> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.hydravision.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.hydravision.ai/products/hydra-replay-beta/hydra-replay-made-simple.md).

# Hydra Replay Made Simple

A plain-English guide to Hydra Replay (beta): watch your backtests trade, grid by grid

### Who this guide is for

You run backtests of Hydra Vision in the MT5 Strategy Tester and want to see *how* a result happened: where each grid opened, how it grew, what closed it, and what the account looked like along the way. Hydra Replay turns a backtest into a chart you can analyse and play back like a recording.

Hydra Replay is in **beta**, and it has to be switched on for your account first (see **Before you start**). If something looks wrong, tell us: beta feedback shapes what comes next.

If you only read one section, read **Your first replay in five steps**.

***

### Hydra Replay in one minute

When a backtest finishes, Hydra Vision can write a **replay file**: the candles for the test period, every position it opened and closed, and the grid events behind them (which engine closed what, and why). You open that file in the **Hydra Replay player** in your portal.

The player has two ways of working:

1. **View**: the whole backtest at once. Find the grids that matter, sort them by drawdown or depth, and inspect any position or event.
2. **Replay**: the backtest plays forward candle by candle, like the MT5 visual tester, with an MT5-style Trade and History list underneath. Outcomes stay hidden until they happen.

> **Think of it this way:** the Strategy Tester report tells you *what* the result was. Hydra Replay shows you *how* it got there.

***

### Before you start

* **Switch the beta on for your account.** In the portal, go to **Hydra Replay** and request access. Once it's approved, your licence carries it the next time the EA starts.
* **Use the current Hydra Vision 6.5 build.** Older builds can't write replay files.
* **Turn the export on in the EA.** In the EA's inputs, under **BACKTESTING**, set **Export Hydra Replay file (beta)** to **true**. It does nothing on a live chart; it only acts in the Strategy Tester.

> **Good to know:** if the export is on but the beta isn't enabled for your account, the backtest still runs normally. At the end, the Journal says the export was skipped and asks you to request it in the portal.

***

### Your first replay in five steps

1. **Run a backtest** in the MT5 Strategy Tester with **Export Hydra Replay file (beta)** set to true. Any modelling mode works; "Every tick based on real ticks" gives the most faithful replay.
2. **Wait for it to finish.** In the tester's **Journal** tab you'll see a line starting `[HydraReplay] Wrote replay_…` with the number of positions and events (followed by counts of the candles, tick values, regime rows and grid rows it saved).
3. **Find the file.** It's in MT5's common folder: in MT5, **File > Open Data Folder**, go up one level to `Terminal`, then `Common\Files\HydraReplay`. The name looks like `replay_GBPUSD_20260101_20261007_9E64E4_6E4144.json` (symbol, start date, end date, and the first six characters of the Strategy Print and Tuning Print of the settings you tested).
4. **Open the player** in the portal under **Hydra Replay**.
5. **Drag the file onto the player** (or click a file slot and choose it). The chart, positions and events appear straight away.

> **Good to know:** each backtest makes its own file. Running the same settings over the same dates again replaces that file; different settings or dates make a new one. **Optimisation runs don't write replay files**, only single backtests do.

***

### Finding your way around

#### The top bar

| Item                          | What it does                                                                                                                   |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **⟨ panel**                   | Folds the left panel away to give the chart the full width (handy on laptops). Click again, or press **\[**, to bring it back. |
| **Chart / Hydra / Events**    | Show which file is loaded. A replay file fills all three.                                                                      |
| **Symbol / Account / Source** | The symbol tested, the tester account and its currency (for example `12345678 · USD`), and "backtest".                         |
| **M15 / H1 / H4**             | Candle timeframe. Positions and events stay in the right place on every timeframe.                                             |
| **Decimals**                  | How many decimals prices show. **Auto** uses the symbol's own (5 for most forex pairs, 3 for JPY pairs, 2 for gold).           |
| **theme / reset**             | Light or dark (inside the portal, the portal's theme applies). **reset** zooms out to the whole test.                          |

Under the symbol name on the chart you'll see the settings that ran, for example `hv4 9E64E4/6E4144`. These are the first six characters of the Strategy Print and the Tuning Print the portal uses (`hv3` is the print version), so you can match a replay to its setfile.

