summary: algo templates are ready-made strategy configurations you can load and run without building or optimizing one from scratch. they're available to every subscribed algo user, and they refresh automatically so you're always starting from a recently-optimized version.
what they are
an algo template is a prebuilt configuration for one of edgeful's algos, packaged as a card: the algo, the ticker, the timeframe, and the exact settings, with the backtest behind them attached so you can see what the configuration did before you load it. they're a starting point so you don't have to configure an algo from a blank slate or run the optimizer yourself before you have something to work with.
templates are available to every subscribed algo user. you'll find them on the algo templates page — under tools in the algos sidebar, alongside the algo optimizer and algo analyzer.
how they stay current
templates update on their own. edgeful re-runs the optimizer on the server for every covered ticker across every algo every 2 weeks, and publishes the highest-scoring configuration as that template. each refresh rolls the backtest window forward, so the settings stay tied to how the ticker trades now rather than to a market that has already moved on. the templates page shows when each one was last updated and when the next refresh runs, so you always know how current a template is. you don't have to re-run the optimizer yourself to keep a template current — the refresh happens automatically and you just pick up the latest version.
these aren't edgeful's picks
a template is purely the top-scoring optimizer result on historical data — not a recommendation, a trade call, or edgeful's opinion on what you should trade. it's the same optimizer you can run yourself, run for you on a schedule, with the best-scoring settings published. every optimization runs over a 6-month backtest with 80/20 holdout validation — 80% of the period to find the settings, the remaining 20% held back to check they weren't just curve-fit. treat it as a data-derived starting point, not advice: review the settings, make sure they fit how you trade, and pull your own read before you rely on it.
three things a template specifically is not:
not a trade recommendation. it's the optimizer's strongest run on historical data. whether it fits how you trade is your call, not edgeful's.
not the algo's default settings. templates come out of the optimization process, so an algo running out of the box won't behave like the card — you have to load the template for that.
not live results. every figure on a card is a backtest. fills, slippage, and market conditions will differ going forward.
what's covered
templates cover 12 tickers — six full-size futures (ES, NQ, YM, RTY, GC, CL) and their micros (MES, MNQ, MYM, M2K, MGC, MCL) — across edgeful's ORB, IB, and engulfing algos, including variants like 2 TP and breakeven. filter the catalog by session (NY, London, Asia), ticker or algo to find what you want, and switch between the card grid and a sortable table view. when a ticker-and-algo combination doesn't have a qualifying optimizer result yet, its card shows "no qualifying result yet" instead of a template — check back after the next refresh. for any ticker not on the list — or to tailor a setup to your own window, session, or filters — run the optimizer yourself; see algo optimizer.
using a template
the whole flow, start to finish:
open the templates page and browse the cards — filter by session, ticker or algo to narrow the catalog down
open a card on the ticker and timeframe you actually trade, and read both the settings and the backtest attached to it
load it as-is, or treat it as the starting point and refine it in the algo optimizer — sizing, timeframe, session, and entry/stop rules are all still yours to change. one note on IB: the timeframe on an IB card doesn't change how it trades. IB recognizes the break on a wick and enters on a wick, so there's nothing to match — the optimizer keeps IB on low chart timeframes (1m to 10m), and that's fine for refining any IB template.
backtest whatever you land on against your own account size and risk settings before it goes anywhere near a live account
run it in SIM first. watch it trade for a week or two, and make sure you understand why it's configured the way it is before real money is on the line
once you've settled on a configuration, getting it onto your TradingView indicator and rebuilding the alert is the same handoff as any other settings change — see applying algo settings changes.
ask edgeful AI about a template
open the AI sidebar on the templates page and edgeful AI reads the templates table, so you can ask things like "which NQ template has the most trades?" open a single template and it reads that template's stats and simulations too.
common mistakes
sizing to the card instead of to your account. a card's dollar figures come from a specific contract count. your account size and risk tolerance set your sizing — read the win rate and the trade count first, and the dollars last.
skipping SIM. a template that backtests well still deserves a week or two in SIM so you can see how it behaves in current conditions.
reading the refresh as a signal. the 2-week refresh keeps the settings current with recent data. it isn't a call to enter, exit, or switch tickers.
going live the day you load it. even a validated template deserves the boring route: SIM, then small size, then your full risk plan.
dropping the holdout discipline once you start tweaking. if you refine a template in the optimizer, hold your own runs to the same standard the page uses — settings that only work on the data they were fit to are overfit.
a template gives you a calibrated starting point. it doesn't remove the work of testing it on your own account and risk, and past optimizer performance isn't a promise of future results.