---
title: "AI strategy builder, no code needed · Trado Strategy Lab"
description: "Describe a trading idea in plain words and the Copilot drafts the rules. Refine them in a form or on a canvas, or write Python. No code required."
canonical: "https://algo.trado.trade/ai-strategy-builder"
lastModified: "2026-10-06"
---

# Describe the idea. The Copilot drafts the rules.

Write what you want in plain words, such as “buy when the 4-hour trend is up and RSI dips below 30, stop at 2%”. The Copilot turns it into explicit rules you can read and change, shows what a backtest will cost, and runs it when you confirm.

## What the Copilot does

The Copilot is built into the Lab and uses the same tools your own agent would, so what it builds is ordinary, inspectable strategy rules.

- **Drafts a strategy** from your description and asks about the things that matter instead of guessing.
- **Proposes defaults** for the run: coins, dates and settings.
- **Shows the cost** before anything is spent, and runs the backtest only when you confirm.
- **Explains the result.** “Ask why” sits on every result: why it lost in a regime, why a stop was hit, what a metric means.

## You stay in control

Nothing the Copilot writes is hidden. The strategy is plain rules you can open, edit and version. Anything expensive, and anything that touches a live account, waits for your explicit yes. Creating and editing strategies costs no credits; the Copilot's replies and the runs it starts do, at prices shown first.

## Four ways to build, one engine

Every way ends in the same strategy definition, so you can switch between them without changing what the strategy does.

- **Plain words** with the Copilot.
- **The form builder:** indicators, entries, exits, targets, stops, partial exits, trailing stops and risk, as fields.
- **The canvas:** the same rules drawn as a graph, with live sparklines on each node and a “why here?” view of every value at a clicked bar.
- **Python:** a small SDK, run in a sandbox with no network and no secrets. Only the idea lives in code; every number is a parameter a run can change.

## What you can build with

There are 170 built-in indicators, including averages, structure, momentum, volatility, volume, statistics such as beta and correlation against another coin, and all 61 candlestick patterns, each checked against published reference values. Conditions can use other timeframes and other coins, indicators can be fed by a formula or another coin, and named values and conditions can be reused across rules.

Six ready-made examples (EMA crossover, Donchian breakout, RSI fade, squeeze breakout, session and volatility, BTC regime filter) open as editable rules. Strategies are versioned and forkable, and custom indicators written in Python are checked for look-ahead.

## Strategy builder questions

### Do I need to know how to code?

No. You can describe a strategy, use the form builder or draw it on the canvas. Python is there for when you want it.

### Can I use my own AI instead of the Copilot?

Yes. Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT can build and test strategies in the Lab through MCP, at no extra charge for the AI. See [bring your own AI](https://algo.trado.trade/bring-your-own-ai.md).

### What if the Copilot gets the rules wrong?

You see the rules before anything runs, and a strategy is validated before a backtest is queued: every problem is listed at once with where it is. You can correct the rules by hand or ask the Copilot to.

## Next steps

- [Join the waitlist](https://algo.trado.trade/waitlist)
- [Bring your own AI](https://algo.trado.trade/bring-your-own-ai)

## Related

- [Algo trading without code](https://algo.trado.trade/learn/algo-trading-without-code.md): Pine Script, Python and APIs keep good ideas untested. What real no-code algo trading looks like: plain words in, readable rules out, Python if you want it.
- [Algo trading for beginners](https://algo.trado.trade/for-beginners.md): Start algo trading without code or a data pipeline: describe an idea, backtest it honestly, ask the Copilot why, and paper-trade before you risk a rupee.
- [Bring your own AI via MCP](https://algo.trado.trade/bring-your-own-ai.md): Connect Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT to Trado Strategy Lab over MCP. Your agent builds strategies, runs backtests and reads reports for free; runs use credits.
- [Crypto backtesting after every cost](https://algo.trado.trade/backtesting.md): Backtest crypto perpetuals on years of 1-minute data for 900 coins, after fees, funding, slippage and liquidation, with a verdict that admits weak evidence.