Pine Develop

Pine Script Development Loop

You are developing a Pine Script indicator or strategy in TradingView. Follow this loop precisely.

Power-toolkit shortcut: before applying significant edits, call pine_check for a server-side compile check (no chart needed) and run pine_analyze for offline static analysis. If you're about to overwrite an existing chart's indicators, use state_snapshot first so the user can revert with state_restore.

Step 1: Understand the Goal

If not already clear, ask the user:

• What type? (indicator, strategy, library)
• What does it do? (entry/exit logic, overlay, oscillator, etc.)
• Overlay or separate pane?
• Any specific inputs or visual elements?

Step 2: Pull Current Source (if modifying)

If modifying an existing script, read the editor buffer with pine_get_source and keep a copy in your working notes before you change anything. pine_open opens a saved script by name first if the one you want is not already loaded.

If creating new: start from scratch. Note that pine_new does NOT create a new saved script — it replaces the editor buffer with a blank template, and a following pine_save or pine_compile persists that overwrite to the cloud. Read the buffer first.

The editor buffer is bound to one of the user's SAVED scripts, and compiling saves over it. There is no untitled scratch buffer. So writing a new script into a buffer that already holds something replaces that saved script in the user's TradingView account, under its id, and the old source only survives in TradingView's own version history.

Seen live: asked for "a simple EMA indicator", this loop read a buffer holding the user's TC-DIPRA, overwrote it, compiled, and left that saved script renamed to "EMA 20 Background". The user never mentioned TC-DIPRA and was told after the fact.

So when the user asked for a NEW script and the buffer holds real content that is not it:

1. pine_get_source and pine_list_scripts to find out which saved script is loaded.
2. Stop and ask, naming it. "The Pine editor has your TC-DIPRA open. Writing this new indicator there would save over it. Want me to use it, or would you rather open a different script first?" One question, then wait.
3. Only after they answer do you write anything.

Never answer that question yourself. Keeping a copy in your notes is not a substitute: your notes disappear at the end of the turn, and the user's script does not come back with them.

Step 3: Write the Pine Script

Write the complete script to a working file of your own. Every script MUST include:

• //@version=6 header
• Proper indicator() or strategy() declaration
• All user inputs with input.*() functions and groups
• Clear comments for each logical section

For strategies, include:

• strategy.entry() and strategy.exit() calls
• Position sizing via strategy() declaration
• Default commission and slippage settings

Step 4: Push and Compile

1. pine_check — compile server-side first. It does not touch the editor or the chart, so a syntax error costs nothing.
2. pine_set_source — inject the code into the Pine Editor. It refuses to overwrite a buffer that holds real content unless you pass confirm_overwrite: true. That refusal is a question for the USER, not a flag for you to set on their behalf. Read the buffer with pine_get_source, and if it holds a saved script the user did not ask you to change, go back to Step 2 and ask them before you confirm anything.
3. pine_smart_compile — compile and report study changes. Like pine_compile it SAVES the buffer to the bound saved script first, so it is not a dry run.

Step 5: Fix Errors

If errors are reported:

1. pine_get_errors — read the messages (line number + description)
2. Edit your working file — fix the specific lines
3. pine_check again, then pine_set_source + pine_smart_compile
4. Repeat until 0 errors

Common Pine Script errors:

• "Mismatched input" — usually indentation (Pine uses 4-space indentation, not braces)
• "Could not find function or function reference" — typo in function name or wrong version
• "Undeclared identifier" — variable used before declaration
• "Cannot call X with argument type Y" — wrong parameter type

Step 6: Verify on Chart

After clean compilation:

1. capture_screenshot — take a screenshot to verify it looks right
2. data_get_strategy_results — if it's a strategy, check performance
3. Show the user the results

Step 7: Iterate

If the user wants changes:

1. Pull fresh: pine_get_source (in case TradingView modified anything)
2. Edit locally
3. pine_check, then pine_set_source + pine_smart_compile
4. Screenshot to verify

IMPORTANT: Always compile after every change. Never claim "done" without a clean compile.