What is the SSL Channel indicator?

SSL Channel uses moving averages of highs and lows plus a remembered direction state. In the close-based SMA version on this page, a close above the high average sets +1, a close below the low average sets -1, and a close between or exactly on the boundaries keeps the previous state. The state determines which average is assigned to each plotted line.

Is an SSL line crossover the same as a state flip?

They coincide when the previous and current states are nonzero and the high average stays strictly above the low average on both bars. A zero-width channel, initialization, or independently configured averages can break that equivalence. Compare the previous and current HLV values when the intended signal is a direction reversal.

Does SSL Channel repaint?

An unconfirmed close-based SSL can change direction while a bar is open. This example commits state changes and flip alerts only at bar close, but the plotted averages can still move intrabar. Confirming the current chart bar does not prevent historical data revisions or make higher-timeframe requests safe automatically.

What are the best SSL Channel settings?

There is no universal best setting. Length 1 cannot establish direction with strict close tests because a candle closes within its own high-low range. This example uses equal 10-bar SMAs for a readable starting point; the arithmetic table uses 3 bars. Shorter windows respond to recent bars more quickly, while longer windows retain older observations. Compare settings on a separate test period with fees and slippage instead of treating 10 or 200 as an optimal value.

Is SSL Channel the same as SSL Hybrid?

No. Mihkel00 describes SSL Hybrid as a system with an SSL or MA baseline, a secondary SSL for continuation trades and a third SSL for exits, along with other filters. The basic two-average state machine here does not reproduce the Hybrid signals or its settings.

Why is there no UP label at the first bullish state?

The example labels only reversals from -1 to +1 or +1 to -1. The first transition from the uninitialized state 0 establishes direction and is deliberately not a reversal signal. Until direction is established, the two SSL lines are hidden.

SSL Channel Indicator: Formula and State Changes

Which SSL script are you using?

For the community script by ErwinBeckers, use the author's SSL channel listing on TradingView. This page explains an explicit SMA state model and supplies an educational Pine v6 implementation with close confirmation. It does not claim to reproduce every community variant.

SSL Hybrid by Mihkel00 is a separate script. Its author describes a baseline, a secondary SSL for continuation trades and a third SSL for exits. Matching the name or one MA length does not make the basic channel produce Hybrid entries and exits. Check the author, script version and all input settings before comparing screenshots or signals.

The formula keeps direction inside the channel

Calculate H and L from the most recent N highs and lows, including the current bar. For equal-length SMAs, H − L equals the average of those bars' high-low ranges, so H cannot be below L on valid OHLC data. The state, often called HLV, follows these rules at each confirmed close:

Close-based SSL state and line assignment
Close condition	New HLV	SSL Up / SSL Down
Close > H	+1	H / L
Close < L	-1	L / H
L ≤ Close ≤ H	Previous HLV	Keep the previous assignment
No valid averages or no initial break	0 in this example	Hidden until direction exists

Equality does not flip the state. If H = 13 and L = 9, a close of exactly 13 or 9 keeps the prior direction. Also, SSL Up is a line name, not a promise that it is geometrically above SSL Down: their assignments swap when the state reverses.

A nine-bar example you can recalculate

These are invented OHLC prices in arbitrary price units, not historical returns. Use N = 3 and initial HLV = 0. Averages shown below are rounded to four decimals; comparisons use unrounded values. Open is included to make the candles reproducible but is not an input to this close-based SSL calculation.

Three-bar SSL calculation from nine OHLC candles
Bar	Open	High	Low	Close	H	L	HLV	Result
1	10	12	8	9	Warm-up	Warm-up	0	No direction
2	9	13	9	10	Warm-up	Warm-up	0	No direction
3	10	14	10	13.5	13.0000	9.0000	+1	Initialize; no flip
4	13.5	14	10	11	13.6667	9.6667	+1	Inside; hold +1
5	11	12	8	8.5	13.3333	9.3333	-1	Bearish flip
6	9	12	9	11	12.6667	9.0000	-1	Inside; hold -1
7	11	14	10	13	12.6667	9.0000	+1	Bullish flip
8	13	13	8	8.5	13.0000	9.0000	-1	Bearish flip
9	9	14	9	14	13.6667	9.0000	+1	Bullish flip

At bar 5, H = (14 + 14 + 12) / 3 = 13.3333 and L = (10 + 10 + 8) / 3 = 9.3333. Close 8.5 is below L, so HLV flips from +1 to -1. At bar 6, close 11 is back inside the channel, but HLV stays -1. Only bar 7's close of 13 breaks above H = 12.6667 and reverses the state. Bars 7, 8 and 9 then flip on consecutive closes, demonstrating how a range can produce repeated reversals.

Price crosses, line crosses and flips are different tests

Price can cross back above L while still below H. Bar 6 does exactly that and leaves bearish HLV unchanged. A bullish reversal requires the previous HLV to be -1 and the new HLV to be +1; merely being above an average is insufficient.

For this equal-length SMA model, SSL Up minus SSL Down is HLV × (H − L) once HLV is nonzero. When channel width is strictly positive on both bars, a line crossover corresponds to a state reversal. If the width becomes zero, the lines can touch and separate without a reversal. Initialization can also differ between scripts. Test HLV transitions directly when you mean flips, rather than assuming every drawn crossing is a new trade.

