---
title: "Step by step"
description: "Step by step is Fincanva's strategy walk-through: one decision per step, up to six steps for a single strategy and four for a Combined, ending in a backtest."
canonical_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/getting-started/step-by-step"
last_updated: "2026-08-29"
md_url: "https://fincanva.com/docs/getting-started/step-by-step.md"
---

# Step by step

**Step by step** is Fincanva's strategy walk-through: it puts one decision on screen at a time, from naming the strategy to running its first [backtest](/docs/getting-started/backtest). **Step by step** and [All at once](/docs/getting-started/all-at-once) are the product's official pair of editing views — they edit exactly the same [strategy](/docs/getting-started/strategy) and differ only in how much of it they show you at once. A single strategy walks a rail of up to six steps; a [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined) walks a four-step rail of its own, at the [Combined level](/docs/getting-started/combined-level). **Step by step** is the view you meet when you create a strategy, and an existing strategy can be reopened in it at any time.

**Also seen as:** the walk-through

## What are the six steps in the Step by step view?

A single strategy's walk has six steps, each titled as a task. The order below is the full rail — the one a **Full setup** strategy runs end to end. A [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined) walks a shorter rail of its own instead; see [Which steps does a Combined walk?](#which-steps-does-a-combined-walk).

| # | Step | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Set up your strategy** | the strategy's name and how often it [rebalances](/docs/backtesting/rebalance) |
| 2 | **Pick assets** | the instruments and screeners the strategy will trade |
| 3 | **Set risk conditions** | the [risk conditions](/docs/strategies/risk-condition) that switch the strategy to its Risk-Off allocation |
| 4 | **Distribute capital** | how capital is weighted across the instruments |
| 5 | **Define exit rules** | the [take-profit](/docs/strategies/take-profit) and [stop-loss](/docs/strategies/stop-loss) rules applied to each position |
| 6 | **Review & backtest** | a last check of the whole configuration, including any [strategy alerts](/docs/backtesting/strategy-alerts), then the first run |

## Why does the step counter say fewer than six?

The step counter counts only the configuring steps your walk requires, and it never counts the final step — so a **Full setup** strategy reads `Step 1 of 5` on its first step, and the final step shows a **Review** badge instead of a number. The six-step rail is the maximum; each [strategy type](/docs/getting-started/strategy-type) walks a shorter required path through it, and a [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined) walks a different rail altogether.

**The progress strip beside the step counts something different, on purpose.** The step counter answers *where am I*; the strip answers *what have I looked at*. So the strip counts the whole required path **including the final step** — which its own row labels **Recap** — giving 2 for **Single instrument**, 4 for **Multiple instruments** and **Screener**, 6 for **Full setup**, and 4 for a **Combined**. A step counts as soon as you **move on** from it — with **Continue**, with **Back**, or by switching to [All at once](/docs/getting-started/all-at-once) — never when you arrive; the final **Recap** step is the one exception and counts on arrival. Leaving the walk any other way does not count the step you were on: the workspace navigation, the section tabs and your browser's Back button all leave it as it was, ready to be counted when you next move on from it. A decision taken out of order counts just the same. Optional steps are listed with their values but never counted: if they were, a strategy you want no risk conditions on could never reach the end.

## Which steps does each strategy type require?

Each strategy type has its own required path; the steps it does not require are still available, offered as **Optional add-ons** on the final step rather than as screens you walk through.

| Strategy type | Required steps | Offered as optional add-ons |
|---|---|---|
| **Single instrument** | Pick assets · Review & backtest | Rebalance, Allocation (sizing only — there is one instrument), Risk, Position exits |
| **Multiple instruments** | Set up your strategy · Pick assets · Distribute capital · Review & backtest | Risk, Position exits |
| **Screener** | Set up your strategy · Pick assets · Distribute capital · Review & backtest | Risk, Position exits |
| **Full setup** | all six | none — every step is required |

A **Combined** is not in this table because it has no strategy type at all: strategy type belongs to each member strategy, never to the Combined that blends them. Its rail is the next section.

## Which steps does a Combined walk?

A [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined) walks four required steps, and every one of them acts on the Combined itself rather than on any one member strategy. Its progress strip therefore reads 4 — the same number as **Multiple instruments** and **Screener**, only counted at the [Combined level](/docs/getting-started/combined-level) — and its step counter starts at `Step 1 of 3`, because the counter never counts the final step.

| # | Step | What it sets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Set up your Combined** | the Combined's name and how often the Combined [rebalances](/docs/backtesting/rebalance) |
| 2 | **Choose the strategies** | which of your strategies this Combined blends |
| 3 | **Split the capital** | how capital is split across those strategies |
| 4 | **Review & backtest** | a last check of the whole Combined, then its first run |

**Choose the strategies** occupies the same slot **Pick assets** holds on a single strategy: at the Combined level what you pick is strategies, not instruments.

