TradingView · Indicator Guide · Instruction Manual
Auto-Levels Pine Guide
This page is the manual-first surface for the current Auto Levels pine script overlay
Use it when you want the settings map, level legend, and practical chart-reading workflow
If you want revision history, bug trails, or known-issue context, jump to the paired changelog instead
📈 Structural map
🕘 Session rails
👻 Fade & ghost cues
⚙️ Display hygiene
Guide vs. changelog
Choose the right page for the job
Use this guide when you need
- a clean feature map for the overlay
- the difference between KEY / 5/5, 4/5, Ghost, and FCR
- the display toggles, ETH/RTH session context, and chart-hygiene defaults
- a practical starting workflow for live charts
Open the changelog when you need
- revision-by-revision version history
- what changed in
v2.30versus earlier passes - known/open issues and validation boundaries
- the minimal name-history context that still matters publicly
Quick start
Start with the core structure, then layer optional signals
The easiest onboarding path is to begin with the core level structure, session context, and trend context. Once that feels stable, turn on the noisier overlays only when you want extra confirmation.
1. Leave the defaults mostly intact
Keep levels, 4/5 session opens, EMA stack, and prior-day context visible. Save FVG and pattern labels for later, and leave Labels on price scale plus Inputs in status line off for a cleaner read.
2. Read the main map first
Use KEY and 5/5 levels for structure, then add 4/5 rails for session context — the 9:30 open and 4:00 PM close pair brackets the current trading day.
3. Treat FCR as an event rail
The ▲ LONG rail tracks the 9:30 candle high and the ▼ SHORT rail tracks the low. FCR is an opening-session trigger, not a level that ages into 3/5 or Ghost.
4. Use the ETH/RTH toggle intentionally
The Show ETH-Derived Levels toggle now gates ETH 4/5 rails for all instruments — including GC, CL, and other non-index futures. On whitelisted US index futures (ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, YM, MYM, RTY, M2K), the toggle also controls ZTH levels sourced from overnight sessions. Leave it OFF by default; turn it ON only when you want the full overnight picture visible.
Feature map
What the main overlay is responsible for
Auto Levels
1-hour color flips create levels at the flip candle open. Structural flips can become KEY levels, then auto-manage through the 5/5 → 3/5 → Ghost lifecycle.
4/5 session rails
Dashed session rails for the 9:30 AM ET open and 4:00 PM ET close, plus ETH 17:00 maintenance close and 18:00 reopen. Detected from 30-minute bars. Today’s RTH pair is cyan; prior-day RTH pairs fade to teal. ETH pairs render in faded teal. Enable the Show ETH-Derived Levels toggle to see ETH 4/5 on any instrument.
FCR
The first-candle-rule rails mark the exact 9:30 15-minute candle high and low as ▲ LONG and ▼ SHORT. Think of FCR as an opening-event map, not as part of the fading ZTH lifecycle.
Trend and context
EMA stack, prior-day high/low/close, and the optional top-right info table help frame bias around the main levels. Prior-day H/L/C should read as quiet context, not with the same weight as KEY, 4/5, or FCR.
Optional signal overlays
FVG zones extend 5 bars to the right with a dashed midpoint line and no visible borders. Pattern labels use distinct colors per type — red for reversals, green for bounces, purple for Break & Retest, cyan for 1-2-3, and dedicated colors for SFP and pivots. Turn these on when you want confirmation, not as the default baseline.
Companion split that still matters
auto-levels.pine is the main visual overlay. fcr-standalone.pine remains the shareable FCR-only companion, and the changelog page stays separate so this guide can remain usage-oriented.
Level legend
What the main level types mean on the chart
KEY
The strongest structural read in the system. A flip open near confirmed swing structure can be promoted to KEY and drawn with the heaviest emphasis.
5/5
The standard active color-flip level. This is the main baseline structure if the flip does not qualify as KEY.
4/5
The session-open and session-close rails — 9:30 AM ET open and 4:00 PM ET close, plus ETH 17:00 maintenance close and 18:00 reopen. Detected on 30-minute bars. Today's RTH pair is cyan; prior-day RTH pairs fade to teal; ETH pairs render in faded teal. Think of them as session context, not part of the ZTH lifecycle.
3/5
A 5/5 that has already been mitigated once. It still matters, but the script visually downshifts its weight so you can tell it is no longer at full structural strength.
Ghost
The late-stage fading remainder of an older level. Once a 3/5 is mitigated again it becomes a Ghost, and each later mitigation fades it another step until it is removed entirely.
