Init

What is it?

The Init method is called once, right when your custom strategy is created or loaded onto the chart. This is where you set everything up — like naming your strategy, creating buffers, creating parameters and registering them, and more.

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Syntax

public Init(): void {
    // initialization logic here
}

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What Happens in Init

This method is like a constructor for your strategy. Here’s what usually happens inside:

• Set the name and description of the strategy

• Create buffers that store the calculated values

• Create and register input parameters

• Set the number of plots, line types, and other configurations

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Example

export default class MACrossoverStrategy extends StrategyImplementation {
  public LotSize!: TOptValue_number;
  public MAFastPeriod!: TOptValue_number;
  public MASlowPeriod!: TOptValue_number;
  public MAMethod!: TOptValue_number;
  public MagicNumber!: TOptValue_number;

  private lastBarTime!: FTODate;

  public Init() {
    // strategy info
    this.api.setStrategyShortName("MA Crossover Strategy");
    this.api.setStrategyDescription(
      "A strategy that opens and closes positions based on the crossover of two moving averages."
    );

    // initialize and register options
    this.LotSize = this.api.createTOptValue_number(0.1);
    this.MAFastPeriod = this.api.createTOptValue_number(14);
    this.MASlowPeriod = this.api.createTOptValue_number(50);
    this.MAMethod = this.api.createTOptValue_number(0);
    this.MagicNumber = this.api.createTOptValue_number(123456);
    // register options
    this.api.RegOption("Lot size", TOptionType.DOUBLE, this.LotSize);
    this.api.RegOption(
      "Fast MA Period",
      TOptionType.INTEGER,
      this.MAFastPeriod
    );
    this.api.RegOption(
      "Slow MA Period",
      TOptionType.INTEGER,
      this.MASlowPeriod
    );
    this.api.RegMATypeOption(this.MAMethod, "MA Method");
    this.api.RegOption("Magic Number", TOptionType.INTEGER, this.MagicNumber);

    // initialize global variables
    this.lastBarTime = this.api.createFTODate(0);
  }

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Why It Matters

• Without Init, your strategy won`t have any parameters to work with.

• Think of it as your setup stage — it only runs once when the strategy is loaded.

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Pro Tip

Avoid heavy calculations or per-bar logic here. Use OnTick() for that. Init is only for defining the structure and settings of the strategy.