Two things set the Combined's rail apart from every strategy type's:

- **Set Combined risk** is optional — offered, never counted, exactly like every other optional step. It defines the [risk conditions](/docs/strategies/risk-condition) that de-risk the whole Combined when they trigger.
- **Exit rules are absent entirely**, not optional. [Take-profit](/docs/strategies/take-profit) and [stop-loss](/docs/strategies/stop-loss) rules live on each member strategy, which keeps its own; the Combined has none of its own to set.

The Combined's allocation and risk are a separate layer above each member strategy's, and the walk states it beside the progress strip: "Combined allocation and risk sit above each strategy's own — the backtest applies both." Neither layer merges into the other.

An [Incomplete Combined](/docs/backtesting/incomplete-combined) — one still holding fewer than two strategies — opens this same walk. Its **Choose the strategies** step is exactly where that is fixed.

## Defaults in Fincanva

- On a single strategy the strategy type is chosen first, on the "How do you want to build this strategy?" screen, and it is what shapes the required path; the screen states that you can change anything later. A Combined never sees that screen and has no strategy-type switch inside the walk, because the Combined level has no strategy type.
- A **progress strip** sits beside the step, listing every step in the walk's order together with its current value. Each counted step carries a **Seen** mark that fills as soon as you move on from that step — whether the move succeeds or not — and the strip's title states the count — *"0 of 2 steps seen"*, and *"All 6 steps seen"* once none are left. Steps the walk does not require sit below an **Optional** divider: they state their values and carry no mark. On a Combined the strip names the walk **Combined** where a single strategy's names its strategy type.
- **A Seen mark belongs to the walk it was earned in.** A single strategy's walk and a [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined)'s walk keep their marks separately, so a strategy sitting at *"All 6 steps seen"* opens its Combined walk at *"0 of 4 steps seen"* and has to walk it — choosing the strategies and splitting the capital are Combined steps, and they had never been on screen. Nothing is thrown away: the marks it earned as a single strategy stay with it and are all still there if it is a single strategy again. Inside one walk, marks survive a [strategy type](/docs/getting-started/strategy-type) change — switch a **Full setup** strategy to **Screener** and every mark it already has still counts.
- **Every row always states a value**, including when a setting is off or empty — *"no conditions"*, *"no rules"*, or the volatility ranking the engine falls back to when nothing is picked. No row is ever blank.
- On a single strategy, a step is gated when the strategy does not yet match its type — for example "Pick exactly 1 instrument." on a Single instrument strategy — and stays blocked until you fix the content or change the [strategy type](/docs/getting-started/strategy-type). A Combined has no strategy type, so no gate of this kind applies to its walk.
- The final step commits with **Backtest** — it saves and starts the first backtest in one action, and reads **Backtesting…** while it runs, adding the percentage once progress is known; see [Saving, running, and copying a strategy](/docs/strategies/saving-running-and-copying-a-strategy).
- **Backtest leaves you on Review & backtest.** The walk does not navigate away from its final step: the run works while you stay there, and once it finishes and a result exists, a **View results** button appears next to **Back** and opens the strategy's **Analysis** section. If the strategy saves but the run doesn't start, Fincanva shows "Saved, but the backtest didn't start. Try again." and leaves you on the step.
- **Step by step** opens **inside the strategy workspace** — the same navigation, library pane and header **All at once** uses, with **Settings** showing as the active section. The two views are one place seen two ways.
- A saved strategy reopens in the walk-through from **Step by step** in its **Settings** header — a Combined included, since its walk is the Combined level that page already edits. In the other direction, an **All at once** control switches the same strategy into that view without losing anything. There is no shortcut out of the strategy-type picker itself — you choose a type first, then switch.
- A public strategy opens in **Step by step** but cannot be saved from it — see [Mine / Public](/docs/getting-started/mine-public).

## Worked example

You want a two-instrument strategy that rebalances monthly. You pick **Multiple instruments**, so **Step by step** gives you a four-step path and the counter reads `Step 1 of 3`. On **Set up your strategy** you name it and set the cadence to one month; on **Pick assets** you add two tickers; on **Distribute capital** you leave the default weighting; **Review & backtest** shows the whole thing and you press **Backtest**. You never see a Risk or Exit-rules screen — both sit on the final step under **Optional add-ons**, ready to add later. Doing the same build in [All at once](/docs/getting-started/all-at-once) would put all of those settings on one page instead, in any order you like.

Now blend that strategy with two others. The [Combined](/docs/getting-started/combined) walks its own four steps and the counter again reads `Step 1 of 3`: **Set up your Combined** names it and sets how often the Combined rebalances, **Choose the strategies** picks the three strategies, **Split the capital** decides how much each receives, and **Review & backtest** runs it. No exit-rules screen appears at any point — each of the three strategies still carries its own — and **Set Combined risk** waits under **Optional add-ons** if you want a risk layer over the whole thing.