Backtesting from scratch means choosing your own symbol, date range, and strategy — but sometimes you want to jump straight into practicing a specific setup without the setup work. That's what Scenarios are for. A Scenario is a ready-made practice session that gives you everything you need to start backtesting a specific strategy right away. 🎯
How do I find Scenarios?
To access Scenario, go to Backtesting > Create Session > Backtest on your own - this will automatically go to Pick a Scenario page.
Or access it directly here 👉 Scenarios
What does a Scenario include?
Each Scenario bundles three things together:
Context — split into three parts:
A description of the setup
What are you looking for? — a checklist of specific conditions to watch for
How to practice? — a numbered step-by-step guide
Practice Periods — specific historical date ranges where the setup occurred, so you're practicing on relevant data instead of scrolling through random candles
Strategy Rules — predefined entry, exit, and risk rules automatically linked to your session as a Strategy
The link above the strategy name at the top of the preview panel takes you to that strategy's page, where you can see its performance and related details, and edit the Scenario itself.
How is a Scenario different from starting from scratch?
When you start from scratch, you configure everything yourself — symbol, date range, starting balance, and strategy. With a Scenario, the symbol and practice periods are already selected for you. You only need to enter a session name and starting balance before you begin.
Where do Scenarios come from?
Scenarios are created by TradeZella and community contributors. From the Scenario page, you can:
Use the search bar to look up a Scenario by name, strategy, or symbol
Use Filter by to narrow results to Futures or Stocks
New to this? Click What is a scenario? or Where are my strategies? — both open a quick explainer covering the basics before you dive in
Each Scenario card shows a short Context snippet, along with the author, strategy, date range, and symbols — so you can get a sense of what you're practicing before opening it.
💡 Coming soon: Save your favorite practice setups and build your own Scenario library.
What happens during a Scenario session?
Your session opens in the same backtesting window as always. The one addition is a Scenario tab in the right sidebar — it gives you a preparation checklist, context for reference, your practice periods, sample trades, and your strategy rules while you trade.
For a full breakdown of the Scenario tab, see How to use Scenario in Backtesting.
That's it! Scenarios take the guesswork out of what to practice, so you can spend more time solidifying your edge. 🚀
If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team — we're here to help!