simultaneous open positions (1–50) |

---

## A Complete Example

This strategy buys BTC and ETH when RSI is oversold, the MACD has just turned bullish, and the trend is strong. It exits via a stop-loss, take-profit, or if the position stagnates for more than 48 candles.

```json
{
  "pairs": ["BTCUSDT", "ETHUSDT"],
  "timeframe": "1h",
  "entry_conditions": {
    "rsi_below": 30,
    "macd_cross_above": true,
    "adx_above": 25,
    "volume_above_ma": 1.3
  },
  "exit_conditions": {
    "stop_loss_pct": 3,
    "take_profit_pct": 8,
    "trailing_stop_pct": 2,
    "max_hold_candles": 48
  },
  "position_size_pct": 10,
  "max_positions": 3
}
```

Create this via REST:

```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/v1/strategies \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JWT" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "RSI Oversold + MACD",
    "description": "Buy oversold dips with trend confirmation",
    "definition": { ... }
  }'
```

Response:

```json
{
  "strategy_id": "strat_abc123",
  "name": "RSI Oversold + MACD",
  "status": "draft",
  "current_version": 1,
  "created_at": "2026-03-01T10:00:00Z"
}
```

---

## Entry Conditions — AND Logic

All 12 entry condition keys use AND logic. Every non-null condition must evaluate to `true` for the entry signal to fire. Set a key to `null` (or omit it) to ignore it.

See the [Indicators](/docs/strategies/indicators) page for a detailed breakdown of each condition, what it measures, and example values.

---

## Exit Conditions — OR Logic

Any single exit condition firing closes the position immediately. The priority order when multiple conditions trigger on the same candle is:

```
stop_loss → take_profit → trailing_stop → max_hold_candles → indicator exits
```

This means a stop-loss always takes priority over a take-profit if both conditions are met on the same candle (this should not happen in practice but defines the tiebreak).

See the [Indicators](/docs/strategies/indicators) page for all 7 exit condition keys.

---

## Versioning

Each `PUT` to `/strategies/{id}/versions` creates a new immutable version:

```python
from agentexchange import AgentExchangeClient

client = AgentExchangeClient(api_key="ak_live_...")

v2 = client.create_version(
    strategy_id="strat_abc123",
    definition={
        "pairs": ["BTCUSDT", "ETHUSDT"],
        "timeframe": "1h",
        "entry_conditions": {"rsi_below": 25, "macd_cross_above": True, "adx_above": 28},
        "exit_conditions": {"stop_loss_pct": 2, "take_profit_pct": 6, "trailing_stop_pct": 1.5},
        "position_size_pct": 8,
        "max_positions": 3
    },
    change_notes="Tightened RSI threshold and stop-loss based on test results"
)
# v2["version"] == 2
```

Versions are never deleted. The `current_version` field on the strategy points to the latest version, but you can deploy any version by number.

---

## REST API Reference

| Method | Path | Description |
|--------|------|-------------|
| `POST` | `/api/v1/strategies` | Create a strategy |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/strategies` | List strategies (paginated) |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}` | Get detail, definition, and latest test results |
| `PUT` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}` | Update name or description |
| `DELETE` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}` | Archive (soft-delete) |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}/versions` | Create a new version |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}/versions` | List all versions |
| `GET` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}/versions/{v}` | Get a specific version |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}/deploy` | Deploy a version to live |
| `POST` | `/api/v1/strategies/{id}/undeploy` | Stop live execution |

All endpoints require `Authorization: Bearer {jwt}` or `X-API-Key`.

---

## Next Steps

- [Built-in Indicators](/docs/strategies/indicators) — all 7 indicators, conditions, and example values
- [Strategy Testing](/docs/strategies/testing) — multi-episode testing and the recommendation engine
- [Deploying Strategies](/docs/strategies/deployment) — versioning, monitoring, and rematches