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This is the most important thing to understand about AskFutures, so we’ll say it plainly:
The AI only translates your idea into precise rules. Once the rules exist, the backtest is run by a fixed, deterministic simulation engine over real historical prices — the same rules and the same data always produce the same numbers. The AI never invents performance figures.

Where the AI stops and the math begins

AI handles interpretation only:
  • The chat agent that talks to you.
  • Translating your English into a structured strategy (entry rules, exit rules, filters, parameters).
  • Small language helpers, like turning “since 2020” into a concrete date window or naming a strategy.
Fixed, deterministic code produces every number:
  • Indicators are real TA-Lib functions (RSI, EMA, MACD, ATR, Bollinger Bands, …) — not AI approximations.
  • The simulator replays history one bar at a time, applying your exact rules.
  • Trading costs are modeled (see below), and exit reasons are explicit (stop, target, trailing stop, time, session close, signal).
  • Run the same strategy on the same data twice and you get identical results.

What the backtest does — and doesn’t — model

Backtest results are hypothetical and simulated. Because no trades were actually executed, results may under- or over-state real outcomes (liquidity, slippage, volatility, and execution delays differ live). Simulated programs are designed with the benefit of hindsight. Past performance — actual or simulated — does not guarantee future results.
ModeledNot (yet) modeled
Real historical OHLCV pricesSub-minute / tick fills
Back-adjusted continuous contractsOrder-book depth & partial fills
Slippage (default 1 tick per trade)Overnight margin calls
Commission (default 1/sidemicro,1/side** micro, **2.50/side full-size)Real broker fees beyond the modeled commission
By default, reported P&L is net of the modeled slippage and commission. You can adjust both when you build or refine a strategy.

What this means for you

Reproducible

The numbers are an honest replay of your rules over real prices — not a guess and not a sales pitch.

Yours to verify

Every backtest reports the exact date window it covered, and you can export the full trade list to check it yourself.

Next: what a strategy is made of