ForexBot2/CLAUDE.md

# ForexBot2 — Codebase Reference

Signal-intelligence platform for **XAU/USD (gold — live, validated)**. It fetches OHLCV from Twelve Data, scores 9 technical indicators per timeframe with regime-adaptive weights, checks multi-timeframe agreement and news/calendar risk, grades the signal (A+…F), and generates a full trade setup (entry, SL, TP1/TP2, trailing plan). Delivery: Telegram bot (auto-scanner + subscriber channel) and a CLI. A realism-focused backtester replays history through the *exact same* signal code.

This file is the authoritative developer/agent reference. The human-facing docs live in `docs/` (`user_guide.html` + `beginner_guide.html`, and their PDF builds) — keep them in sync when signal behavior changes. `backtest/instructions_for_backtest.txt` lists what every backtest report must record.

**Read this whole file before changing signal logic.** Every numeric threshold below was either backtested or is load-bearing for a backtested result. Rules for changes are at the bottom ("Rules for making changes").

---

## Repository map

| Path | Lines | Purpose |
|------|-------|---------|
| `config.py` | ~374 | All config dataclasses, `PAIR_INFO` registry, per-pair strategy configs. **`PlatformConfig` defaults ARE the tuned XAU config.** |
| `data_provider.py` | ~347 | Twelve Data SDK wrapper: fetch, rate-limit (55 credits/min), in-memory cache, validation/cleaning, freshness checks |
| `engine.py` | ~1173 | `TechnicalEngine`: computes all indicators on one DataFrame → `TechnicalAnalysis` (composite score, regime, key levels) |
| `chart_patterns.py` | ~280 | Chart-pattern detectors for the XAU_CP archetype (pure functions, ATR-unit geometry, first-close-beyond triggers) |
| `signal_aggregator.py` | ~1447 | `SignalAggregator`: MTF analysis, news integration, gates/penalties, quality grade, trade-setup generation → `SignalReport` |
| `news_engine.py` | ~680 | Economic calendar (Forex Factory JSON + MyFXBook RSS fallback) + keyword RSS sentiment |
| `telegram_bot.py` | ~1259 | Async Telegram bot: candle-boundary auto-scanner, WebSocket level-breach monitor, owner lock, subscriber channel |
| `pair_signals/__init__.py` | 52 | `PAIR_PRODUCERS` registry + `produce_signal()` |
| `pair_signals/xauusd.py` | 71 | XAU config factory + per-timeframe overrides (docstring = validation record) |
| `main.py` | ~348 | CLI: `python main.py --pair XAUUSD --timeframe H1 --detail/--json` |
| `test_all.py` | ~2100 | QA suite: **162 tests in 10 modules**, no live API needed. Must stay green. |
| `backtest/gpu_backtest.py` | ~2231 | Bar-replay backtester (CuPy→NumPy fallback) using the real `SignalAggregator` |
| `backtest/diagnose_filters.py` | 609 | Filter-diagnosis tooling |
| `backtest/research/` | — | Calendar research infra (`ff_calendar_scraper.py`, `calendar_store.py`) + result CSVs |
| `backtest/*.csv` | — | Verification trade books from past tuning campaigns (`xau_*.csv`, …). **Gitignored, local-only** — used for manual before/after comparison, not by tests |
| `backtest/cache/` | — | Parquet OHLCV cache (raw bars) |
| `test_ws_dual.py` | 108 | Standalone WebSocket dual-connection probe |
| `logs/telegram.log` | — | Bot log (midnight rotation, 30 backups) |

---

## Pair status

- **XAU/USD**: the tuned, validated product — and the ONLY supported pair. All defaults in `PlatformConfig`/`XauStrategyConfig` are its tuned values.
- **EUR/USD**: REMOVED from the codebase (2026-07-16, branch `xau-only-chart-patterns`). It never had a validated edge: the 2026-07-11/12 verdict found no configuration passing validation on M5, M15, or H1 at a 1-pip round-trip cost; root cause was cost-to-volatility (EUR M15 ATR ≈ 10 pips → 1-pip spread taxes ~10% of ATR; gold's ATR/spread ratio is several times larger). Calendar-surprise and H1-hybrid avenues were also tested and closed. The full EUR implementation and verdict history live in git history (last commit with EUR support: `7d3fd95`). Do not re-add EUR without new data (tick fills or H4/D1 horizons).

---

## End-to-end pipeline (what happens on every scan)

```
Twelve Data REST (+ WebSocket ticks in the bot)
  → data_provider.fetch_ohlcv()        per timeframe: throttle, fetch, drop forming candle, validate/clean, cache
  → engine.TechnicalEngine.analyze()   per timeframe: 9 scored indicators + ATR context → regime → composite score
  → signal_aggregator.analyze_pair()   live entry point (weekend/day filters, fetch, staleness)
      └─ analyze_from_dataframes()     replayable core: MTF agreement → news → bonuses/penalties →
                                       final signal + quality grade → gates (session, SELL, M5, regime) →
                                       trade setup (3 generators) → reasons
  → SignalReport                       consumed by telegram_bot.py, main.py, backtest/gpu_backtest.py
```

Signal currency everywhere is the `SignalStrength` enum: `STRONG_BUY=2, BUY=1, NEUTRAL=0, SELL=-1, STRONG_SELL=-2`.

---

## config.py — every knob

### PAIR_INFO (market constants; key is the canonical symbol `"XAU/USD"`)
| Field | XAU/USD | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `pip_value` | 0.10 | price units per pip |
| `price_precision` | 2 | decimals for SL/TP rounding & display |
| `default_spread` | 0.30 | round-trip cost charged by the backtester when `--spread` not given |

### TechnicalConfig (indicator parameters)
EMA 9/21/50/200 (`ema_mode`: `"4ema"` default or `"2ema"` = 50/200 only); RSI 14 (OB 70 / OS 30 / neutral zone 40–60; `rsi_mode`: `"regime_aware"` default or `"classic"`); MACD 12/26/9 (`macd_as_pillar=True` — MACD is a scored indicator, not just divergence input); BB 20/2.0σ; ATR 14; ADX 14 (strong ≥25, very strong ≥50); divergence lookback 40; swing-S/R lookback 50; ROC period 10, threshold 1.0%; Keltner: EMA 20 mid ± 1.5 × ATR(10); ADX slope lookback 5, "emerging" threshold 3.0; `disabled_indicators` list (removes the pillar from scoring; for MACD the histogram is still computed — divergence needs it); `regime_weights_override` dict (replaces the gold regime-multiplier table for experiments).

