Pine Script plotshape: Signals, Locations and Text Limits

The arguments that control a signal marker

Only series is required. Named arguments make optional settings easier to read. A call returns void; it does not return a shape object that you can later move or delete. These are the main v6 controls:

• Other parameters include editable for style settings and format/precision for numeric readouts. They do not change the event rule.
• The v6 reference lists the complete signature. Prefer names when adapting examples with optional positional arguments.

Complete v6 example: one event, two positions

This indicator marks a close crossing above an input level. The previous close must be at or below the level, and the current close must be strictly above it. It waits for the chart bar to close. A teal triangle uses relative placement; an orange circle uses a price coordinate two minimum ticks below the signal bar low. The level of 100 is an illustrative default: set it near the prices on your chart.

• All plotshape() and alertcondition() calls are outside conditional blocks. The series arguments decide which bars qualify.
• The Data Window outputs remain on the source bar even when the marker offset changes.
• This is a plotting diagnostic. It submits no orders and does not test whether the event is profitable.

//@version=6
indicator("plotshape signal positions", overlay=true)

level = input.float(100.0, "Crossing level")
enabled = input.bool(true, "Enable signal")
markerOffset = input.int(0, "Marker offset", minval=-10, maxval=10)

hasPreviousClose = not na(close[1])
crossedUp = hasPreviousClose and close[1] <= level and close > level
signal = enabled and crossedUp and barstate.isconfirmed
markerPrice = signal ? low - 2 * syminfo.mintick : na

plot(level, title="Crossing level", color=color.gray)
plotshape(signal, title="Relative marker", style=shape.triangleup, location=location.belowbar, color=color.teal, offset=markerOffset, text="CROSS", textcolor=color.teal, size=size.small)
plotshape(markerPrice, title="Absolute marker", style=shape.circle, location=location.absolute, color=color.orange, offset=markerOffset, size=size.tiny)
plot(signal ? 1 : 0, title="Signal on source bar", display=display.data_window)
plot(markerPrice, title="Marker price on source bar", display=display.data_window)
alertcondition(signal, title="Confirmed cross above level", message="Confirmed cross above level on {{ticker}} at {{close}}")

Check the condition at its boundaries

These are hypothetical input cases for the example, not market observations. Assume level 100, Enable signal on, offset 0, and a closed bar unless a row says otherwise. An event needs both comparisons, so a bar remaining above 100 is not another crossing.

• For historical bars, barstate.isconfirmed is true. On a live bar it becomes true on the closing update; intrabar threshold touches therefore do not qualify by themselves.
• Removing barstate.isconfirmed allows shapes to appear and disappear during the open bar. Historical output does not preserve that sequence.
• This confirmation applies to the chart timeframe. Adding request.security() data requires a separate review of that data; placing barstate.isconfirmed inside the request is not a confirmation method.

Separate vertical coordinates from horizontal offsets

With location.abovebar or location.belowbar, a true condition enables a marker near the bar. location.top and location.bottom place it near the pane boundary. With location.absolute, the first argument supplies the y-coordinate instead: use na to omit a point. A numeric zero is a coordinate in absolute mode, so do not use zero as its missing-value fallback.

• An offset does not forecast a future event or make a signal available earlier. A negative offset can make a historical marker look earlier than the decision that produced it.
• After shifting an absolute marker, its y-coordinate still comes from the source bar. It need not sit below the destination bar low.
• When a point is missing, inspect its source-bar condition, coordinate, offset, Style visibility, display setting, show_last window and pane scale before changing the event rule.

Fixed text, dynamic labels and local scope errors

The CROSS caption is the same on every qualifying bar because text requires a const string. A literal message can include line breaks. A changing close converted with str.tostring() is a series string, and an input.string() value is also too strong for this parameter. Use label.new() when a caption must include a changing price.

• For two fixed messages, use two global plotshape calls with separate conditions and constant captions. Each call contributes to the plot-count budget.
• For a scope error, calculate the condition or numeric coordinate in the conditional block, then pass the result to a global plotshape call. Do not wrap the plotting call itself in if, a loop or a user-defined function.
• plotshape does not consume label IDs, but scripts have a limit of 64 plot counts. A call can consume more than one count when series colors are used; alertcondition also consumes a count.

Create the alert separately from the shapes

After adding the example to a chart, create a TradingView alert, select this indicator and Confirmed cross above level, then choose Once Per Bar Close. The alertcondition declaration supplies a selectable condition; it does not start a running alert. Historical shapes do not send retrospective notifications.

• The alert uses signal on the source bar. Setting Marker offset to +3 does not delay that alert by three bars.
• Changing plot style, location or display settings does not change the alert condition. Changing Enable signal does affect it because that input is part of signal.
• TradingView stores a copy of the script, inputs and chart context when an alert is created. Recreate an existing alert after changes that it must use.

Give the coding agent a reproducible marker requirement

Send the existing script, Pine version, condition, expected source bar, y-position, caption and alert timing to Pineify. For this example, specify that 99 to 100 must not trigger, 100 to 101 must trigger only at close, and a visual offset must not move the alert event. Ask for the smallest correction, run syntax validation, then compare the output with the cases above in TradingView.