#### The chart

<table data-search="false"><thead><tr><th>You see</th><th>It means</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Orange line</strong></td><td>A buy position, from where it opened to where it closed.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Red line</strong></td><td>A sell position.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Thicker line</strong></td><td>The position you selected, and the positions closed together with it.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Small square tag</strong></td><td>Where a position opened. ⚓ marks the grid's first position (the anchor); numbers mark the positions added after it. Grey while open, then green for a profit or red for a loss.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Blue dot</strong></td><td>Where a position was closed by Partial Close (PCL) or another engine.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Green dot</strong></td><td>Where a position was closed by its stop loss.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Markers above or below candles</strong></td><td>Grid events (closes, grid finishes). Several on one candle show as one marker with a number.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Yellow / amber horizontal lines</strong></td><td>The price levels of the grid you've selected, labelled ⚓, [1], [2]… on the right-hand scale.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Grid card</strong> (top left)</td><td>The selected grid: positions, volume, duration, total P&#x26;L, maximum drawdown and depth, and which engines closed it.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Click a line on the chart to select that position. Click near a marker to select that event.

#### The left panel

* **Engines** and **Event types**: filters for what's listed and marked on the chart.
* **Display**: switches for what the chart draws.
  * **Show position lifecycle** switches position lines on or off.
  * **Show regime** appears when the file carries a market regime timeline (files from the current EA build do). It is off until you switch it on, and the player remembers your choice in this browser. See **Reading the regime shading** below.
  * **Show unmatched events** appears only if a file contains events from a different backtest (see **The data check box**).
  * **Show grid levels** and **Show grid VWAP** appear when the file records each grid's state (files from the current EA build do; older files don't, and the switches stay hidden). See **Reading the grid lines** below.
* **Positions**: every grid with its positions. Click a position to select it and zoom to it.
* **Events**: every grid event in time order. Click one to jump the chart to it.

#### The bottom panel (like MT5's Toolbox)

| Tab         | What's in it                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Trade**   | During a replay: the positions open at that moment, as in MT5's Trade tab, with time, ticket, type, volume, open price, current price, profit and the grid each belongs to. A totals row adds them up. |
| **History** | Closed positions, newest first: during a replay, those closed so far; otherwise all of them. Includes what closed each one (PCL, MultiTrail, Anchor SL, SL, End of test).                              |
| **Details** | Everything about the position or event you selected.                                                                                                                                                   |

The right of the tab bar shows **Balance**, **Equity** and **Floating** in your account currency during a replay, the same idea as MT5's Trade tab. Outside a replay it shows the total closed P\&L.

#### Reading the regime shading

With **Show regime** switched on, the chart shows what the market regime allowed during the test. The EA records this at least once an hour, and again whenever it changes.

| You see                                                   | It means                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **No shading**                                            | Both sides could open a new grid.                                              |
| **Orange shading**, with an orange strip along the bottom | Only a new buy grid could open.                                                |
| **Red shading**, with a red strip along the bottom        | Only a new sell grid could open.                                               |
| **Grey shading**, with a grey strip along the bottom      | Neither side could open a new grid.                                            |
| **Red hatching**, with a strip along the top              | Price broke above the market-context range, so sell re-entries were held back. |
| **Orange hatching**, with a strip along the top           | Price broke below the market-context range, so buy re-entries were held back.  |

The shading is about **new grids** only; grids that were already open carried on being managed. The hatching appears only when **Breakout Re-entries** was switched on for the run, and the legend under the chart says how re-entries were held back (frozen, at base lot, or capped at frontier lot). Hover over a legend item to see its full meaning. During a replay, shading is drawn only up to the playhead.