### SignalConfig (scoring & trade geometry — XAU-calibrated)
| Field | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `mtf_agreement_threshold` | 2 | timeframes (of primary + confirmations) that must agree |
| `min_rr_ratio` | 0.5 | reject setups below this RR |
| `tp_tightening_factor` | 1.0 | TP scale factor. **Leave at 1.0**: 0.8 was re-tested 2026-07-08 with spread+gap fills and nearly halved total R |
| `round_trip_cost` | 0.30 | XAU $ round trip |
| `min_tp_cost_multiple` | 30.0 | spread gate: TP1 distance must be ≥ cost × this (= $9 on XAU). Validated: sub-$10 targets lose |
| `min_sl_pips` | 80.0 | SL floor in pips ($8 on XAU) |
| `tp_floor_rr` | 0.5 | TP1 floor as fraction of SL distance (M15 factory overrides to 1.0) |
| `trail_arm_r` / `trail_dist_r` | 0.6 / 0.75 | trailing exit: once favorable excursion ≥ arm×risk, stop trails dist×risk behind best price (bar-close updates). TP1 becomes advisory. Validated on 12mo M5: +105R vs +48R static. 0 disables |
| `pb_trail_arm_r` / `pb_trail_dist_r` | 0.8 / 0.75 | trailing params for XAU_PB pullback trades (tighter stops → arm later) |
| `weights`, `min_confidence`, `cooldown_bars`, `default_risk_pct`, `default_rr_ratio`, `atr_sl_multiplier` | — | **LEGACY / UNUSED** outside tests. The engine has its own weights; backtest cooldown lives in `BacktestConfig` |

### NewsConfig
Tracked currencies `["USD","XAU"]`; pre-event buffer 30 min, post-event 15 min (45 min after a *surprise* print); `event_risk_caps_signals=False` — **XAU default: event risk warns but does NOT cap confidence** (2026-07-11 audit: the caps suppressed trades worth +4.6..+7.2R/yr; XAU trades near USD releases outperform). Context cache TTL 600 s (must stay < pre-event buffer). 4 RSS feeds (investinglive, FXStreet, Google-News gold query, CNBC economy).

### XauStrategyConfig (all XAU gates; `enabled=True`)
| Field | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `blocked_hours_utc` | [0,1,2,10,11,13,16,21] | bar-close hours never traded. M5 factory appends 9 (post-London-open whipsaw, −28.9R/143 over 6 yr) |
| `allowed_weekdays` | [0,1,2,3,4,6] | Mon–Fri + Sun (Sydney open). `weekend_filter=True`: Fri 22:00 → Sun 22:00 UTC closed |
| `min_atr_threshold` | 1.0 | $1 ATR floor for swing-based setups |
| `v2_sl_atr_multiplier` | 2.0 | SL ATR floor in the generic setup generator |
| `sl_atr_multiplier` / `tp_atr_multiplier` | 2.0 / 1.0 | used by the XAU ATR setup generator (A+/A only) |
| `sell_min_quality` | ["A+","A","B"] | SELLs below B are blocked |
| `sell_vol_regimes` | ["high","extreme"] | SELLs only in these volatility regimes (quiet shorts fade vs gold's macro uptrend) |
| `blocked_regimes` / `sell_blocked_regimes` | [] / [] | per-TF factory opt-ins. M15 factory sets `blocked_regimes=["trending"]` (mixed regime: strong ADX, EMAs unaligned — lost −6.8R/24) |
| `sell_blocked_hours_utc` | [] | bar-CLOSE UTC hours where SELLs are blocked (BUYs unaffected). Per-TF factory opt-in: M15 sets [15, 17] (NY-session shorts, −33.5R/165 over 5 yr, negative 6/6 years both halves; BUYs there +34.3R) |
| M5 gates | | `m5_require_mtf=True`; `m5_min_abs_score=30`; `m5_min_confirmation_score=10`; `m5_sell_max_quality=["B","C"]` (A-grade M5 SELLs enter at dip extremes and lose); `m5_blocked_vol_regimes=["high"]` (chop transition — 61% WR, negative total); `m5_sell_min_rsi=25` |
| M5 pullback (XAU_PB) | | `m5_pullback_enabled=True`; min score 15 (lower than gate 1 BY DESIGN — mid-pullback scores weaker); ADX ≥ 20; RSI zones BUY (35,62) / SELL (38,65); retrace depth 0.8–6.0 ATR from the 40-bar swing extreme; band touch within 3 bars. Validated +38.3R/254 trades on 12mo |
| Chart patterns (XAU_CP) | `cp_enabled=False` | `cp_*` fields: pattern list, lookback 72, swing window 3, recency 20, double tolerance 0.5 ATR, height 1.5–8 ATR, H&S head ≥0.5 ATR / shoulder tol 1.0 ATR, flag pole ≥3 ATR in ≤12 bars, flag 3–12 bars retracing 10–50%. Textbook defaults, NOT tuned. **Default OFF** — M5 factory enables BUY-only (`inv_hs`, `double_bottom`, `bull_flag`); M15/H1/H4 remain disabled (all failed OOS validation 2026-07-16). Bearish patterns (`hs_top`, `double_top`, `bear_flag`) dropped: SELL CP lost −3.21R on OOS, −4.52R on M15 5yr |

Legacy fields kept for config-shape compatibility: `rsi_entry_threshold`, `min_ema200_tfs`, `allow_generic_trades`, `buy_threshold_boost`, `m5_confirmation_bars`, `h4_rsi_gate=False`, `h1_macd_gate=False`, `rsi_zone` — not wired to current gates.

