Running Your First Backtest

Prerequisites

• A saved strategy (see Creating Your First Strategy)

• Historical data availability for your chosen symbol

Step-by-Step

Step 1: Navigate to Backtest

Option A: From the strategy detail page, click Run Backtest

Option B: Go to Backtest (/dashboard/backtest) and click New Backtest

Step 2: Select Strategy

Choose the strategy you want to backtest from the dropdown.

Step 3: Configure Parameters

Parameter	Description	Recommendation
Start Date	Beginning of the test period	At least 3 months ago
End Date	End of the test period	Today (or recent date)
Initial Capital	Starting balance for simulation	Match your actual trading capital
Include Funding	Include Hyperliquid funding rates	Yes (for realistic results)

Step 4: Run Backtest

Click Run Backtest. The backtest runs as a background job:

1. Historical candle data is fetched from Hyperliquid

2. Indicators are calculated for each candle

3. Entry/exit conditions are evaluated bar by bar

4. Trades are simulated with realistic execution

5. Performance metrics are calculated

Processing time depends on:

• Date range (longer = more candles)

• Number of indicators (more = more computation)

• Server load

Step 5: View Results

Once complete, you'll be redirected to the results page (/dashboard/backtest/[id]).

Understanding the Results Page

Summary Card

At the top, you'll see a summary with key metrics:

Total Return: +23.5%    Sharpe: 1.82    Win Rate: 62%
Max Drawdown: -8.3%     Trades: 47      Profit Factor: 2.1

Equity Curve

The main chart shows your simulated equity over time:

• Green areas: Periods of growth

• Red areas: Drawdown periods

• Flat areas: No open positions

Trade List

Below the chart, a table shows every simulated trade:

Entry Date	Exit Date	Side	Entry Price	Exit Price	PnL	PnL %
Jan 15	Jan 18	Long	$42,000	$43,500	+$150	+3.6%
Jan 22	Jan 24	Long	$41,200	$40,800	-$40	-1.0%
...	...	...	...	...	...	...

Tips for Meaningful Backtests

1. Use sufficient data: At least 3 months, ideally 6-12 months

2. Include different market conditions: Trending, ranging, volatile

3. Account for fees: HyperSync includes Hyperliquid trading fees

4. Include funding rates: Enable this for realistic perpetual futures results

5. Match your capital: Use your actual trading amount for realistic position sizing

6. Avoid overfitting: Don't optimize parameters until they perfectly fit the past — this rarely works in live trading