BOT START SIGNAL

Ichimoku Indicator

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo is a comprehensive trend indicator: the Kumo cloud (Span A/B), Tenkan and Kijun lines. In the ELIXOAI start signal builder you get four presets: cloud breakout up/down, bullish cloud, Tenkan/Kijun cross. Parameters 9/26/52/26 and strategy examples explained.

Updated 10 min read
Ichimoku indicator on a cryptocurrency chart
Ichimoku combines the Kumo cloud with Tenkan (conversion) and Kijun (base) lines - price above the cloud and a bullish cloud point to an uptrend.

The Start Bots Signal category describes signals and indicators that can start a trading bot. One of the technical indicators is Ichimoku.

When creating or editing any bot, there is a Start signal builder block at the bottom of settings. You can choose individual indicators, ready-made presets, and their combinations. Conditions are grouped: AND inside a group, OR between groups. The same indicator can be configured in different ways - for Long and Short, for breakouts and bounces, for level comparisons and for crosses.

What is Ichimoku

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (“equilibrium chart at a glance”) is a Japanese trend indicator that shows direction, momentum, and support/resistance zones on one screen. The ELIXOAI start signal builder offers four presets based on the TAAPI ichimoku indicator.

Key elements: Tenkan-sen (conversion) - the fast line, average of high/low over 9 periods; Kijun-sen (base) - the slow 26-period line, the trend’s “anchor”; Kumo cloud - the area between Span A and Span B, shifted 26 bars forward. Bullish cloud - Span A above Span B; bearish - the opposite. Price above the cloud is bullish context, below is bearish, inside the cloud is uncertainty.

Ichimoku works well as a filter system: a break above Kumo top confirms buyer strength, Tenkan/Kijun cross catches local impulse, cloud color change marks a medium-term trend shift. In sideways markets signals are frequent and noisy - combine presets or add higher-timeframe filters.

Ichimoku vs EMA and MACD

Ichimoku overlaps with other trend tools but gives a more complete picture:

  • EMA - a single moving average of close. Ichimoku uses high/low averages (Tenkan, Kijun) and builds a zone (the cloud), not one line. EMA is easier to tune but does not show support/resistance “thickness”.
  • MACD - difference of two EMAs, a momentum oscillator. Ichimoku also has fast/slow lines (Tenkan/Kijun), but TK cross is only one of four presets; the main filter is price vs Kumo.
  • Ichimoku combines trend, impulse, and levels: Kumo top/bottom are dynamic cloud boundaries; currentSpanA/B are live boundaries without displacement. In ELIXOAI each component is available as an output for custom conditions.

How Ichimoku works

Standard calculation (TAAPI defaults):

  • Tenkan (conversion) = (max high + min low) / 2 over conversionPeriod (9). Fast line, reacts to local extremes.
  • Kijun (base) = (max high + min low) / 2 over basePeriod (26). Slow line; price above Kijun - bullish bias, below - bearish.
  • Span A = (Tenkan + Kijun) / 2, shifted displacement (26) bars forward. Span B = (max high + min low) / 2 over spanPeriod (52), also shifted.
  • Kumo (cloud) - zone between Span A and Span B. currentSpanA/B - values without shift (current cloud on chart). max(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) - cloud top (Kumo top), min(...) - bottom (Kumo bottom).

In the builder you pick a preset or build a condition manually: compare an output to price, another output, or a level. The system fetches Ichimoku values via TAAPI and checks the condition on your timeframe - at candle close or every minute.

Available outputs

The ichimoku indicator returns these values:

  • conversion (Tenkan): fast line; used in the Tenkan/Kijun cross preset.
  • base (Kijun): slow line; cross target for Tenkan or trend filter.
  • spanA: cloud Span A (shifted); compared to spanB in cloud color preset.
  • spanB: cloud Span B (shifted); slow Kumo boundary.
  • currentSpanA: live Span A without shift - the “current” cloud on the bar.
  • currentSpanB: live Span B without shift.
  • max(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) - Kumo top: upper cloud boundary; ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up uses price cross up through it.
  • min(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) - Kumo bottom: lower cloud boundary; ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down uses price cross down through it.