### FilterConfig (`config.backtest` — despite the name it applies LIVE too)
`session_filter=True`, window 03:00–23:00 UTC, `blocked_hours_utc` mirrors XAU's list (non-XAU pairs read this copy), `allowed_weekdays` Mon–Fri+Sun. `regime_filter=False` (optional H4-ADX≥25 gate, off).

### PlatformConfig (top level)
`symbol="XAU/USD"`, primary TF H1, confirmations [M15, H4], `data_lookback_days=60`, `scan_pairs=[XAUUSD]` (**the single switch for what the bot scans**), `scan_timeframes=[M5,M15,H1,H4]`, `candle_buffer_seconds=10`, `ws_cooldown_seconds=300`, hardcoded `twelve_data_api_key` fallback.

---

## engine.py — TechnicalEngine

**Input contract:** pandas DataFrame, UTC tz-aware DatetimeIndex, oldest-first, columns `Open High Low Close Volume` (capitalized). `< 30` bars → empty NEUTRAL result. EMA200 needs ≥ 200 bars (otherwise EMA-trend indicator degrades gracefully).

**Compute order matters:** ATR first (EMA-ribbon and candlestick proximity use it) → EMA → RSI → BB → ADX → MACD (always computed, even if not a pillar — divergence needs the histogram) → ROC → Keltner (needs BB levels + MACD histogram) → divergence → structure S/R → candlesticks → regime classification → regime-aware RSI reinterpretation → composite.

Results land in `TechnicalAnalysis.indicators: Dict[str, IndicatorSignal]` (fields: name, value, signal, confidence 0-100, description, weight). Private series ride on the result object as underscore attrs (`_rsi_series`, `_macd_histogram`, `_adx_slope`, `_kc_squeeze`, `_kc_squeeze_released`) and are skipped by the composite scorer and all formatters (skip rule: name starts with `_` or `weight == 0`).

### The 9 scored indicators (+ ATR as context)

| Key | Base weight | Signal logic (exact) |
|---|---|---|
| `ema_trend` | 1.0 | 4-EMA mode: alignment score over checks (price>EMA9, 9>21, 21>50, 50>200), normalized to [-1,1]. >0.6 STRONG_BUY (conf ≤90), >0.2 BUY, mirrored sells, else NEUTRAL (40). Fast/medium cross ±10 conf. Ribbon (9/21/50 spread < 1 ATR) = "COMPRESSED"; compressed→expanded = +10 conf. Emits `ema_fast/medium/slow/trend` key levels |
| `rsi` | 1.5 | Wilder RSI (ewm α=1/14). Classic pass first: ≥70 SELL, ≤30 BUY, ≥60 BUY-momentum (45), ≤40 SELL-momentum (45), else NEUTRAL (30). **Then overwritten by regime reinterpretation** (below) when `rsi_mode="regime_aware"` |
| `macd` | 1.5 | Histogram = MACD line − signal line. Cross above 0 → BUY (conf 55+); accelerating (hist>prev>0) → STRONG_BUY; mirrored down; positive-but-fading / negative-but-fading → NEUTRAL (35); flat → NEUTRAL (30). Confidence scaled by |hist| vs its 20-bar mean |
| `bollinger` | 1.5 | Position = (close−lower)/(upper−lower). >1.0 SELL (65), <0.0 BUY (65), >0.8 SELL (45), <0.2 BUY (45), else NEUTRAL (30). Squeeze = width < 0.75 × 20-bar avg width → +10 conf. Emits `bb_upper/lower/mid` |
| `adx` | 0.5 | Wilder ADX/DI (ties zero BOTH DMs — fixes a systematic bearish nudge). ADX ≥ 25 → BUY/SELL by DI dominance, else NEUTRAL. Conf 40/65/80 by ADX band. ADX slope (5-bar diff): <25 with slope > 3.0 → "TREND EMERGING" +15 conf; also strengthening/weakening adjustments. Sets `_adx_slope` |
| `roc` | 1.5 | 10-period %change. Positive & rising → BUY (STRONG if >2× threshold=2%); negative & falling → SELL; zero-cross → BUY/SELL (65); else NEUTRAL. **Directionally redundant with MACD/Keltner/EMA (0.8–0.94 corr) but its weight is load-bearing: zeroing it backtested 13R WORSE — composite thresholds are calibrated with it. Do not remove without retuning thresholds** |
| `keltner` | 1.5 | EMA20 mid ± 1.5×ATR(10). TTM squeeze = BB fully inside KC. Squeeze released (was→not) + MACD hist sign → STRONG_BUY/STRONG_SELL (80); squeeze active → NEUTRAL (60); close above/below channel → BUY/SELL continuation (65); inside → NEUTRAL (30). Emits `kc_upper/lower/mid` |
| `divergence` | 1.5 | RSI + MACD-hist vs price over 40 bars. Swing points (window 3) must align within ±2 bars to pair up; last two pairs: price LL + indicator HL = bullish, price HH + indicator LH = bearish. Any found → BUY/SELL/NEUTRAL-if-both, conf 70, value = count |
| `candlestick` | 1.0 | Last bar: Doji (body<10% range), Hammer/Hanging Man (lower wick>2×body), Shooting Star/Inverted Hammer, Engulfing (vs prev bar), Marubozu (body>85%). Majority vote → signal, conf 50; +20 if pattern sits within 0.5 ATR of a swing S/R level |
| `atr` | **0.0** (context) | Wilder ATR. Volatility regime from percentile vs last 50 ATR values: >80 extreme, >60 high, >30 normal, else low. Emits `atr`, `atr_pct` |

Structure S/R (not scored): swing highs/lows (window 3) over `swing_sr_lookback` (min 120 bars on 1min/5min TFs); up to 3 above and 3 below stored as `swing_high_1..3` / `swing_low_1..3` key levels.

