Average Directional Index (adx)

The Average Directional Index (ADX) measures how strongly one direction dominates recent movement without identifying whether that direction is upward or downward. It produces a series ranging from 0 to 100. A high value reflects clear directional dominance, while a low value means that upward and downward movement offset each other more closely. The same ADX level can therefore describe either a rising or a falling market.

The indicator compares an upward component (+DI) with a downward component (-DI), both normalized by True Range. di_length sets the horizon over which these components are smoothed, and adx_length then smooths their relative contrast to form the ADX. The output therefore indicates how strongly recent movement favors one direction, regardless of whether that direction is upward or downward.

Block declaration#

A strategy can contain multiple [[adx]] blocks. Each block outputs one numeric series which is the ADX value.

The [[adx]] block does not expose a source parameter because ADX is always computed from the candle high, low, and close prices.

Examples#

Minimal setup#

This block uses the default ADX lengths: 14 for di_length and 14 for adx_length.

[[adx]]
id = "adx"

Custom fixed setup#

This block uses custom di_length and adx_length values.

[[adx]]
id         = "adx"
di_length  = 15
adx_length = 16

Search for the optimal lengths#

This block explores ranges of values for di_length and adx_length to identify the best-performing combination.

[[adx]]
id               = "adx"
di_length.start  = 10
di_length.stop   = 20
adx_length.start = 10
adx_length.stop  = 20

Trend filter with threshold#

This example uses ADX as an entry filter. The [[constant]] block defines a threshold named adx_threshold whose value ranges from 20.0 to 30.0 during the grid search: one backtest runs for each value in the range. On each candle, the [[condition]] block compares ADX to this threshold and only lets the strategy move on to the next block when adx > adx_threshold, that is, when the market is trending strongly enough. Ranking the results then shows which threshold value performs best.

[[adx]]
id = "adx"

[[constant]]
id    = "adx_threshold"
start = 20.0
stop  = 30.0

[[condition]]
id            = "trend_filter"
condition     = "adx > adx_threshold"
next_block_id = "..."

Dedicated symbol and timeframe#

This ADX block uses the daily candles from BINANCE:ETHUSDT. The high, low, and close prices come from this symbol and timeframe, independently of the primary symbol and timeframe defined in [backtest]. See Exchanges, Symbols and Timeframes for alignment rules.

[[adx]]
id        = "adx"
symbol    = "BINANCE:ETHUSDT"
timeframe = "D"

Parameters#

Available variables#

The ADX block exposes the ADX series and, as read-only values, its calculation lengths, input sources, symbol, and timeframe.

Assume the block is configured as:

[[adx]]
id = "adx"

Then:

Notes

• Numeric variables support arithmetic, comparisons, and logical operators.
• Text variables are strings intended for equality/inequality checks only.