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Editing a strategy never overwrites it. Every change creates a new version in a chain, the old one stays exactly as it was, and each version keeps its own backtest results. So you can always step back, compare, and pick the version you want — nothing you tried is ever lost.
Three words, plain meanings:
  • A session is the chat/workspace you’re working in.
  • A strategy is one trading idea inside it.
  • A version is one saved snapshot of that strategy. Edits stack up as versions; they don’t replace each other.

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How they nest

A session can hold several strategies. Each strategy is a chain of versions, newest at the tip. When you ask for a change, AskFutures branches a fresh version off the latest one — your previous work stays put.

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The session — your workspace

A session is the conversation and everything in it: the strategies you’ve built, their versions, and the backtests you’ve run. It’s where you describe ideas, run backtests, and iterate. Start a new session when you want a clean slate; stay in one to keep related work together.

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Versions — non-destructive editing

When you refine a strategy — “add a 1.5× ATR stop”, “make it longs only”, “switch to 5-minute bars” — AskFutures doesn’t edit in place. It creates a new version built from the current one and leaves the old version untouched.

Nothing is overwritten

Each edit is a new snapshot. The version before it stays exactly as it was, backtest and all.

Step back any time

Don’t like where an edit went? Go back to an earlier version and branch from there instead.

Compare side by side

Because every version keeps its own numbers, you can line up v2 against v3 and see what the change actually did.

Results stay attached

A backtest belongs to the exact version it ran on — change the rules and you get a new version with its own fresh results.
“Version” is overloaded — don’t confuse the two. In these docs, version means a saved snapshot of your strategy in its edit chain (v1 → v2 → v3). It has nothing to do with the AskFutures product release or any internal engine version. When we say “step back a version” or “compare versions,” we always mean your own strategy’s history.

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Results stay pinned to their version

This is what makes comparing trustworthy: a backtest is tied to the exact version of the rules it ran on. Change anything — an indicator period, a stop, the symbol, the date window — and that’s a new version with its own, freshly-computed results. You never see numbers from one set of rules sitting next to a different set of rules by accident. Because the engine is deterministic, the same version over the same data always reproduces the same numbers — so a side-by-side comparison is apples to apples.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always test before you trade.

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The lifecycle of a version

1

Defined

You describe the idea; AskFutures turns it into precise rules and shows you the strategy card with its Strategy Flow chart. Now there’s something concrete to test.
2

Backtested

The deterministic engine replays the rules over real historical prices and reports the results — P&L, win rate, drawdown, the trade list — pinned to this version.
3

Saved

The version takes its place in the chain. Refine it and you start the loop again on a fresh version, with the saved one still right there to return to.

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Common questions

No. Editing is non-destructive — every change is a new version, and the one before it stays exactly as it was, including its backtest results.
Yes. Step back to any earlier version and continue from there. Branching off an older version doesn’t disturb the newer ones.
Not on their own. The engine is deterministic, so the same version over the same data reproduces the same numbers. The market data does refresh daily, so re-running with a relative period like “last 1 year” can include newer bars — see where data comes from.
Yes. A session is your workspace; it can hold several strategies, each with its own version chain.

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Next steps

Version & compare

Iterate & refine

Strategies

Where data comes from