Simulator

Overview & Purpose

The Simulator is the heart of PatternFoundry. It provides a full-featured trading environment where you can practice executing trades against realistic synthetic price action. The simulator includes:

• A professional candlestick chart with drawing tools and indicators
• A simulated order book with depth-of-market visualization
• Full order management (market, limit, stop-limit orders)
• Position tracking with drag-adjustable stop-loss and take-profit levels
• Comprehensive account statistics (balance, P&L, win rate, drawdown)
• Playback speed control from 0.25x to 200x

Generating a Session

To start a new simulation session:

1. Select an Instrument — Choose from 14 built-in instruments (ES, NQ, CL, RTY, MES, MNQ, MCL, M2K, SPY, AAPL, MSFT, PLTR, TSLA, GME) or any custom characters you've created in the Chart Designer. Each instrument has appropriate tick sizes, point values, and margin requirements.
2. Set History Depth — Select how much historical chart data to generate before the live session begins: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years.
3. Seed (Optional) — Enter a numeric seed to reproduce a specific session. Leave blank for a random seed. Sharing seeds with other traders lets you compare performance on identical price action.
4. Click Generate to create the session.

Playback Controls

The playback toolbar at the bottom of the chart controls the simulation timeline:

At 1x speed, ticks arrive at realistic intervals matching the instrument's typical trading activity. Higher speeds compress time proportionally - at 10x, one minute of real time equals ten minutes of simulated market time.

Placing Trades

PatternFoundry supports three order types:

Market Orders

Execute immediately at the current best available price. Click the Buy or Sell button in the order panel, or use keyboard shortcuts. Market orders experience realistic slippage based on available liquidity in the order book.

Limit Orders

Place an order to buy below or sell above the current price. The order rests in the book until price reaches your level. To place a limit order:

1. Click the price level on the chart where you want the order
2. Select "Limit" from the order type dropdown
3. Set your quantity and optional SL/TP
4. Confirm the order

Stop-Limit Orders

A two-price order: when price hits the stop price, a limit order is placed at the limit price. Useful for breakout entries with controlled slippage. The stop price triggers the order; the limit price defines the worst acceptable fill.

Managing Positions

Once a trade is filled, your position appears on the chart with visual markers:

• Entry line - Dashed line at your entry price (green for long, red for short)
• Stop-Loss (SL) - Red line below (long) or above (short) your entry. Drag this line to adjust your stop in real-time.
• Take-Profit (TP) - Green line above (long) or below (short) your entry. Drag this line to adjust your target.
• P&L label - Floating label showing unrealized profit/loss in real-time

To close a position, click the × on the position label or use the position panel's close button. Partial closes are supported - specify the number of contracts to close.

Account Tracking

The account panel displays real-time trading statistics:

Timeframe Switching

Switch between multiple timeframes without losing your session state. Available timeframes:

• Tick chart - Every individual tick
• 1s, 5s, 15s, 30s - Sub-minute candles
• 1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m - Minute candles
• 1H, 4H - Hourly candles
• 1D - Daily candles

All timeframes are computed from the same underlying tick data, so switching is instant and consistent. Drawings and indicators persist across timeframe changes.

Session Management

Sessions can be saved, loaded, exported, and imported:

DOM (Depth of Market) Panel

The DOM panel shows the simulated order book in a vertical ladder format:

• Ask levels (red) - Sell orders resting above the current price
• Bid levels (green) - Buy orders resting below the current price
• Size bars - Horizontal bars showing relative volume at each price level
• Last trade - Highlighted row showing the most recent fill price

The DOM updates in real-time as the tick engine processes orders. You can click price levels in the DOM to quickly place limit orders at that price.

Drawing Tools

Access drawing tools from the toolbar on the left side of the chart. Available tools:

All drawings can be selected, moved, resized, and deleted. Right-click a drawing to access its properties (color, style, line width). Use the lock button in the toolbar to prevent accidental modifications to your drawings.

Indicators

Built-in technical indicators available from the indicators menu:

Click the indicator name in the legend to toggle visibility. Click the gear icon to edit parameters. Click × to remove.

Closing a Session

When you're done trading, click the ✓ Close Session button in the playback bar. This finalizes the session and:

• Saves your session data (candles, trades, drawings) to the server
• Updates your trading account balance with the realized P&L
• Records the session in your Stats page history
• Makes the session available for replay via the Stats → Session History table

Margin System

The simulator enforces realistic margin requirements:

• Initial Margin — Checked when you place an order. If quantity × initial_margin > balance, the order is rejected with a margin message.
• Maintenance Margin — Checked on every tick while a position is open. If your equity (balance + unrealized P&L) falls below quantity × maintenance_margin, your position is automatically liquidated with a "Margin Call" notification.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Tips