### Market regime classification (exact rules)
- ADX ≥ 25 **and** EMA-trend signal bullish → `trending_up`; bearish → `trending_down`; EMA mixed → **`trending`** (the "mixed" regime — momentum without directional structure; treated as direction-UNKNOWN everywhere; a past bullish-bias bug here cost −6.8R and is fixed)
- else ADX slope > 3.0 → `transitioning` (trend birth, ~5–10 bars before ADX crosses 25)
- else → `ranging`

### Regime-aware RSI reinterpretation (`rsi_mode="regime_aware"`, the default — classic mode backtested worse for gold)
| Regime | RSI zones |
|---|---|
| trending_up | 38–55 STRONG_BUY 75 ("pullback zone, ideal entry"); 30–38 BUY 60; 55–65 BUY 50; >65 NEUTRAL ("extended, wait"); <30 NEUTRAL ("possible reversal") |
| trending_down | mirrored: 45–62 STRONG_SELL 75; 62–70 SELL 60; 35–45 SELL 50; <35 / >70 NEUTRAL |
| transitioning / trending (mixed) | ONLY extremes: ≥70 SELL 50, ≤30 BUY 50, else NEUTRAL 30 |
| ranging | ≥70 SELL 70, ≤30 BUY 70, ≥60 SELL 45, ≤40 BUY 45, else NEUTRAL |

### Composite score
For each scored indicator: `effective_weight = base_weight × regime_multiplier`; contribution = `signal.value × effective_weight × confidence/100`. Composite = `(Σ contributions / Σ effective_weights) × 50`, clamped to ±100. Confidence = weight-averaged indicator confidence. Composite signal: ≥40 STRONG_BUY, ≥15 BUY, ≤−40 STRONG_SELL, ≤−15 SELL, else NEUTRAL.

**Gold regime multipliers** (defaults in `_compute_composite`; `technical.regime_weights_override` replaces the whole dict):

| Indicator | trending_up/down/trending | ranging | transitioning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ema_trend | 2.0 | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| rsi | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| macd | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| bollinger | 0.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| keltner | 1.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 |
| roc | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2.0 |
| candlestick | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| divergence | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.0 |
| adx | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.0 |

---

## signal_aggregator.py — SignalAggregator

Two entry points:
- **`analyze_pair(symbol)`** — LIVE: applies XAU weekend + allowed-weekday filters on wall clock, fetches all TFs (primary + confirmations), flags stale data (primary stale → signal suppressed to NEUTRAL/F), delegates to `analyze_from_dataframes`, then applies the live session check on the **bar-CLOSE time** (bar timestamp + candle duration): outside 03:00–23:00 or in blocked hours → NO TRADE. This is the exact predicate the backtester replays, so live == backtest.
- **`analyze_from_dataframes(symbol, dfs, context, use_news)`** — replayable core; treats each df as the visible history at decision time (caller must slice; no weekend filter here — the backtester applies it).

### Pipeline inside `analyze_from_dataframes` (numbered as in the source)
1. Primary TF analysis → seeds report (score, confidence, regime, vol regime, price, timestamp = last bar's index label).
2. Confirmation TF analyses → `mtf_signals` / `mtf_scores` keyed by TF string ("5min", "1h", …).
3. **MTF agreement**: count BUY-ish vs SELL-ish across ALL TFs (primary included); agreement = count ≥ 2 **in the primary's direction** (two bullish confirms cannot "confirm" a bearish primary).
4. News (if `use_news`): event risk (`clear`/`caution`/`danger`) + pair sentiment (−1..+1). Backtests pass `use_news=False`.
5. Spread estimate = median(High−Low) of primary df.
6. **`_compute_final_signal`** (bonuses → event cap → penalties → thresholds → grade):
   - Bonuses: MTF agreement → +10 conf and `score = 0.6×primary + 0.4×mean(all TF scores)`; news sentiment aligned (|sent|>0.2) → +5; in a *directional* trend, RSI in pullback zone → +5, BB position favorable → +5 (mixed `trending` regime gets NO directional bonus).
   - Event risk `danger`: warning always; confidence hard-capped at 30 ONLY if `news.event_risk_caps_signals` (False by default — XAU-tuned).
   - **Penalty system (diminishing, replaces old additive stacking):** collect, sort by size desc, apply with decay ×1.0, ×0.5, ×0.25…, total capped at 30. Penalties: `mtf_disagreement` 15; `news_conflict` 10; `event_caution` 15 (config-gated); `counter_trend` 15; `extreme_vol` 10; `ema200_near` 5 (price within 0.5% of EMA200 — env `FB2_EMA_LO` overrides); `ema200_far` 5 (>2.5%); `exhaustion` 8 (price >3.5 ATR beyond nearest swing); `no_pullback` 8 (>2.5 ATR from EMA21 in trend) / `weak_pullback` 5 (>2.0); `rsi_extended` 5 (RSI>65 with BUY / <35 with SELL in any strong-ADX regime, both directions in mixed `trending`); `bb_overextended` 8 (BB pos >0.85 BUY / <0.15 SELL).
   - **Exhaustion hard block**: ≥2 exhaustion-tagged penalties ({exhaustion, no_pullback, rsi_extended, bb_overextended} → `report.exhaustion_count`) AND momentum fading (ROC sign against score, or MACD signal against score) → confidence = 0.
   - Confidence clamped [0, 95]. **Final signal**: score ≥35 & conf ≥55 STRONG_BUY; ≥25 & ≥50 BUY; mirrored sells; else NEUTRAL.
   - **Quality grade**: |score|≥40 & conf≥65 & MTF → **A+**; ≥33 & ≥55 & MTF → **A**; ≥28 & ≥50 → **B**; ≥25 & ≥45 → **C**; ≥15 → **D**; else **F**.
7. Post-grade gates, in order:
   - **6b session filter** (bar-label hour + weekday; XAU reads `xau_strategy.blocked_hours_utc`/`allowed_weekdays`, others read `config.backtest.*`) → NEUTRAL/F.
   - **6c transitioning boost**: regime `transitioning` and grade B/C/D → A if |score|≥30 & conf≥50 & MTF; else B if |score|≥25 & conf≥45 (early trend entries).
   - **6d exhausted-trend cap**: trending regime + exhaustion_count ≥2 + grade C/D → D, setup killed.
   - **6e XAU SELL quality gate**: sell-direction & grade actionable (A+..C) & not in `sell_min_quality` → D. The actionable guard is load-bearing: without it a session-blocked F report was *upgraded* to D, re-opening the M5 pullback path (its entry check is `!= "F"`).
   - **6f MTF opposition**: ≥2 TFs pointing against the trade direction → D (never trade against consensus).
   - **6g XAU SELL volatility gate**: sell-direction & vol regime not in {high, extreme} → D.
   - **6g2 XAU regime gates**: regime in `blocked_regimes` (M15: mixed `trending`) → D; sell-direction & regime in `sell_blocked_regimes` → D.
   - **6g3 XAU SELL hour gate**: sell-direction & bar-CLOSE hour (label + candle duration — the entry hour under next-open fills) in `sell_blocked_hours_utc` → D. Per-TF opt-in; M15 factory blocks 15/17 UTC.
   - **6i XAU M5 noise gates** (`_apply_m5_filters`, primary TF = M5 only): (1) |score| ≥ 30; (2) MTF agreement required; (3) ≥1 confirmation TF with score ≥ ±10 in trade direction (NEUTRAL confirms don't count); (4) SELL grade must be B/C (A-grade M5 shorts lose −0.017R/trade); (5) vol regime `high` blocked; (6) SELL blocked when RSI < 25. Each failure → D, setup killed.
8. **Trade setup**: XAU + grade A+/A → `_generate_xau_atr_trade_setup` first; any pair + grade A+/A/B/C and no setup yet → `_generate_trade_setup` (swing-based).
9. Reasons: every non-neutral indicator description → `bullish_reasons`/`bearish_reasons` (the backtester tags strategy from reasons[0] markers).
10. **XAU_PB pullback** (M5 XAU only, `m5_pullback_enabled`, no setup yet, grade ≠ F): `_try_m5_pullback` — see below.
11. **XAU_CP chart pattern** (any TF, XAU only, `cp_enabled`, no setup yet, NOT session/day-blocked — weak-composite grade F is allowed BY DESIGN, reversals complete on weak composites): `_try_chart_pattern` — see below.