Ichimoku parameters

  • conversionPeriod (Tenkan): default 9, range 1–300. Lower - more sensitive Tenkan and more TK crosses.
  • basePeriod (Kijun): default 26, range 1–300. Classic 9/26 ratio for 15m–1h.
  • spanPeriod (Span B): default 52, range 1–500. Sets cloud “thickness” and slowness.
  • displacement: default 26, range 1–300. Forward shift of Span A/B; currentSpanA/B have no shift.

Standard 9/26/52/26 is Hosoda’s daily setting. On crypto 15m–4h defaults often stay; for 5m scalping you may scale periods down proportionally (e.g. 5/13/26/13) - backtest first.

Ready-made presets in the builder

The builder offers four Ichimoku presets with defaults (15m, check at bar close, parameters 9/26/52/26). Each is fully customizable: different operator, timeframe, or output.

ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up - cloud breakout up

Default condition: max(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) (Kumo top) crosses price from below to above (cross up) on 15m.

Long signal: price breaks above the cloud top - exit from uncertainty or bearish context. Stronger if the cloud is already bullish (Span A > Span B) or Tenkan is above Kijun. For Short use ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down.

ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down - cloud breakout down

Default condition: min(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) (Kumo bottom) crosses price from above to below (cross down) on 15m.

Short signal: price falls below Kumo bottom - loss of bullish structure. More effective with bearish cloud and Tenkan below Kijun. Combine with RSI > 60 for shorts from overbought.

ichimoku_cloud_color - bullish cloud

Default condition: spanA crosses spanB from below to above (cross up) on 15m - cloud turns bullish.

Medium-term trend shift: Span A rises above Span B - buyers dominate cloud structure. For bearish cloud set cross down. Often used as a filter with kumo_breakout_up, not as the only condition.

ichimoku_tenkan_kijun - Tenkan/Kijun cross

Default condition: conversion (Tenkan) crosses base (Kijun) from below to above (cross up) on 15m.

Classic “TK cross”: fast line overtakes slow - local upward impulse. Short-term golden cross analogue. For Short - cross down. Many false signals in ranges; add “price above Kumo top” or bullish cloud filter.

Available operators
  • Crosses above (cross up): left output was below right and moved above. Main Long operator for all four presets.
  • Crosses below (cross down): left output was above and dropped below. Short versions of presets.
  • Greater than (gt): e.g. price gt Kumo top - sustained above cloud without fresh breakout.
  • Less than (lt): price lt Kumo bottom - bearish context, Short filter.
  • Greater or equal (gte): Tenkan gte Kijun - bullish bias without a cross.
  • Less or equal (lte): Tenkan lte Kijun - bearish bias on higher TF as filter.

General builder settings

  • Timeframe (interval): 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 4h, 1d. Shorter intervals give more signals but more noise. Swing bots often use 1h–4h; scalping uses 5m–15m.
  • Check mode: At candle close checks after the candle closes - fewer false triggers. Every minute checks inside the current candle - faster reaction, higher false-start risk.
  • Operator: greater than, less than, crosses above, crosses below, greater or equal, and others define how the indicator value is compared to the target.
  • Target value: a number (e.g. 30 for RSI), an indicator line (e.g. %D for Stochastic), or price (for Bollinger Bands).
  • Condition groups: up to 3 groups with up to 5 conditions each. Example: group 1 - RSI < 30 AND price < lower band; group 2 - Stochastic < 20. The bot starts if group 1 OR group 2 is satisfied.

