Getting Started

Creating Your First Indicator

Open the Indicator Editor — Add an Indicator Editor widget to your workspace, or navigate to the Indicators list and click "New Indicator"

Write your code — Start with the indicator() declaration, define inputs, calculate values, and plot results

Preview on chart — The Data Chart widget renders your indicator output in real time as you edit

Save and deploy — Name your indicator and save it to your workspace for use across charts and workflows

Minimal Example

Every indicator starts with an indicator() call and at least one plot():

indicator('Simple Moving Average', { overlay: true });

const length = input.int(20, 'Length');
const sma = ta.sma(close, length);

plot(sma, 'SMA', { color: '#2962FF' });

This creates an indicator with:

A configurable Length parameter (default 20) that appears in the UI
A simple moving average calculated on close prices
A blue line plotted as an overlay on the price chart

Indicator Options

The indicator() function accepts a title and an options object:

indicator('My Indicator', {
  overlay: true,        // Plot on price chart (false = separate pane)
  precision: 2,         // Decimal places for values
  format: format.price, // Display format
});

Option	Type	Default	Description
`overlay`	boolean	`false`	Plot on the price chart instead of a separate pane
`precision`	number	auto	Number of decimal places
`format`	string	`format.inherit`	Display format (`format.price`, `format.volume`, `format.percent`)
`scale`	string	auto	Scale type
`max_bars_back`	number	auto	Maximum historical bars to reference
`max_lines_count`	number	auto	Maximum line drawing objects
`max_labels_count`	number	auto	Maximum label drawing objects
`max_boxes_count`	number	auto	Maximum box drawing objects

A More Complete Example

Here's a Bollinger Bands indicator that demonstrates inputs, tuple destructuring, multiple plots, and fill:

indicator('Bollinger Bands', { overlay: true });

const length = input.int(20, 'Length');
const mult = input.float(2, 'StdDev');

// ta.bb returns [middle, upper, lower] as a tuple
const [middle, upper, lower] = ta.bb(close, length, mult);

const upperPlot = plot(upper, 'Upper', { color: '#F23645' });
plot(middle, 'Middle', { color: '#2962FF' });
const lowerPlot = plot(lower, 'Lower', { color: '#089981' });

// Fill the area between upper and lower bands
fill(upperPlot, lowerPlot);

Adding a Workflow Trigger

The trigger() function is a TradingGoose extension that connects indicator signals to workflow automation:

indicator('MACD Crossover Signal');

const [macdLine, signalLine, hist] = ta.macd(close, 12, 26, 9);

plot(hist, 'Histogram', { style: plot.style_histogram });
plot(macdLine, 'MACD');
plot(signalLine, 'Signal');

// Fire a workflow when MACD crosses above signal line
if (ta.crossover(macdLine, signalLine)) {
  trigger('macd_bullish_cross', {
    condition: ta.crossover(macdLine, signalLine),
    input: 'MACD bullish crossover detected',
    signal: 'long',
    position: 'belowBar',
    color: '#00FF00'
  });
}

The trigger() API is unique to TradingGoose and does not exist in standard Pine Script. See the Triggers guide for full documentation.

Next Steps

Learn the PineTS syntax rules — especially let vs var for state management
Explore the input types to build configurable indicators
Browse the technical analysis reference for all 57+ built-in functions