### Trade setup generators (exact geometry)

**A. `_generate_xau_atr_trade_setup`** (XAU, grade A+/A, ATR>0): TP quality scale A+ 2.0 / A 1.5 (A with exhaustion≥2 → 1.0). TP1 = entry ± `tp_atr_multiplier`(1.0)×scale×ATR; TP2 = 1.5×that; SL = entry ∓ 2.0×ATR. Gates: RR ≥ 0.5; TP1 distance ≥ $9 (spread gate). Prices rounded to 2 dp; pip 0.10 hardcoded — **this generator is XAU-only by construction**.

**B. `_generate_trade_setup`** (swing-based, any pair, grade A+..C): XAU requires ATR ≥ $1 (LOW ATR FILTER). Per-side:
- SL anchor = nearest swing low below price (BUY) / swing high above (SELL) ∓/± `sl_swing_buffer`×ATR (1.0); fallback (no swing) = (1+buffer)×ATR. SL distance floored at max(ATR × sl_atr_floor, min_sl_pips×pip) — XAU: max(2.0×ATR, $8).
- TP1 = nearest swing beyond entry ± 0.3 ATR if it's within `tp_swing_cap` ATR (2.5) AND ≥ SL×RR-floor; else entry ± max(`tp_mult`×ATR, SL×RR-floor). tp_mult 1.5, RR-floor = max(min_rr 0.5, tp_floor_rr — 1.0 on M15).
- TP2 = second swing if within 5 ATR, else entry ± max((tp_mult+1.5)×ATR, SL×floor×1.5); forced beyond TP1 by ≥1 ATR.
- Gates: RR ≥ min_rr; spread gate TP1 distance ≥ cost×multiple ($9 on XAU).

**C. `_try_m5_pullback` (XAU_PB)**: detection = EMA alignment ≥3 of 4 checks (9>21, 21>50, 50>200, close>200 — mirrored for SELL), ADX ≥ 20, price touched max(EMA21, KC-mid) within last 3 bars, resumption bar closed back in trend direction beyond EMA9, retrace depth 0.8–6.0 ATR from the 40-bar extreme, RSI in pullback zone (BUY 35–62 / SELL 38–65). Then gates: directional score ≥ 15; ≥1 confirmation TF ≥ ±10; not against MTF consensus; vol regime gates (same as breakout path). Geometry: SL = pullback 8-bar extreme ∓ 0.5 ATR (min $8); TP1 = 1.5×risk, TP2 = 2.5×risk; spread gate $9. Sets `strategy="XAU_PB"`, grade min B, marker `"XAU PULLBACK STRATEGY: …"` at reasons[0]. Rejection funnel counters in class attr `SignalAggregator.pb_funnel`.

**D. `_try_chart_pattern` (XAU_CP)**: detection in `chart_patterns.py` — 6 classical patterns (double_bottom/double_top, inv_hs/hs_top, bull_flag/bear_flag), swing-point based (strict local extrema, window `cp_swing_window`=3), all thresholds in ATR units, scanned over the last `cp_lookback`=72 closed bars. Trigger = FIRST close beyond the neckline/boundary since the pattern formed (one breakout → one signal, no repaint); reversal patterns are invalidated by a new extreme beyond the pattern. No composite-score gate BY DESIGN. Gates: MTF non-opposition (6f mirror); SELL patterns respect `sell_vol_regimes`, `sell_blocked_hours_utc` (bar-close hour), M5 RSI floor; M5 blocks `m5_blocked_vol_regimes` both ways; ATR ≥ $1. Geometry: SL = pattern anchor ∓ 0.5 ATR (min $8); TP1 = measured move (pattern height), TP2 = 1.5×height; RR ≥ 0.5; spread gate $9. Sets `strategy="XAU_CP"` (global trailing params), grade min B, marker `"XAU CHART PATTERN: …"` at reasons[0]. Funnel in `SignalAggregator.cp_funnel`.