FCR
A session-event rail rather than a ZTH lifecycle state. Use it to frame the opening push: ▲ LONG = 9:30 high, ▼ SHORT = 9:30 low, and neither rail ages into 3/5 or Ghost.
Settings map
The main controls, grouped the way the script presents them
| Group | What to watch first | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Display | Show 4/5 Levels, Show FCR, Show EMA Stack, Show ZTH Levels on Timeframes Above 1hr, and RTH is Primary for US Indices: Show ETH-Derived Levels for whitelisted instruments | This is where the chart gets simpler or denser. Most day-to-day usability comes from these switches. The above-1hr toggle is off by default — on 4hr/Daily/Weekly charts only a subset of 1hr flips are captured per bar, so enable it for top-down reference only. |
| Level Management | Max Active Levels | Controls how many visible ZTH levels remain on chart at once. |
| Level Colors | KEY, 5/5, 4/5, 3/5, Ghost | Lets you reinforce the visual hierarchy without changing the lifecycle logic. |
| FCR | Long/short colors and prior-day visibility | Useful when you want the first-candle-rule rails to stay prominent but visually distinct from ZTH levels. |
| EMAs | Fast, mid, and slow periods | Trend context is optional, but many chart reads become clearer when the EMA stack stays visible. |
| FVG / Patterns / Prior Day | Use these as opt-in overlays | These can be helpful, but they are intentionally easier to toggle on demand rather than leave permanently busy. |
Whitelist shown under that setting label: ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, YM, MYM, RTY, M2K.
Practical workflow
A clean way to use the overlay without overloading the chart
Bias first
Start by locating the nearest KEY and 5/5 levels, then compare current price to those anchors before you care about smaller signals.
Session rails second
Add the current 4/5 pair (9:30 open + 4:00 PM close) and FCR rails to understand the day’s opening map. Those rails tell you where the session opened, where the opening 15-min candle high/low live, and which older session rails are intentionally faded into the background.
Trend context third
Check the EMA stack and prior-day levels to decide whether the current move is aligned with the broader intraday picture. Keep prior-day H/L/C visually quieter than the structural and session rails.
Optional confirmations last
Turn on FVG or pattern labels only when you want extra confirmation. They are most helpful after the structural read is already clear.
Important notes
Notes worth keeping visible
🌗 ETH pane vs. RTH pane can legitimately differ
A 5-minute ETH pane can show many more overnight-born levels than an RTH-focused 1-hour pane. That mismatch is a session-policy difference to interpret intentionally.
📐 Level precedence keeps the chart clean
When a 5/5 or KEY level shares a price with a 4/5 session rail, the indicator merges the label (5/5 | 4/5) and draws a single line — no double-drawing. Prior-day H/L/C and FVG zones are intentionally more faded than structural and session levels so they frame context without competing for attention.
🗓️ Golden vertical = weekly open
A translucent golden vertical line marks the Sunday 18:00 ET CME weekly reopen. It stretches the full chart height so you can immediately see where the new trading week began without hunting for the candle. Use the Show Weekly Open Vertical toggle in Display More to hide it if preferred — the event is still tracked internally when hidden.
🎯 Patterns fire near ZTH levels only
R, B, P, SFP, and 1-2-3 pattern labels only appear when the relevant candle high or low is within a configurable tick distance of an active ZTH level. By default, patterns anchor to KEY and 5/5 levels only. Two optional toggles extend this to lower-tier levels:
- Include 4/5 Levels in Pattern Recognition — enables patterns to fire at RTH 9:30 open and 16:00 close session prices (today, yesterday, and the day before). Uses the Proximity: 4/5 threshold (default 20 ticks). Works regardless of whether 4/5 rail lines are visually visible.
- Include 3/5 Levels in Pattern Recognition — enables patterns at mitigated 5/5 levels. Uses the Proximity: 3/5 threshold (default 15 ticks).
Ghost levels are never included regardless of either toggle. Toggle any pattern type on/off individually in the ZTH Strategy Pattern Thresholds group. When multiple patterns fire on the same candle side they stack in a single \n-separated label so no labels overlap.
⏱️ 1-bar confirmation delay on levels
The candle that just closed before the current bar does not yet create or mitigate ZTH levels. The indicator waits one full bar of confirmation before recording a level — meaning bar[2] (two bars back) is the earliest a flip can be recognized. The third closed candle and beyond mitigate normally.