Quick Start

This page is for one very specific job: get to a first run that you can actually explain. That may sound smaller than what you want. It is supposed to. The fastest way to get lost with Axiom Strategy Lab Pro is to treat your first session like a full strategy build. The fastest way to get oriented is to use the builder in the smallest honest way possible, watch what it does, and only then add more moving parts.

If you use this page well, you should finish with:

• one side of the strategy running on purpose
• one small workflow loaded cleanly
• one chart path you can inspect without guessing
• a clearer sense of what to learn next

What Counts As A Good First Run

Do not use this page to chase a strong report. Use it to confirm four things:

1. the strategy is allowed to run
2. the setup layer behaves in a way you can follow
3. the entry and exit path show up for understandable reasons
4. nothing important is still hidden inside settings you forgot to review

That is enough for a first session.

If you can reach that state, the rest of the manual becomes easier because you are no longer learning from abstraction alone. You are learning from a chart you have already seen behave.

Before You Touch Anything

Keep these truths in view before you begin:

• your first run is a builder proof, not an edge proof
• built-in values are enough for the first pass
• the inactive side should stay inactive unless you intentionally want both directions live
• the properties tab is part of the method, not a background detail

That last point deserves emphasis.

This strategy asks you to confirm that you reviewed the strategy properties before runtime is considered ready. That is not a nuisance step. It is a protection against the most common early mistake: reading results before you have looked at the assumptions that shape them.

The Cleanest First-Session Posture

Use this operating posture for the first run:

You are trying to make the builder legible, not impressive.

Step 1: Choose The Side You Are Actually Testing

Start by deciding whether your first pass is long-side or short-side. Then make the settings panel match that choice.

For most readers, the calmest first run is one-direction only.

Why that matters:

• it prevents the opposite side from creating noise you did not mean to study
• it keeps the chart easier to read
• it makes troubleshooting much simpler if nothing happens

If you are learning the builder for the first time, there is no prize for loading both sides early.

Step 2: Review The Strategy Properties Before You Confirm Them

Open the strategy properties and read them like they matter, because they do.

Give special attention to:

• capital assumptions
• sizing model
• commission
• slippage
• pyramiding
• execution assumptions

You do not need to optimize them here. You do need to know what they are.

The question to ask is simple:

What test am I actually running if I leave these as they are?

Once you can answer that question, you are ready for the consent step later. Not before.

Step 3: Load One Small Workflow, Not A Custom One Yet

For your first run, do not invent the workflow from scratch.

Instead, go to Worked YAML Examples and use the Beginner Example exactly as written for the active side only.

Why this is the right move:

• it gives you a known-good shape
• it keeps the first run centered on understanding behavior instead of proving originality
• it lets later troubleshooting focus on the builder, not on whether your first custom logic was malformed

Leave the opposite side blank for this pass.

Leave custom tokens blank for this pass.

Keep the workflow small enough that you can narrate it in a sentence:

"When this market condition exists, participation is allowed, and the position has one profit target and one protective exit."

If you cannot summarize your first workflow that simply, it is already too large for a first session.

Step 4: Check The Contract Before Expecting Trades

Before you expect the chart to do anything interesting, confirm the builder contract is actually complete.

Use this checklist:

This is the moment to check the box that confirms you reviewed the strategy properties.

That box is the final handshake, not the first step.

Step 5: Read The Chart In The Right Order

Once the strategy is running, do not jump straight to the performance summary.

Read the chart in this order:

1. watch the setup first
2. watch the entry second
3. watch the exits third
4. only then look at the report

That order matters because the later layers only make sense if the earlier layers were behaving the way you intended.

What to look for in the setup

You want to see whether the setup becomes active and confirmed for understandable reasons.

Ask:

• did the context appear where I would expect it to?
• did it stay live longer than I expected?
• did it cancel when the chart invalidated the idea?

If the setup behavior is fuzzy, the rest of the trade path will be fuzzy too.

What to look for in the entry

Now ask whether the participation rule acted only after the setup gave it permission.

Ask:

• did the entry wait for the setup context, or did it seem to act independently?
• did the order type behave the way I expected?
• did the entry appear once, repeatedly, or not at all?

At this stage, you are not trying to decide whether the trade was good. You are trying to decide whether the strategy behaved like the written workflow.

What to look for in the exits

Finally, inspect the management path.

Ask:

• did the profit-taking side appear where I expected it to?
• did the protection side appear where I expected it to?
• did either side stay fixed or move in a way that surprised me?

You do not need dozens of trades to answer those questions. One readable example is enough to learn from.

A Better Definition Of Success

Success on this page looks like this:

• runtime is not blocked
• the setup behaves for reasons you can explain
• the entry appears through the path you intended
• the exit path exists and makes sense
• you understand what you would inspect next before trusting the report

That is a strong first session.

By contrast, these are weak definitions of success:

• the chart traded, so the builder must be understood
• the equity curve looks good, so the workflow must be valid
• nothing crashed, so the logic must be solid

Those are all versions of false confidence.

What To Do If Nothing Happens

A quiet chart is not automatically a broken chart.

If the strategy does not trade, work through these in order:

1. confirm the properties-review box is checked
2. confirm the active direction matches the side you loaded
3. confirm the active side is actually populated
4. confirm the example was pasted into the correct sections
5. confirm no risk rail is already suppressing fresh entries

If those checks still leave the behavior unclear, go to Troubleshooting.

The important habit here is not speed. It is sequence. Check the smallest likely cause first.

What Not To Add Yet

There are several things that should wait until after the first run is clear:

• custom tokens
• both directions at once
• multiple entry groups
• split take-profit ladders
• layered stop logic
• optimization passes

All of those can become useful later. None of them make the first session easier to understand.

The First Good Next Step

Once the first run makes sense, your next page depends on what still feels uncertain:

If you are unsure, read Logic Builder Model next. That page usually turns the first run from a one-off event into an understandable system.