`TradeSetup` fields: pair, direction, entry, SL, TP1, TP2, RR, risk/reward pips, pip_value, `strategy` ("GENERIC", "XAU_PB", or "XAU_CP" — selects trailing params; XAU_CP uses the global pair).

---

## news_engine.py — NewsEngine

- **Calendar**: Forex Factory free JSON (`nfs.faireconomy.media/ff_calendar_thisweek.json`), 3 retries, honors 429 Retry-After with class-level backoff (≤600 s); fallback MyFXBook RSS. Never fabricates events — unavailable calendar = risk checks skipped that cycle.
- **Caches are class-level** (a fresh NewsEngine is built per scan): calendar + headlines, TTL = 600 s on success, 60 s on empty result; lock held across fetch so concurrent scans share one request.
- **Event risk** (`get_event_risk_level`): high-impact event for base/quote within 30 min → `danger`; within 60 min → `caution`; already-released high-impact → `caution` for 15 min after (45 min if actual ≠ forecast — "surprise"). `EconomicEvent.surprise` compares parsed numeric actual vs forecast (handles "%", "K/M/B" suffixes); direction is numeric-only (doesn't know if higher is bullish).
- **Sentiment**: keyword sets over headlines from 4 RSS feeds, deduped by title (Google News " - Publisher" suffix stripped), last 24 h only. Per-currency scores; **`GOLD_INVERSE_KEYWORDS`** (rate hike/hawkish/tightening/rate cut/dovish/easing/stimulus) flip sign for XAU (hawkish = dollar-bullish = gold-bearish). Currency detection via compiled word-boundary-ish regexes (bare "us"/"eu"/"uk" deliberately excluded). Pair sentiment = base − quote.

---

## data_provider.py — ForexDataProvider

- Twelve Data SDK (`TDClient.time_series(...).as_pandas()`), symbols normalized to `"XAU/USD"` form; renames lowercase columns → capitalized; sorts oldest-first; localizes UTC.
- **Rate limit**: 55 credits/min sliding window (`_throttle`), blocks with sleep when exhausted.
- **In-memory cache**: key `{symbol}_{tf}`, TTL = candle duration (M5 300 s … H4 14400 s); a cached frame is evicted and refetched if it fails the freshness check **or the boundary check** (`_has_latest_closed_bar`: the frame must contain the most recent fully closed bar, weekend-exempt — a wall-clock TTL alone would serve mid-candle snapshots at the next boundary and scans would run one bar behind). Cache and throttle are lock-protected (one provider is shared across the bot's thread pool).
- **`_drop_forming_candle`**: Twelve Data includes the current partial candle; the scanner fires seconds after boundary, so the last bar is dropped if its close time is in the future. Without this every indicator would read a seconds-old stub and signals would repaint.
- **Freshness** (`_is_data_fresh`): last bar older than 3× candle duration → stale (warns; live path suppresses signal if the PRIMARY TF is stale). Weekends exempt (Fri 22:00→Sun 22:00 UTC).
- **`_validate_and_clean`**: drop all-NaN rows → ffill (limit 3) → drop NaN closes → sort + dedupe (keep last) → drop future timestamps (>now+5 min) → repair OHLC inconsistencies (High=max, Low=min of O/C/existing) → remove >10σ return outliers (spike bar only — the opposite-direction snap-back bar right after it is kept, else every spike punched a two-bar hole) → warn if < ~210 bars.
- `outputsize = max(300, min(days×bars_per_day+20, 5000))`; TD caps at 5000/call (the backtester paginates by date).
- `get_latest_price` / `get_spread_estimate` (median M5 High−Low) helpers.

---

## pair_signals/ — per-pair factories (ALWAYS use these, never bare PlatformConfig for a pair)

`PAIR_PRODUCERS: Dict[symbol, factory]`; factory signature `make_config(primary_tf, confirmation_tfs=None) -> PlatformConfig`. `produce_signal(symbol, tf, data_provider)` builds config → aggregator → `analyze_pair`. Registered: XAU/USD.

**A bare `PlatformConfig()` silently runs any pair with XAU defaults — always go through the factory** (the bot, CLI, and backtester all do).

Default confirmation map (same in the factory, the bot, and backtest usage): M5→[M15,H1], M15→[M5,H1], H1→[M15,H4], H4→[H1,D1]. (Exception: `main.py`'s CLI map uses M5→[M1,M15] — a CLI-only quirk.)

**xauusd.py**: `PlatformConfig()` defaults + per-TF overrides (each validated; full evidence in the module docstring):
- M5: append hour 9 UTC to blocked hours (6-yr replay: +207.1R vs +178.3R; M15-and-up keep hour 9 — it's positive there). Enable BUY-only chart patterns (`cp_enabled=True`, `cp_patterns=["inv_hs","double_bottom","bull_flag"]`): 12mo +41.8R PF 1.60 (train/val both positive), 5yr +65.2R PF 1.48; bearish CP dropped (OOS −3.21R). M15/H1 CP remain disabled (all failed OOS).
- M15: `signals.tp_floor_rr = 1.0` (1R minimum targets: +116.6R vs +105.4R, better in train/val and 2024 OOS; **hurts M5** — per-TF only) and `xau_strategy.blocked_regimes = ["trending"]` (mixed regime block: +65.7R vs +59.0R). A transitioning-SELL block was tested and REJECTED (bull-market artifact — failed 2024 OOS).
- M15: `xau_strategy.sell_blocked_hours_utc = [15, 17]` (SELL-only hour block, validated 2026-07-16 on the 5-yr replay: +176.7R PF 1.31 vs +144.9R PF 1.22, better in all 6 years, both 12-mo halves, and 2024-06→2025-03 OOS; M5 cross-TF pocket confirms; BUYs at those hours are +34.3R so `blocked_hours_utc` would be wrong).
- The factory must stay equivalent to inline `PlatformConfig(symbol=XAUUSD, …)` + overrides — **enforced by a test in test_all.py**.

