FVG Retest Engine
Complete User Manual

The FVG Retest Engine is a TradingView indicator that tells you when to buy (go long) or sell (go short) a cryptocurrency. It does this by combining three powerful ideas from professional trading:

In plain language: the indicator waits for a trend change, finds a price gap in the direction of the new trend, then waits for price to come back and touch that gap. When all conditions line up, it gives you a signal with exact entry price, stop-loss, and three take-profit targets.

🕯️ 2.1 — What Is a Candlestick?

Each bar on your chart is called a candlestick. On a 15-minute chart, each candle represents 15 minutes of price action. A candle has four parts: the Open (where price started), Close (where it ended), High (the highest point), and Low (the lowest point).

The thick part is called the "body" (between open and close). The thin lines above and below are called "wicks" (showing the high and low extremes).

A 🟢 green (bullish) candle means price went up (close > open). A 🔴 red (bearish) candle means price went down (close < open).

📐 2.2 — What Is Market Structure?

Market structure is the pattern of "swing highs" and "swing lows" that price creates. A swing high is a peak — a point where price went up, then reversed and came back down. A swing low is a valley — a point where price went down, then reversed and came back up.

🔲 2.3 — What Is a Fair Value Gap (FVG)?

A Fair Value Gap is a three-candle pattern where the middle candle moved so aggressively that a gap is left between candle 1 and candle 3:

🟢 Bullish FVG: The low of candle 3 is higher than the high of candle 1, and the middle candle was bullish. This creates a gap where price is "missing."

🔴 Bearish FVG: The high of candle 3 is lower than the low of candle 1, and the middle candle was bearish.

Think of FVGs as "unfinished business" — the market moved too fast and often returns to these zones. 🧲

🔁 2.4 — What Is a Retest?

A retest happens when price returns to a significant zone (like an FVG) after moving away from it. After a trend change (CHoCH or BOS), price often pulls back to the FVG zone before continuing in the new direction. This pullback is the ideal entry point because it offers a better price with a well-defined stop-loss.

🛡️ 2.5 — What Are Stop-Loss (SL) and Take-Profit (TP)?

Stop-Loss (SL) is the price level where you automatically exit a losing trade to limit your loss. If you buy at $100 and set SL at $98, you lose a maximum of 2%.

Take-Profit (TP) is the price level where you automatically exit a winning trade to lock in profit. This indicator uses three TP levels (TP1, TP2, TP3) and closes a portion of your position at each one.

Breakeven (BE) means moving your stop-loss to your entry price after TP1 is hit. This way, even if price reverses after TP1, you lose nothing on the remaining position. 🙌

⚡ 2.6 — What Are Leverage and Margin?

Margin is the actual money you put up for a trade. Leverage multiplies your exposure. With $1,000 margin and 10x leverage, you control a $10,000 position. If price moves 1% in your favor, you earn $100 (10% of your margin). But if it moves 1% against you, you lose $100.

📏 2.7 — What Is ATR (Average True Range)?

ATR measures how much price moves on average over a period (default: 14 candles). If BTC has an ATR of $500 on the 15-minute chart, that means BTC typically moves about $500 per candle. The indicator uses ATR to measure volatility and automatically adjust its parameters — this is the core of the adaptive engine. 🧠

Follow these steps to add the indicator to your chart:

1. 🌐 Open TradingView (tradingview.com) and log in to your account. You need at least a free account, but a paid plan (Essential or higher) is recommended for real-time data.
2. 🪙 Open a crypto chart. In the search bar at the top, type the pair you want (e.g., BTCUSDT, ETHUSDT, or SOLUSDT). Select the Bybit version if available.
3. ⏱️ Set the timeframe to 15 minutes (15M). Click on the timeframe selector at the top of the chart and choose "15" or "15m".
4. 📊 Click "Indicators" (the icon that looks like a wave or "fx" at the top of the chart).
5. 🔍 In the search box, type "FVG Retest Engine" or "WillyAlgoTrader". Look for the indicator titled "FVG Retest Engine | SMC Strategy [WillyAlgoTrader]".
6. ➕ Click on it to add it to your chart. You should see it appear as an overlay on your candlestick chart.
7. ⚙️ Click the gear icon (or double-click the indicator name) to open the settings panel. This is where you will enter the preset values described in Chapter 8.

