Quick Start

Quick Start

The point of this page is to get the indicator running, confirm it is doing what it should, and catch the things that make most people think the tool is broken on first contact — before they cost you time or confidence.

Multi-timeframe MACD in one pane is a useful idea, but the first load has a few sharp edges. This page handles them.

Step 1: Add the indicator

Search for Axiom MACD Osc Pro in TradingView's indicator search and add it to any chart.

Before you do anything else, check your chart timeframe. The default configuration uses slot timeframes of 5-minute, 15-minute, and 60-minute. Your chart timeframe must be equal to or lower than the lowest slot timeframe — which means your chart should be on a 5-minute chart or lower. A 1-minute chart is ideal for first contact.

If your chart is on 15-minute or higher, Slot 01 (set to 5m) will throw a runtime error immediately. This is the most common first-use surprise. It is not a bug — the script enforces the rule that a slot cannot request data from a timeframe lower than the chart timeframe. See Troubleshooting if you hit this.

Step 2: What you should see

On first load with a chart at 5 minutes or below, the indicator opens a separate pane below the price chart containing:

• Three colored slot lines weaving through the pane — teal (Slot 01, 5m), aqua (Slot 02, 15m), and blue (Slot 03, 1H). Each line oscillates within the -100 to +100 range. The colors brighten or fade depending on the slot's regime state.

• A thicker lime or red line — this is the blended K, the weighted consensus across all three slots. It changes color based on whether blended K is above or below blended D.

• A gray line tracking near the blended K — this is the blended D (signal line).

• A shaded fill between the blended K and D lines — lime when K is above D, red when below.

• Histogram columns around the zero line — lime above zero, red below.

• Five horizontal reference lines — solid lines at +100 and -100 (the hard boundaries), dashed lines at +70 and -70 (overbought and oversold thresholds), and a solid line at zero.

Slots 04 through 10 are disabled by default. You will not see any lines for them until you enable them in settings.

What "looks normal"

The three slot lines will move at different speeds. The teal 5m line reacts fastest. The aqua 15m line is steadier. The blue 1H line barely moves on a short chart. This is expected — each slot tracks momentum at a genuinely different timescale.

The blended K line will be smoother than any individual slot because it is averaging three readings. It should oscillate within -100 to +100. If the blended line is pinned at +100 or -100 for extended periods, ATR Sensitivity may be set too high — but at the default of 1.0, this should not happen under normal conditions.

The slot lines may diverge from each other. That is expected and useful — different timeframes frequently show different momentum states. A 5m bearish reading alongside a 1H bullish reading is not a contradiction. It means the short-term momentum has turned while the longer view has not. Whether the short-term slot is leading or just reacting to noise is something you learn to read over time. The divergence itself is the information.

Step 3: First sanity check

For a like-for-like check, add TradingView's built-in MACD indicator (12/26/9 EMA) to the same chart, set Slot 01 to the chart timeframe, and temporarily turn Slot 01 On Bar Close to OFF.

Compare the direction of the built-in MACD with the teal Slot 01 K line. When the built-in MACD line is above its signal line, the teal line should be in its bright color. When the built-in MACD line is below its signal line, the teal line should be faded.

The absolute values will not match. The built-in MACD might read +2.5 while the Axiom oscillator reads +45. This is correct — the Axiom version normalizes the raw MACD against recent volatility and maps it to a bounded range. The direction of momentum should agree. The magnitude will always differ because the scales are different.

If the directions do not agree, check that Slot 01 is set to the chart timeframe, that On Bar Close is OFF for the comparison, and that the MA types match (EMA for both the fast/slow and signal). If On Bar Close is ON on a same-timeframe slot, the Axiom line is intentionally one confirmed bar behind and the comparison will not be one-for-one.

Step 4: Know the first traps

These are the things most likely to make a new user think the tool is broken within the first ten minutes.

Trap 1: Runtime error on load

What you see: The indicator pane shows an error message instead of plots.

Most likely cause: A slot's timeframe is lower than the chart timeframe. With default settings, the chart must be at 5 minutes or below. If you loaded it on a 15m chart, Slot 01 (5m) triggers the error.

Fix: Either lower your chart timeframe to 5m or below, or open the indicator settings and raise Slot 01's timeframe to match or exceed your chart timeframe. Every slot must be at or above the chart timeframe.

Trap 2: Second runtime error after adjusting settings

What you see: After changing lengths, you get a different error about Fast Length and Slow Length.

Most likely cause: You set the Fast Length to a value equal to or greater than the Slow Length. The script enforces Fast < Slow for every enabled slot.

Fix: Make sure Fast Length is strictly less than Slow Length. The default 12/26 is always safe.

Trap 3: Slot lines appear flat or missing

What you see: You expected to see a slot line but the pane shows nothing for that slot, or a line appears completely flat.

Possible causes:

• The slot is disabled. Check the "Enable MACD XX" toggle in settings.

• The slot is enabled but "Hide MACD XX Plot" is checked. The slot still computes and contributes to the blend — it just does not draw its K line. This is a deliberate feature, not a bug.

• The slot's timeframe is much higher than the chart, and on short charts there may not be enough higher-timeframe bars for the MA computation. The line will start appearing once enough bars exist.

Trap 4: The blended line seems to ignore a slot you just enabled

What you see: You enabled Slot 04 and can see its K line, but the blended line does not seem to move.

Most likely cause: The slot's weight is still at 0.0 (the default for slots 04–10). A weight of zero means the slot plots and fires alerts independently but does not contribute to the blend. This is the second-most common first-use surprise after the timeframe error — and unlike the timeframe error, there is no error message to point you in the right direction. The slot looks active because it is drawing a K line, but the blend ignores it.

Fix: Set the slot's weight to a nonzero value — even 10 or 20 — and the blended line will shift. Also note that adding a new slot at weight 33 to a three-slot blend already running at 33/33/33 changes every slot's effective contribution — each now carries 25% instead of 33%. See Settings — The Weight System for how weight ratios work.

Trap 5: Blended K/D shows na or nothing plots

What you see: The blended lines are missing or show na.

Possible causes:

• All enabled slots have weight 0. At least one slot needs a nonzero weight for the blend to compute.

• All enabled slots are producing na values because there is not enough price history on the chart for the MA calculations. Try a chart with more historical data.

What to explore next

You now have a working oscillator with three timeframes on a common scale. From here:

• To understand what the visual elements mean and how to read them: Visuals and Logic

• To configure the settings for your specific situation: Settings — start with the section on per-slot settings and ATR Sensitivity

• To understand what On Bar Close means and verify repaint safety: MTF and Repainting

• To know what the tool cannot tell you before you start relying on it: Limitations and Trust Boundaries