---

## telegram_bot.py — the bot

Run: `python telegram_bot.py` (env `TELEGRAM_TOKEN`, `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID`, `TELEGRAM_CHANNEL_ID`; hardcoded fallbacks exist in the file).

- **Owner lock**: every command/button is wrapped in `_owner_only` — only `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID` gets responses; others get a refusal. The bot is the owner's control panel; the product is the channel.
- **Subscriber channel** (`TELEGRAM_CHANNEL_ID`, `-100…`; `""` disables): auto-scan signal alerts + breach alerts also post there (bot needs channel-admin). Monetization = Telegram Stars subscription invite links; Telegram handles membership, the bot has zero payment code. The channel feed keeps running even when the owner toggles DM auto-scan off (`_feed_active()` = DM chats OR channel).
- **Auto-scan**: boot-starts if `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID` set (initial M15 scan populates the level cache first). Candle-boundary loops for M5/M15/H1/H4, firing at boundary + 10 s. Each scan runs all `scan_pairs` concurrently, updates the level cache, then broadcasts.
- **Alert gating**: quality threshold (`_alert_min_quality`, default "C", menu cycles C→B→A) + fingerprint dedup per (symbol, TF) on (signal, quality, direction, entry bucket) with 1-hour re-arm — a persisting identical signal doesn't re-send every candle, but a setup that moved ≥ half its risk distance (new pullback/swing anchor) re-alerts. The fingerprint is committed only **after** a message reaches ≥1 target (`_commit_alert`), so a failed Telegram send doesn't consume the alert.
- **WebSocket monitor**: subscribes every `scan_pairs` symbol to TD quotes WS; 10 s heartbeat; exponential reconnect (≤60 s). On tick crossing any cached key level (`swing_high/low_1..3`, `ema_trend`, `bb_upper/lower`, `kc_upper/lower`; cache TTL 1 h) → immediate M15 rescan → "LEVEL BREAK" alert if actionable+changed (same gates as auto-scan), 5-min per-pair cooldown.
- **Commands**: `/start` (menu), `/scan` (buttons: per pair — M5/M15/H1/H4 + Scan All TFs), `/autoscan` (toggle DM copy), `/status` (loops, WS, live prices, level cache, cooldowns), `/cache` (age per pair/TF), `/clearcache`, `/help`.
- Signal messages include the full indicator breakdown, warnings, trade setup, **trailing-stop management plan** (arm price + trail distance, from Signal/pb params by `strategy`), and a risk disclaimer on every outbound message.
- Blocking scan work runs in `ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=4)`; one shared `ForexDataProvider` across all scans (cache reuse). Logs to `logs/telegram.log`.

---

## main.py — CLI

`python main.py [--pair XAUUSD] [--timeframe M5|M15|M30|H1|H4|D1] [--detail] [--json] [--verbose]`. Uses the pair factory, renders a compact terminal report (decision, setup, context, top-3 reasons per side, warnings) or full JSON via `report_to_dict`.

---

## backtest/gpu_backtest.py — the backtester

Replays history bar-by-bar through the **real `SignalAggregator.analyze_from_dataframes`** — same gates, same setup math. News is disabled (`use_news=False`): backtests are pure technical.

**Realism model (all validated fixes — do not regress):**
- Entry at the **next bar's open** after the signal bar; SL/TP distances preserved relative to actual entry. Entries are **re-anchored to the raw price path** (`_reanchor_entries_to_raw`): if cleaning dropped a >10σ spike bar right after the signal bar, the trade enters at the spike bar's open, not the bar after it — skipping it was a favorable bias.
- Round-trip `--spread` subtracted from every trade's PnL before computing R (default = pair's `default_spread`: XAU $0.30). Results before 2026-07-08 (+59.5R baseline era) charged no spread — not comparable.
- Trade resolution runs against the **RAW price path** (`fetch_history(clean=False)`): the parquet cache stores raw bars; cleaning (which drops >10σ news spikes that hit stops in reality) is applied only to the signal-side data. Caches written before this fix contain cleaned data — refetch to restore spike bars.
- Same-bar SL+TP tie → SL first (conservative). Gap through SL/TP → filled at the bar open.
- **Trailing exits** (default on, from `signals.trail_arm_r/trail_dist_r`; XAU_PB trades carry per-trade 0.8/0.75 overrides): stop ratchets at bar close only, so a new stop can only fill from the next bar (conservative). Exit reasons: SL / TRAIL / TP1 (static mode) / TIMEOUT / NO_DATA.
- Session + weekend + weekday filters evaluate the **decision time = bar close** (`ts + primary_duration`) — exactly matching the live bot's wall-clock check.
- Confirmation TFs are sliced to bars **fully closed** by decision time (no look-ahead).

**Performance:** `precompute_indicators` builds every indicator series once per TF (CuPy on GPU or NumPy — check the log line `Backend: CuPy GPU` vs `NumPy CPU fallback`; CuPy needs the `nvidia-*-cu12` pip wheels or it silently falls back). `GPUTechnicalEngine` subclasses the live engine and overrides only the `_compute_*` methods with cache lookups — outputs are byte-identical to the live engine (regression-tested). Bar replay: pure per-bar evaluation fans out over forked worker processes (`--workers`, 0 = auto: cores−2 capped 12; <5000 bars forces 1); the entry **cooldown (5 bars) is the only sequential rule**, applied in an ordered pass afterwards — parallel and sequential books are identical. ~300 bars/s/core, ~1700 bars/s at 10 workers.