Setup examples for different strategies

Kumo breakout up - classic Long

Goal: start when price exits above the cloud.
Long: preset ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up, 15m, check at close.
Filter: ichimoku_cloud_color cross up on same 15m OR price already gt Kumo top on 4h.
Strong trend scenario after consolidation inside or below the cloud.

Kumo breakout down - Short

Short: preset ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down, 15m, Kumo bottom cross down vs price.
Filter: spanA cross down spanB (bearish cloud) on 1h.
Fits short grids when higher-TF bullish structure breaks down.

Bullish cloud + price above Kumo

Long: ichimoku_cloud_color cross up (spanA cross up spanB) on 1h AND price gt max(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) on 15m.
Logic: medium-term trend turned; lower TF confirms hold above cloud. Fewer false entries than TK cross alone.

Tenkan/Kijun cross - impulse Long

Long: ichimoku_tenkan_kijun (conversion cross up base) on 15m.
Filter: price gt Kijun (base) on same 15m - TK cross only in bullish half of chart.
Short: conversion cross down base AND price lt Kijun.

Kumo breakout + cloud confirmation

Group 1: ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up on 15m AND ichimoku_cloud_color - spanA gt spanB (gte) on 15m.
Logic: Kumo top break with already bullish cloud - double strength confirmation. One of the most conservative Ichimoku Long setups.

Pullback to cloud

Long: on 4h price gt Kumo top (separate gt condition) AND on 15m ichimoku_tenkan_kijun cross up after pullback to Kijun.
Logic: higher TF bullish trend; lower TF catches resumption from Kijun or cloud top support.

Scalping: TK cross on 5m

Long: ichimoku_tenkan_kijun cross up on 5m, conversionPeriod 9, basePeriod 26.
Filter: on 15m price gt Kumo bottom (min currentSpan) - avoid shorting structure inside bearish cloud.
Frequent signals; higher-TF or bullish cloud filter required.

Swing: Kumo breakout on 4h

Long: ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up on 4h, parameters 9/26/52/26, check at close.
Short: ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down on 4h.
Rare but meaningful signals - suited for swing bots with wide stops and DCA.

Short: bearish cloud + breakdown

Short: ichimoku_cloud_color cross down on 1h AND ichimoku_kumo_breakout_down on 15m.
Alternative: Tenkan cross down Kijun on 15m AND price lt Kumo bottom.
Symmetric bearish version of trend presets.

Multi-timeframe

Long: on 4h spanA gt spanB (bullish cloud) AND ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up on 15m.
Short: spanA lt spanB on 4h AND kumo_breakout_down on 15m.
Global cloud context + local breakout trigger - classic Ichimoku MTF.

DCA at Kumo bottom

Long: price cross up min(currentSpanA, currentSpanB) on 1h (bounce from Kumo bottom) AND ichimoku_tenkan_kijun cross up on 15m.
Filter: spanA gt spanB on 1h - DCA only in bullish cloud on pullbacks to support.

Ichimoku + RSI

Long: ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up on 15m AND RSI cross up 40 on 15m - cloud break without extreme overbought.
Short: kumo_breakout_down AND RSI cross down 60.
RSI filters breakouts on exhausted moves.

Condition groups: practical example

Bot with two Long scenarios:
Group 1: ichimoku_kumo_breakout_up on 15m AND ichimoku_cloud_color cross up on 1h - breakout with bullish cloud.
Group 2: ichimoku_tenkan_kijun cross up on 15m AND price gt Kumo top on 4h - TK cross in global uptrend.
Groups combined with OR. Configure Short symmetrically (kumo_breakout_down, TK cross down, bearish cloud).

Tip
Ichimoku is a system, not one signal: in ranges TK cross and cloud color flip often. Use Kumo breakout on a higher TF as filter for lower presets. A “thick” cloud (Span A far from Span B) is strong support/resistance; thin cloud breaks easier. Check at bar close reduces false Kumo breaks on intrabar noise. All four presets cover different trend facets - combine them rather than relying on one.