#### Reading the grid lines

**Show grid levels** and **Show grid VWAP** draw each open grid as it stood at one moment: the playhead during a replay, otherwise the event you selected or the middle of the chart. A buy grid and a sell grid that are open at the same time are both shown.

| You see                                             | It means                                                                                                                                             |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Dashed orange line**, labelled *next buy add*     | Where the buy grid would add its next level: one step below its lowest buy.                                                                          |
| **Dashed red line**, labelled *next sell add*       | Where the sell grid would add its next level: one step above its highest sell.                                                                       |
| **Dotted line**, labelled *buy VWAP* or *sell VWAP* | The grid's average open price, weighted by volume.                                                                                                   |
| **Status line** (top left of the chart)             | For each open grid: positions, average price, next add price and the step, for example `sell 3 pos · avg 1.18325 · next add 1.19249 (step 0.00200)`. |

The step is the one the EA was using at that moment, so with ATR spacing the next-add line moves as volatility changes. Reaching the line doesn't guarantee an add: beyond the static zone the EA also waits for a re-entry signal.

The line marks the next level **outward** from the grid. Some positions open inside it: **backfill** adds, which fill a gap between existing levels, and positions added straight after a Partial Close. That's expected.

***

### Analysing a backtest: find the grids that matter

Most backtests have dozens or hundreds of grids. The **grid navigator** above the positions list gets you to the important ones quickly.

1. **Pick an order** from the drop-down:

| Order                  | Shows first                                                               |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Time order             | The grids as they happened (default)                                      |
| **Worst drawdown**     | The grids that went deepest into the red: usually the first place to look |
| Deepest                | The grids that added the most positions                                   |
| Worst P\&L / Best P\&L | The biggest losers or winners                                             |
| Longest                | The grids that stayed open longest                                        |
| Most volume            | The grids that built the most lots                                        |

The value it's sorted by shows on each grid header, for example `DD -1344.65`.

2\. **Narrow it down** with **All / Long / Short**, or **▭** to show only grids inside the chart data.

3\. **Step through** with **›** and **‹** (or the **N** and **P** keys). Each step opens that grid in the list and frames it on the chart.

4\. **Press ◎ (or F) for focus**: the chart then shows only the selected grid, without the rest of the backtest around it. Press again to see everything.

> **An example:** choose **Worst drawdown**, press **F**, then **N**. You're now looking at your worst grid on its own, with its levels, its positions and the events that closed them. Press **N** again for the next worst.

***

### Watching a replay

Press **Space** (or **▶**) to start. The player switches to **REPLAY**: candles appear one by one, grids appear as they open and go when they close, and the bottom panel switches to **Trade**.

#### Controls

<table data-search="false"><thead><tr><th>Control</th><th>What it does</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>▶ / ⏸</strong> (Space)</td><td>Play and pause</td></tr><tr><td><strong>◂ ▸</strong> (← →)</td><td>Jump to the previous or next moment something happened (a position opened or closed, or an event)</td></tr><tr><td><strong>⇤ ⇥</strong></td><td>Jump to the start or end</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Scrub bar</strong></td><td>Drag to any point in the test</td></tr><tr><td><strong>½/s · 2/s · 8/s · 32/s</strong></td><td>Speed, in candles per second on the timeframe shown. 2/s on M15 is a comfortable watching speed</td></tr><tr><td><strong>VIEW / REPLAY</strong></td><td>Switch back to View to see the whole backtest again</td></tr></tbody></table>

While it plays, the chart keeps up with the action, with the latest candle three-quarters of the way across. **Scroll to zoom in or out while it plays.** Hold the mouse down on the chart to look around; let go and it catches up again.

