ia-pinescript

Pine Script Development

Verify before implementing: For Pine Script version-specific syntax or new built-in functions, look up current docs via Context7 (query-docs) before writing code. TradingView updates Pine Script frequently and training data may be stale.

Critical Syntax Rules

• Keep simple ternaries readable; multiline expressions require valid continuation indentation. For complex ternaries, use intermediate variables:

  isBull = close > open
  barColor = isBull ? color.green : color.red
  

• Continuation lines outside parentheses MUST be indented by a non-multiple of 4 -- same indentation as the start errors, and 4/8/12 spaces parse as a local block and error too (2 spaces is the conventional choice). Inside parentheses (function calls, parenthesized expressions) any indentation works, including multiples of 4
• NEVER use plot() inside local scopes (if/for/functions) -- use conditional value instead: plot(condition ? value : na)
• Use barstate.isconfirmed when signals require the chart bar's closing values. It does not establish that requested higher-timeframe values are confirmed; inspect request.security() offsets and lookahead separately.

Platform Limits

Check the current platform limits before sizing a script: 64 plot counts (one call can consume several); up to 500 line, box, or label IDs each and 100 polyline IDs; 40 unique request.*() calls, or 64 on Ultimate; 100,000 compiled tokens. History buffers, requested intrabars, and chart history have distinct limits; there is no general 500-bar request.security() history limit.

• Drawings positioned with xloc.bar_index reach at most 9,999 bars into the past and 500 into the future; for anything older, switch the drawing to xloc.bar_time and pass a timestamp (a time value without xloc.bar_time is treated as a future bar index and errors)
• Set the relevant max_*_count declaration parameter and cap growth with a rolling buffer: push each object, then line.delete(arr.shift()) after the intended line count is exceeded. The default display count is approximately 50 per drawing type.