Engine · When

SmartEntry: is now the time to ask?

SmartEntry is the Hydra Vision engine that decides when a position opens: whether a new grid may start, and whether an open grid should add its next position now or wait.

Why it was built

SmartEntry was built because PCL's data showed that poor re-entries made PCL work harder, at times forcing it into poor decisions. Positions added mechanically, at every step, gave PCL more to undo. SmartEntry shares PCL's view of risk, strategy and the market, so the question it asks is not only whether this is the right price to enter, but whether this is the right time to consider entering at all.

SmartEntry does not choose the strategy. It decides whether the moment is a sensible one, inside the strategy you configured.

Opening a grid: the anchor

A new grid can only start when no grid is open. Its first position, the anchor, has to pass every check that is switched on:

• A starting signal. By default, a cross of a fast and a slow moving average, which must then pull apart by a minimum gap before it counts.
• Market Regime. Which side a new grid may open on. The default looks at where the price sits in its recent high-to-low range, allowing buys in the lower part and sells in the upper part.
• Anchor vetoes. Optional checks that refuse to start a grid in conditions they are designed to avoid, such as a steep one-way cascade, a price already stretched far from its average, or an account drawdown above a level you set.

Vetoes only apply to new grids. They never hold back positions added to a grid that is already open. Each one makes the same trade-off: fewer new grids, more waiting.

Growing a grid: re-entries

With the fixed Grid Strategies (Fixed, Step Increase and Step Decrease), a position is added at each step and SmartEntry's re-entry signals are not used. With the Dynamic Grid Strategy, SmartEntry decides.

First the price has to travel at least the spacing distance past the last position. Then three re-entry signals look for signs that the price is turning in the grid's favour:

• Micro Bounce: a fresh low (or high, for a sell grid) was rejected.
• Momentum Shift: the short-term move has clearly changed direction.
• Range Breakout: the price has pushed beyond its recent range in the grid's favour.

A signal is evidence that allows a re-entry; it never blocks anything. How much evidence is needed depends on the grid's risk zone (Green, Yellow or Red), which is set by how many steps the grid spans. The deeper the grid, the more signals SmartEntry asks for, within a shorter window. The Re-entry confirmation presets, Lenient, Balanced and Strict, set those amounts, or you can set them yourself.

A worked example

From the same GBPUSD backtest grid used in the PCL example: on 18 March 2026 the price crossed the next grid level at 21:45. SmartEntry did not add a position there. It waited 3 hours 45 minutes while the price fell about 50 pips further, then added the position at 1.3255.

The settings, at a high level

• Anchor signal: whether a moving-average cross is required, its periods, timeframe and gap.
• Market Regime: how the side is chosen (Market Context, a higher-timeframe average, or no check), and Buy Low / Sell High.
• Anchor vetoes: each switched on or off on its own.
• Re-entry spacing: the minimum distance before signals are read, by step size or by volatility.
• Re-Entry Signal Confirmation: a preset, or Custom weights, thresholds and windows per risk zone.

How SmartEntry works with the other engines

SmartEntry decides when a position opens; PCL decides how positions close. They share the same view of the grid: its size, its risk zone and its Grid Density. Every wait and every entry is recorded by GridSense with its reason, so you can see in a backtest report or in Replay why a position opened when it did.

Read the guides

• SmartEntry Made Simple
• SmartEntry (SE3) concepts
• Re-Entry Signal Confirmation
• Anchor Vetoes
• Market Regimes