The indicator runs through a strict sequence of checks on every candle. A signal only fires when ALL conditions are met:

1. 📏 Measure Volatility — Calculates ATR over 14 candles, divides by current price to get "ATR%" — a normalized volatility measure. Computes percentile rank over lookback period (default 200 bars). Result: 0–1 scale (0 = calmest, 1 = wildest).
2. 🎛️ Set All Adaptive Parameters — Using the 0–1 volatility rank, interpolates between min/max for each adaptive parameter. Example: SP min=6, max=18, rank=0.5 → SP = 12.
3. 📐 Detect Market Structure — Finds swing highs/lows using adaptive Structure Period. Identifies bullish breaks (above swing high) and bearish breaks (below swing low). Breaks against previous trend = CHoCH.
4. 🔫 Arm the Retest Engine — Valid structure break + no active trade → "armed" state. Engine starts scanning for a matching FVG. Has adaptive timeout — resets if no valid retest found within Max Bars window.
5. 🔲 Find and Score FVGs — Scans all stored FVGs for: matching direction, within max distance, above min size. Scores each based on proximity, penetration depth, size relative to ATR. Highest-scoring FVG is selected.
6. ✅ Confirm the Retest — Price must interact with the selected FVG zone according to the chosen confirmation method (Body Touch, Wick Touch, Close Inside, or Body or Wick) within adaptive touch tolerance.
7. 🧪 Apply Filters — Volume Filter: current volume > average. DI Filter: directional indicator favors trade direction. MTF Filter: higher timeframe trend agrees.
8. 🚀 Fire the Signal — If everything passes → LONG or SHORT label on chart, draws TP1/TP2/TP3 and SL lines, starts managing the trade. TP levels = ATR × VM × coefficient (0.8 / 1.5 / 2.5).

🏷️ 5.1 — Entry Labels

"LONG ↻" (green label) — a confirmed buy signal. The ↻ symbol means it is a retest entry. Below: FVG age, SP value, Touch Tolerance, Volatility Multiplier, Guaranteed Stop %, and star rating.

"SHORT ↻" (red label) — a confirmed sell signal with the same additional information.

📏 5.2 — Trade Lines

🏁 5.3 — Close Labels

"SL" (red) = closed at stop-loss  |  "BE" (blue) = closed at breakeven  |  "3 TP [✓]" (green) = all three TPs hit — full win! 🎉

📝 5.4 — Trade Summary Label

When a trade closes, a detailed summary appears at the entry bar: opening date/time, total profit in USD, and each level (SL, TP1, TP2, TP3) with % and checkmark if hit.

📊 5.5 — Information Tables

⭐ 5.6 — Star Rating

Each signal gets a strength score from 1 to 4 stars:

⭐ Retest event confirmed (+1)  |  ⭐ ADX + DI alignment (+1)  |  ⭐ HTF trend agreement (+1)  |  ⭐ Volume confirmation (+1)

More stars = higher confidence. Aim to take trades with 3+ stars whenever possible. 🎯

The core innovation of this indicator is that 8 parameters automatically change based on market volatility. Here is why each one matters and how it adapts:

📐 Structure Period (SP)

Controls how many candles are used to identify swing highs and lows. A smaller SP (e.g., 5–7) detects swings faster — good for volatile markets where trends change quickly. A larger SP (e.g., 14–15) filters out noise — good for calm markets.

🎯 Touch Tolerance (TT)

Defines how close price must get to the FVG zone to count as a "touch". A tight tolerance (0.025%) requires near-exact contact. A wide tolerance (0.1%) allows more room.

📏 Min FVG Size

Filters out FVGs that are too small to be meaningful. In volatile markets, small FVGs are noise. In calm markets, even small FVGs can be valid.

🛡️ Guaranteed Stop %

Sets a minimum distance from entry to stop-loss. In volatile markets, price swings are larger and a tight stop gets hit by normal noise.

⚡ Volatility Multiplier (VM)

Scales the TP/SL distances. In volatile markets, price can travel further, so targets should be wider.

⏳ Max Bars to Wait

How many candles the engine waits for a retest after a structure break. Fast markets produce quick retests; slow markets need more time.

📍 Max FVG Distance

How far back (in bars) an FVG can be from the structure break and still be considered valid.

📊 Volume Multiplier

Sets the threshold for the volume filter. In volatile markets, a stricter volume requirement filters out weak moves.