Changing the two lengths independently, using different MA types, or using an overshooting smoother changes the assumptions behind this comparison. A wick-based version changes the trigger too: one wide candle can pierce both averages, so the script must specify which condition wins. The example below uses closes and equal-length SMAs to avoid that ambiguity.

Pine Script v6 with confirmed flip alerts

Paste this indicator into TradingView's Pine Editor, save it and add it to a standard candlestick chart. It defaults to 10 bars as an example setting; use 3 to reproduce the table's calculation on the same inputs. Read HLV and the two underlying averages in the Data Window. UP and DOWN labels mark reversals, not the first assignment from state 0.

Pine Script v6 · indicator

//@version=6
indicator("SSL Channel: confirmed state", overlay=true)

length = input.int(10, "SMA length", minval=1)
maHigh = ta.sma(high, length)
maLow = ta.sma(low, length)
ready = not na(maHigh) and not na(maLow)

// Keep the last confirmed direction until the opposite boundary is broken.
var int hlv = 0
previousState = nz(hlv[1], 0)
if barstate.isconfirmed and ready
    hlv := close > maHigh ? 1 : close < maLow ? -1 : previousState

// Zero means no direction has been established yet.
sslUp = hlv == 0 ? na : hlv == 1 ? maHigh : maLow
sslDown = hlv == 0 ? na : hlv == 1 ? maLow : maHigh
bullFlip = barstate.isconfirmed and hlv == 1 and previousState == -1
bearFlip = barstate.isconfirmed and hlv == -1 and previousState == 1

upPlot = plot(sslUp, "SSL Up", color=color.teal, linewidth=2)
downPlot = plot(sslDown, "SSL Down", color=color.orange, linewidth=2)
fill(upPlot, downPlot, color=hlv == 1 ? color.new(color.teal, 85) : color.new(color.orange, 85), title="SSL state")
plot(hlv, "Confirmed HLV state", display=display.data_window)
plot(maHigh, "High SMA", display=display.data_window)
plot(maLow, "Low SMA", display=display.data_window)
plotshape(bullFlip, title="Bullish flip", text="UP", style=shape.labelup, location=location.belowbar, color=color.teal, textcolor=color.white)
plotshape(bearFlip, title="Bearish flip", text="DOWN", style=shape.labeldown, location=location.abovebar, color=color.orange, textcolor=color.white)
alertcondition(bullFlip, "Confirmed bullish SSL flip", "SSL state changed from -1 to +1 at bar close.")
alertcondition(bearFlip, "Confirmed bearish SSL flip", "SSL state changed from +1 to -1 at bar close.")

The code updates HLV only when barstate.isconfirmed is true. The current high and low averages still move while a bar is open; the state and reversal labels wait for the close. Select a confirmed flip condition when creating an alert and use Once Per Bar Close. This indicator contains no orders or strategy return calculation.

Where the rules can fail as trading signals

In sideways trading, closes can alternate across both boundaries. Close confirmation does not remove the consecutive flips shown above.
Waiting for the opposite close can surrender part of a move. A flip is not a stop-loss price, and a gap can move beyond a planned exit.
An unconfirmed cross may disappear before the close. Historical candle data cannot establish every intrabar path.
Changing the symbol feed, session, timeframe, chart type or available history can change the averages and remembered state. Compare identical inputs.
An attractive length on one sample may fail elsewhere. Define entry timing, exit rules, position size, fees and slippage before evaluating a separate test period.

TradingView's repainting documentation explains why closing-bar logic addresses only part of the historical-versus-realtime problem. This page is educational information, not investment advice; neither a confirmed state nor a syntax check demonstrates profitability.

Turn the state into an explicit strategy requirement

Pineify's Pine Script AI Coding Agent can help draft or modify the script from specified rules. For example, ask for a long-only strategy that enters on a confirmed -1 to +1 reversal, ignores the first 0 to +1 assignment, exits on a confirmed +1 to -1 reversal, and reports commissions and slippage. Specify order fill timing separately from signal timing, then request a syntax check and compare the generated state values against the table.

That workflow produces code for review and testing. The example on this page does not place broker orders, include SSL Hybrid filters or establish a profitable parameter set.

Draft SSL rules with Pineify

SSL Channel questions

Sources and related indicators

Source listings and documentation checked October 17, 2026. The table is a synthetic calculation, not an author backtest.

ErwinBeckers: SSL channel
Author-published TradingView script dated March 28, 2019. Use this listing when looking for that community script.
Mihkel00: SSL Hybrid
A separate script with baseline, continuation and exit components; its credits include ErwinBeckers.
TradingView: Bar states
barstate.isconfirmed is true on historical bars and on the closing update of a realtime bar.
TradingView: Repainting
Explains fluid realtime prices, historical versus live calculations and data revisions.

Review simple moving averages for the underlying window calculation, or Supertrend for a different stateful indicator based on ATR. Browse the TradingView indicator directory for other calculation guides.

SSL Channel indicator: high/low averages and state changes