**Strategy tags** (from reasons[0] markers): `XAU_PB`, `XAU_CP`, `GENERIC` (plus legacy `XAU` recognized). `--strategies` filters the book by tag. `--cp` force-enables the chart-pattern entry for candidate validation; `--cp-patterns` narrows the detector set.

**CLI:**
```bash
python backtest/gpu_backtest.py --pair XAUUSD --days 365
python backtest/gpu_backtest.py --pair XAUUSD --start 2025-01-01 --end 2025-06-01 --primary-tf 15min --confirm-tfs 1h,4h
# key flags: --spread --quality A+,A,B,C --strategies --workers --max-hold-bars 300
#            --warmup-bars 250 --cooldown-bars 5 --no-cache --export-csv out.csv --detail
```
Report: summary metrics (total R, PF, Sharpe on R, max DD, MFE/MAE), breakdowns by quality/strategy/regime, trade log, and per-trade reasoning dumps (indicator-by-indicator agreement at entry — required by `instructions_for_backtest.txt`). `--export-csv` flattens every indicator's signal/value/agreement into columns.

**Comparability note (2026-07-16):** the parity/realism fixes of that date (EMA-ribbon port to the GPU engine, exact-pandas Bollinger precompute, raw-path entry re-anchoring, per-TF D1 warmup, live confirm-map CLI default, outlier snap-back retention) all shift books slightly vs earlier runs. Books produced before these fixes are not directly comparable — re-run the baseline before any before/after tuning comparison.

Data: paginated TD fetches (5000-bar chunks) cached as parquet in `backtest/cache/` keyed by symbol/TF/window; warmup pad ≥60 days before the window for EMA200, extended per-TF so slow confirmation TFs get ≥210 bars at window start (D1 gets ~299 days — 62 days gave only ~61 bars: no EMA200, unlike live's 300-bar outputsize floor). `--confirm-tfs` defaults to the pair factory's live confirmation map (pass it explicitly to override); a hardcoded default here previously made the standard invocation backtest a different MTF setup than the bot scans.

---

## test_all.py — QA suite

`python test_all.py` — **162 tests, 10 modules** (config, data_provider, engine, news_engine, signal_aggregator, main, telegram_bot, integration, pair_signals registry + engine-bug regressions, 2026-07-16 audit-fix regressions). No network needed (mocked). Uses a custom `@test("name")` decorator that runs immediately (NOT pytest — don't grep for `def test_`). Exit code non-zero on failure. Includes: the xauusd-factory ≡ inline-config equivalence test, engine bug-fix regression tests (Module 9b), and a live-vs-GPU engine parity sweep incl. the EMA-ribbon path (Module 11). **Any signal-logic change must keep this green and should add tests.**

---

## Environment variables

| Variable | Purpose | Default |
|---|---|---|
| `TWELVE_DATA_API_KEY` | market data key | hardcoded fallback in `config.py` |
| `TELEGRAM_TOKEN` | bot token | hardcoded fallback in `telegram_bot.py` |
| `TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID` | owner chat id (boot auto-scan + owner lock) | hardcoded fallback |
| `TELEGRAM_CHANNEL_ID` | subscriber channel (`-100…`); `""` disables the feed | hardcoded fallback |
| `FB2_EMA_LO` | EMA200 "near" penalty threshold in % | `0.5` |

Dependencies (`requirements.txt`): numpy, pandas, requests, twelvedata, python-telegram-bot ≥20, websockets. Python 3.12. A `venv/` exists in-repo.

---

## Code conventions

- Type hints on public methods; dataclasses for all config and outputs.
- `SignalStrength` (−2..+2) is the universal signal currency.
- Key levels dict keys: `swing_high_*`, `swing_low_*`, `ema_*`, `bb_*`, `kc_*`, `atr`, `atr_pct`.
- Private per-indicator series ride on `TechnicalAnalysis` as `_underscore` attributes; anything `_`-prefixed or weight-0 is skipped by scorers/formatters.
- UTC everywhere; DataFrames indexed by tz-aware `Datetime`, oldest-first, capitalized OHLCV columns.
- Logging via module loggers; the bot adds a rotating file handler.

---

## Rules for making changes (READ BEFORE EDITING SIGNAL LOGIC)

1. **Never change a tuned value without re-validation.** The acceptance rule used throughout: positive total R in BOTH the train and validation halves of a ≥12-month window, PF ≥ 1.3, at realistic cost (XAU $0.30 round trip), with trailing exits and next-open fills. For any marginal edge additionally re-test on the 2024-06→2025-03 out-of-sample window — within-year splits alone have approved configs that failed OOS.
2. **Per-timeframe overrides live in the pair factory** (`pair_signals/*.py`), never in global defaults — the same knob has opposite effects on different TFs (proven twice: `tp_floor_rr`, hour-9 block). Document the validation evidence in the factory docstring.
3. **Pair isolation is a hard invariant.** XAU gates in the aggregator are display-gated (`report.display_name == "XAU/USD"`) so a future pair port cannot inherit gold-calibrated logic by accident.
4. **Live == backtest parity**: session/weekend/hour filters must evaluate bar-CLOSE time in both paths; `xauusd.make_config` must stay equivalent to the inline config the backtester/bot would build (test-enforced). If you add a live gate, add it to the replay path (or `analyze_from_dataframes`) in the same commit.
5. **ROC stays weighted** (see engine table) unless you retune composite thresholds and re-validate — removing it lost 13R.
6. **Backtester realism knobs are results-critical**: raw-path resolution, spread charging, next-open entry, SL-first ties, close-only trail ratchet. Any "optimization" that touches these invalidates comparability with the pinned books (`backtest/*.csv`, memory notes).
7. **Don't zero/disable indicators via config in production paths** — `disabled_indicators` exists for experiments; composite thresholds assume the full set.
8. **The forming candle must stay dropped** and analysis must only ever see closed bars, or live signals repaint.
9. Keep `test_all.py` green (`python test_all.py`); extend it for every new gate/knob.
10. Legacy/no-op config fields exist (flagged above) — do not build new logic on them; delete only with test updates.