🎨 7.1 — Theme Settings

📐 7.2 — Structure Settings

🔲 7.3 — FVG Retest Entry

📊 7.4 — Volume Filter

🔭 7.5 — MTF Trend Filter

🛡️ 7.6 — Risk Management

💰 7.7 — Trade Settings

🔲 7.8 — FVG Visualization

We'll use BTCUSDT as an example, but the process is identical for all pairs:

1. ⚙️ Open Settings: Double-click the indicator name or click the gear icon.
2. 📐 Structure Settings group: Check "Use Adaptive Structure Period". Leave "Fixed SP" at default (ignored when adaptive is ON).
3. 🎛️ Adaptive SP Settings: Set "Adaptive Method" to preset value (e.g., "Realized Volatility" for BTC). Set Lookback to 356, Min SP to 6, Max SP to 18. DI Filter → OFF.
4. 🔲 FVG Retest Entry: Set "Retest Confirmation" to preset value. Enable all adaptive toggles and set their Min/Max ranges. Set CHoCH and Stop Below FVG per preset.
5. 📊 Volume Filter: Check/uncheck per preset. If ON, set Period and enable Adaptive Volume Multiplier with Min/Max.
6. 🔭 MTF Trend Filter: Check "Use MTF Trend Filter". Set Higher Timeframe, Method, and EMA values.
7. 🛡️ Risk Management: Enable Guaranteed Stop + Adaptive GSP with Min/Max. Enable Adaptive VM with Min/Max.
8. 💰 Position Sizing: Enter TP1/TP2/TP3 Close percentages from preset.
9. ⚡ Trade Settings: Set Margin to $1,000 and Leverage to 10.
10. 🔲 FVG: Set Max FVG Age to preset value. Optionally enable "Show Fair Value Gaps".
11. ✅ Click OK to apply. Historical trades should appear on the chart!

🚦 10.1 — When a Signal Appears

When you see a "LONG ↻" or "SHORT ↻" label on the current candle:

1. ⭐ Check the star rating. 3–4 stars = high confidence. 1–2 stars = consider skipping or smaller position.
2. ⬜ Note the entry price (trade info table + white line).
3. 🔴 Note the stop-loss (red line). Set this SL on your exchange.
4. 🟢 Note TP1, TP2, TP3 (green lines). These are your take-profit targets.

💰 10.2 — Position Sizing on the Exchange

The indicator assumes $1,000 margin with 10x leverage ($10,000 position). Percentages (SL%, TP%) remain the same regardless of position size. On Bybit: set entry as Limit Order at signal price, then set SL and TP levels shown by the indicator.

✂️ 10.3 — Partial Closes

Example with ETHUSDT preset (50/40/10): when price hits TP1 → close 50%. TP2 → close 40%. Remaining 10% rides to TP3. After TP1 is hit → move SL to breakeven (entry price). 🛡️

⏳ 10.4 — What to Do When No Trade Is Active

When status shows "CLOSED" — simply wait. Do not force trades. The indicator will arm itself on the next valid structure break. This could take minutes or hours. Patience is critical. 🧘

Alerts notify you when a signal fires, so you don't need to watch the chart constantly. 👀

1. Right-click on the chart and select "Add Alert", or click the 🔔 alarm clock icon in the top toolbar.
2. In the "Condition" dropdown, select "FVG Retest Engine | SMC Strategy [WillyAlgoTrader]".
3. In the second dropdown, choose your alert type:
   🟢 "FVG LONG" — buy signals only
   🔴 "FVG SHORT" — sell signals only
   🔵 "FVG ANY TRADE" — both buy and sell
   🤖 "JSON LONG / JSON SHORT" — structured JSON for webhook bots
4. Set the notification method (popup, email, phone app, webhook).
5. Set the expiration (free plan limits alerts). Click "Create". ✅

The alert message automatically includes the ticker, entry price, SL, TP1, TP2, and TP3 levels. 📩

📊 12.1 — Using the Backtest Table

The Backtesting Results table (bottom-right) shows: total trades, wins, losses, win rate, and total profit. Default covers last 30 days. Adjust with:

Backtest Period (days): Set to 7, 14, 30, 60, or any value.  |  Use Date Range: Enable for specific From/To date analysis.

📐 12.2 — Interpreting Results

A "win" = at least TP1 hit OR trade closes at breakeven. A "loss" = stop-loss hit before TP1. Total Profit accounts for partial closes, breakeven moves, and actual USD amounts.

⏪ 12.3 — Scrolling Back in Time

Scroll left on the chart to see more historical trades. Load more bars with Ctrl + Left Arrow, or "Load more data" on paid plans. More data = more trades in the backtest.

📜 Rules for Responsible Trading