Straight answers, including the inconvenient ones.

You compose a strategy from 1,058 entry signals in 58 families (indicators, price structure, session and time rules), plus entry filters, exits and risk controls. The engine evaluates the rules when each bar closes, on CME futures data downloaded from your own Databento account and built on your computer into continuous, back-adjusted series. Entries fill at the next bar's open: you see the signal at the close and get the next print, not a mid-bar fill.

A 0–100 rating of historical research quality. Quality is a weighted mean of five pillars: risk-adjusted return (25%), out-of-sample generalization (25%), robustness (25%), drawdown and tail risk (15%) and consistency (10%). Evidence, built from statistical significance, the number of trades and the number of out-of-sample trades, decides how many of the points above 50 are kept. Grades run from A+ at 90 and above to F below 35.

Yes. Any strategy exports as Pine Script v6 with its session, date range, sizing and costs written in, and the export dialog lists the chart settings to check before you compare results.

Rule templates for Topstep, Apex Trader Funding, Tradeify (Growth and Select), Lucid Trading, MyFundedFutures and Alpha Futures at common account sizes, plus a custom rule sheet. Each template sets the drawdown type and amount, daily loss limit, profit target, minimum days and consistency rule.

Only to sign in, confirm your plan now and then, and download market data from your Databento account. The engine, the scoring and the code export all run on your computer, and keep working offline for up to a week after Strata last confirmed your plan.

Download Strata free for Mac or Windows, open it and sign in with your email. We send a 6-digit code, and your first sign-in creates your Strata account. Using the app needs a Pro or Vault plan, which shows on your account page at strataalgo.com/account.