Terminal Workspace

Terminal is Astral’s session-based workbench. It combines an AI conversation with charts, generated strategy code, backtest results, and contextual operating panels.

Workspace regions

Working with chat

Good requests specify the symbol or asset class, bar size, exact condition, position size, risk behavior, and desired output. Ask Astral to explain generated logic line by line when the result is unclear.

The assistant can return ordinary text, progress or reasoning updates, charts, question cards, strategy-build results, and other interactive UI. A displayed component is part of the response, not automatic authorization to save, publish, deploy, or trade.

Session history and state

Starting a new chat creates a separate work context. Existing sessions can restore conversation and workspace information. Loading is asynchronous, so wait for the session and panels to finish hydrating before assuming data is missing.

Chart state can include symbols, intervals, indicators, drawings, layout, and related generated outputs. Confirm the active chart before applying a replace, drawing, indicator, or trade action in a multi-chart layout.

Desktop and mobile

Desktop provides the richest simultaneous layout: resizable chat, chart/code/backtest workspace, and right rail. Mobile provides dedicated Chat, Explore, and Dashboard navigation plus drawers for Alerts, Portfolio, Watchlist, and Orders. Dense multi-chart comparison and detailed analysis may still be more comfortable on desktop.

Safe operating habits

• Read generated strategy code before running or saving it.
• Separate research results from strategy instructions.
• Confirm symbol, account, side, size, order type, and protective settings before an order.
• Use backtest Analysis and Replay to investigate results, not just headline return.
• Treat broker-reported state as authoritative for live money.
• Use Astral Paper before broker deployment when you need to observe ongoing behavior without placing live orders.

A productive session workflow

1. Define the question

   State whether you want research, chart analysis, an indicator, a strategy, a backtest revision, or an operational action. Include the asset and timeframe.
2. Inspect the context

   Check the active session, chart, symbol, interval, datasets, and any imported strategy before accepting a generated result.
3. Build one testable change

   Ask for explicit conditions and sizing. Revise one major assumption at a time so the effect remains understandable.
4. Review the artifact

   Read code, chart overlays, dates, warnings, and structured question responses. Resolve ambiguity before saving or operating.
5. Choose the next record

   Decide whether the result should remain session-only, become a private saved item, be published, or enter a reviewed deployment flow.

Managing multi-chart workspaces

Each chart can carry its own symbol, interval, indicators, drawings, and pane state. Select the target chart before using a contextual action. When a request names several assets, confirm whether Astral added charts, replaced the active symbol, or produced overlays on one chart.

Generated rule indicators can appear after a backtest to explain entries and exits. They are analytical overlays, not proof that the strategy is deployed. Removing an overlay from a chart also does not remove the rule from saved strategy code.

Understanding streamed responses

The assistant may show progress, reasoning summaries, questions, data components, or action controls before the final answer completes. Wait for the response to settle before repeating the request. If a structured question appears, answer it directly; the strategy may be intentionally paused pending that detail.

Action buttons are scoped to the result that produced them. Read the label and destination before clicking, especially when several strategy versions are visible in one session.

Session organization

Use separate sessions for materially different projects or accounts. Keeping unrelated strategies in one long conversation makes it harder to know which assets, dates, and rules a follow-up refers to. Reopen an existing session when continuity matters; start a new one when you want a clean context.

If a session looks incomplete after loading, wait for message, chart, and panel hydration. Refresh once before creating a replacement. A blank panel does not by itself mean the saved conversation was deleted.

What Terminal does not authorize automatically

Research, generated code, a backtest, an order preview, and a deploy proposal are all reviewable states. None alone guarantees that a strategy was saved, a publication was created, a deployment became active, or a broker order filled. Look for the explicit confirmation and then verify the resulting record in its canonical surface.