| name | backtest-a-strategy |
| description | Use this whenever the operator wants to test a trading idea on history — e.g. "backtest a 20/50 moving-average cross on SPY", "does RSI mean-reversion work on AAPL", "how would a breakout strategy have done on BTC". Drives a specify → backtest → benchmark → check-robustness → honest verdict loop. |
| tools | ["backtest_strategy","list_strategies","stock_price_history","crypto_price_history","web_search","memory_recall","current_time"] |
Backtest a strategy
Turn a trading idea into an honest, reproducible result. The job is not to find
a pretty curve — it's to tell the operator whether an edge is real.
1. Specify
Pin down: instrument (ticker or BASE/USDT), strategy + parameters, period,
bar interval, and assumed costs. If the operator was vague, pick sensible defaults
and state them. Use list_strategies if unsure what's available.
2. Backtest
backtest_strategy(symbol, strategy, params, period, cost_bps, slippage_bps).
Always include realistic frictions — a frictionless backtest is a fantasy.
3. Benchmark & read the result
The tool already reports strategy vs buy-and-hold and in-sample vs
out-of-sample. Read them honestly:
- Did it actually beat buy-and-hold? A strategy that trails a do-nothing
benchmark is not an edge, however good its Sharpe looks.
- Is the OOS Sharpe close to in-sample? A big drop = overfit → say so.
- Is the bootstrap Sharpe CI comfortably above 0, or does it straddle 0?
Few trades + a wide CI = not significant, regardless of the point estimate.
4. Robustness (when it matters)
For a result the operator might act on, don't stop at one run:
- Vary the parameters a little — does the edge survive, or is it a single lucky
setting (curve-fit)?
- Try a different period / a second instrument.
- Watch trade count: < ~30 trades → treat any conclusion as tentative.
5. Verdict
Lead with a one-line verdict: edge / no edge / inconclusive — and why, in
the numbers. Then the metrics table, the assumptions, and what would make you more
confident (more data, more trades, OOS holding up).
Rules
- No look-ahead, no frictionless fantasies, no cherry-picked period. The tool
enforces the first two; you enforce the last.
- A backtest is evidence about the past. Say so. This is analysis, not advice,
and not a prediction.
- If the operator has a strategy or risk preference on file,
memory_recall it.
