Strategy Finder — Backtest at Scale
Strategy Finder is a Chrome extension that drives TradingView's built-in Strategy Tester automatically. You point it at the inputs you want to optimize, define ranges, choose a search mode (exhaustive Sequential or heuristic Smart), and it iterates through combinations and ranks them by net profit, win rate, or profit factor — with a drawdown filter so you don't end up backtest-overfit. Available with any TVH subscription, or lifetime free by linking a fresh Bybit account.
What it does
The extension automates the parameter-sweep workflow that TradingView users normally do by hand: changing one input, clicking Generate Report, writing down the numbers, changing the next input, and so on. Strategy Finder runs that loop for you, at scale, and records every result.
- You attach a Pine strategy to a chart.
- You tell Strategy Finder which inputs to vary and over what ranges.
- It iterates through combinations through TradingView's Strategy Tester.
- It logs the key metrics for every combination into a sortable table.
- You sort by the metric that matters to you, optionally filter by drawdown, and one-click load the best settings back into the strategy.
Metrics tracked per run
| Metric | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Net profit | Total currency P&L across the test window | Headline number — but trivially gameable by long-only on a bull market |
| Percent profitable | Win rate | Watch for win rates so high they imply lookahead bias |
| Profit factor | Gross profits / gross losses | Ratio above 1.5 is generally good; below 1.0 is a losing system |
| Max drawdown | Largest peak-to-trough equity drop | The single most important risk metric — filter on this first |
| Total trades | Number of trades closed | Sample size; below 30-50 trades the results are statistically noisy |
Features at a glance
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Search criterion | Optimize for net profit, win rate, or profit factor |
| Drawdown filter | Exclude combinations whose max drawdown exceeds your threshold |
| Wait function | Configurable delay between backtests to stay friendly to TradingView's UI |
| Sequential Mode | Exhaustive grid — tests every combination |
| Smart Mode | Heuristic sweep — finds good combinations quickly on large grids |
| CSV export | Dump every result row for spreadsheet analysis |
| Save / Load configs | Reuse a search setup across symbols and timeframes |
| One-click jump | Click any row to apply its parameters back to the strategy |
Installation
- Open Chrome (or any Chromium browser).
- Visit the Chrome Web Store listing.
- Click Add to Chrome and confirm permissions.
- Pin the extension to the toolbar.
Activation
| Path | What you need | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Paid TVH subscription | Any active TVH plan | Bundled |
| Bybit Free Tier | Fresh Bybit account via TVH referral, KYC, deposit, link API key | Free for life |
The Free Tier flow is documented in detail on the Free Tier page.
How to use it the first time
- Open a TradingView chart.
- Apply the Pine strategy you want to optimize (it must be a
strategy()script, not astudy()/indicator()). - Make sure the Strategy Tester pane is visible at the bottom.
- Click the Strategy Finder extension icon — its side panel opens.
- The panel reads the strategy's inputs and lets you choose which ones to vary, with min / max / step for each.
- Pick your search criterion (e.g. net profit) and drawdown filter (e.g. ≤ 20%).
- Click Start — the extension iterates through combinations, logging each run.
Results stream into a sortable table inside the panel. You can sort by any metric column, filter rows, and click a row to push those settings back into the Pine strategy.
Choosing between Sequential and Smart
| Mode | How it works | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential | Tests every combination in the parameter grid | Small grid (under a few thousand combinations), or you need a guaranteed global optimum |
| Smart | Iteratively optimizes one input at a time, keeping the best value, then moves on; repeats for N rounds | Large grid (10k+ combinations), or you want a fast first pass |
A worked example and the exact algorithm of Smart Mode are on the Search Modes page.
Reading the results
The result table lists one row per combination. You can:
- Sort by any column — net profit, drawdown, profit factor, win rate, trade count.
- Filter by drawdown threshold (also enforced during the run if you set the drawdown filter upfront).
- One-click apply any row's parameters back to the strategy on the chart.
- CSV export — download every row for analysis in Excel, Google Sheets, or pandas.
Combining with TVH automation
Strategy Finder doesn't trade. It surfaces the best parameters; live execution still goes through TVH's webhook pipeline.
The end-to-end workflow:
- Use Strategy Finder to discover good parameters for a Pine strategy.
- Hard-code those values into your Pine inputs (or keep them as defaults).
- Add a
strategy.orderalert that emits JSON via the{{strategy.order.alert_message}}placeholder. - Build the JSON payload in the Trade Command Builder and paste it into the Pine
alert_messageargument. - Create the TradingView alert and point it at your TVH webhook URL.
- Track live performance in the TVH dashboard.
See Strategy Alerts for the Pine-side wiring.