Delay¶

Signals · Utility

Shift the signal forward by N bars.

Delay shifts a signal forward in time by a fixed number of bars — what fires now will be reported N bars later. It's a timing utility for strategies that shouldn't act the instant a condition appears: wait a bar for confirmation, stagger two signals, or deliberately lag one input to line up with another.

How it works¶

The block takes an input signal and re-emits it Delay bars (default 1) later. A true on bar 100 with a delay of 3 becomes a true on bar 103. It simply translates the signal along the time axis; it doesn't change the values, only when they land. The shift uses only past information, so it never introduces lookahead.

When to use it¶

Use Delay for deliberate timing offsets. Common cases: waiting one bar after a signal to enter on the next bar's open (a more realistic fill than acting on the signal bar's close); requiring a condition to have been true a few bars ago as part of a sequence; or aligning a fast signal with a slower confirming one. It's a precision tool — most strategies don't need it, but when sequence and timing matter, it's exactly right.

Example¶

Enter one bar after the signal: take a Crosses Above trigger and pass it through Delay with 1 bar, so the entry lands on the bar after the cross rather than the cross bar itself — then route to a Buy Signal. Compare the fill realism and results against the undelayed version in the Tester.

Tips & gotchas¶

Shifts when, not what — the signal is unchanged, just moved later.
No lookahead — it only ever delays, so backtests stay honest.
Useful for next-bar entries and multi-bar sequences.
Pairs with Hold/Edge Trigger to shape precise timing windows.

Inputs¶

Socket	Type	What to wire in
In	`signal`	Input signal

Outputs¶

Output	Type	Plots as	Description
Out	`signal`	Signal arrows	Shaped signal

Parameters¶

Parameter	Type	Default	What it does
Delay bars	number · 1–500	`1`

Reference auto-generated from the block catalog · category Signals.