#### What makes replay feel like the real thing

* **No peeking.** The candle that's still forming shows only what has happened so far. On H1 and H4 it builds up from the M15 candles inside it; on M15 it shows its opening price until it closes.
* **Outcomes stay hidden.** While replaying, P\&L, close reasons and future events are hidden in the side panel, and a position you click shows "open" or "not opened yet" until it closes. An open position is drawn as a flat dashed line at its open price, not sloping towards where it will close.
* **The grid card follows the action.** While playing, the grid card switches to the grid that's open, and shows how it's doing *so far*: open positions, open volume, how long it's been running, and anything already closed.
* **Weekends are skipped.** When the market is closed the player jumps to the next candle and tells you how much time it skipped.
* **Jump straight to a problem grid.** In replay, stepping to a grid with **N** puts the playhead just before that grid starts. Press **Space** and watch it unfold.

***

### Reading the numbers

* **Realised P\&L** (History, grid totals, drawdowns) comes straight from MT5 and is always exact, in your account currency.
* **Floating profit** (Trade tab, Equity) is worked out by the player from the current price.
  * Files from the current EA build carry MT5's own tick values, so it's exact for any symbol and any account currency.
  * Files from earlier test builds estimate it from the run's own closed trades and mark the figures **≈**.
* **Balance** = deposit + realised P\&L so far. **Equity** = balance + floating.
* **Times** are your broker's server time, the same clock as the Strategy Tester.

***

### The data check box

When a file loads, the player checks it and shows a **CHECK THE DATA** box if anything doesn't line up. You can close it with **×**.

| Message                                                         | What it means                                                                                                                                       |
| --------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *N of M events don't match this run's positions and are hidden* | The events belong to a different backtest. This can only happen with files from early test builds; current replay files always hold one run's data. |
| *N positions fall outside the chart data*                       | The candles don't cover the whole test. Again, an early-build issue; current files include candles for the full test period.                        |
| *Symbol mismatch*                                               | The candle data and positions are for different symbols.                                                                                            |

***

### Keyboard shortcuts

| Key             | Action                                        |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Space**       | Play / pause                                  |
| **← →**         | Previous / next moment something happened     |
| **N / P**       | Next / previous grid in the navigator's order |
| **F**           | Focus on the selected grid                    |
| **\[**          | Fold / unfold the left panel                  |
| **Mouse wheel** | Zoom (also while playing)                     |

***

### Why didn't it…?

#### …write a replay file?

1. **The export isn't on.** Check **Export Hydra Replay file (beta)** under **BACKTESTING** is true.
2. **The beta isn't enabled for your account.** The tester's Journal says "export skipped" at the end of the run. Request it in the portal, then start the backtest again.
3. **It was an optimisation.** Only single backtests write replay files.
4. **It's an older EA build.** Update to the current Hydra Vision 6.5.

Look for the `[HydraReplay]` lines in the tester's **Journal** tab: they say what was written, or why not.

#### …load my file?

* Make sure it's a `replay_…json` file from the `HydraReplay` folder; the player says if a file isn't one it recognises.
* Very long tests make bigger files (a nine-month M15 test is about 7 MB). They still load in well under a second, but uploads over a slow connection take longer.

***

### Beta limits

* **One backtest per file.** The player shows one run at a time.
* **Replay files stay on your computer**; you open them in the player each time.
* **Grid analytics** in the events (density, grid size and more) will grow in later versions.

***

### Glossary

* **Replay file:** the `replay_…json` file the EA writes at the end of a backtest.
* **Grid:** a group of positions opened by one anchor and grown by re-entries.
* **Anchor (⚓):** the first position of a grid.
* **Playhead:** the moment the replay has reached, shown as the dashed vertical line.
* **Realised / floating:** P\&L of closed positions / open positions.
* **Strategy Print / Tuning Print:** the short code (like `9E64E4/6E4144`) identifying the settings that ran: the first six characters of each print. The same settings always give the same code.
* **Regime shading:** the coloured bands from **Show regime**, showing which side could open a new grid at each point in the test.
* **Next add line:** the dashed line from **Show grid levels**: where a grid would add its next level outward, one step beyond its outermost position.
* **VWAP:** a grid's average open price, weighted by the volume of each position.

***

*Replay Made Simple. Written for Hydra Replay beta (player v2.0) and Hydra Vision 6.5. Features may change during the beta.*