Explore & Sharing

Explore is Astral’s public discovery layer for community-published strategies and indicators. Everyone sees the same lists, whichever mode Settings → Wallets is in. Strategies their authors are running now appear under Strategies; published strategies that aren't running appear under Backtests. Results are labelled Live or Backtest, and Explore shows percentages only, never amounts of money. Explore also connects public profiles, following, comments, copying, and a saved-public-item library.

Find and use a public item

The desktop Terminal Explore slide-over offers Strategies, Backtests and Leaderboard. To see only people you follow, choose Following above the Strategies or Backtests list (Everyone shows all). Browse public indicators from Explore Indicators; there is no Indicators tab in the Terminal slide-over.

1. Choose Explore in the desktop left rail, use mobile Feed → Strategies / Backtests / Leaderboard, Create → Browse indicators, or Community search, or open Explore.
2. Select Strategies, Backtests, Leaderboard, Indicators or Saved, or use search. Open Filters/sort controls to change the order.
3. Select a row or card to inspect the full description, author, assets, source and results. Check whether metrics are labeled Live or Backtest; a pending-results notice is not performance.
4. Use the save/bookmark control to add it to your library. The removal control may open Confirm Unsave; removing a saved item does not unpublish its author's original.
5. Use the item's open/copy action to inspect or revise it in Terminal. If you choose Deploy, read the confirmation: deploying a public strategy creates an independent copy for your own account/wallet. It does not subscribe your wallet to every future author edit or mirror the author's trades. To follow the author's own live trades instead, use Buy in (see Buying in to a strategy).
6. Review and backtest the copy, then confirm its own mode, funding and deployment separately.

Publish and share your work

From a strategy's result/details use Publish, or choose Attach strategy in the Feed composer. A strategy you deployed can also be published from its Live view in Terminal; Publish there opens the same publication flow as Dashboard → Publish for that strategy, and an existing publication opens as it is. Complete the publication form and public-profile requirement, inspect the title/description and source/results being shared, then confirm publication. Check the strategy's public page or Published → Strategies on your desktop profile. If publishing fails, the window shows why with Try again and Close; it publishes once per opening and does not retry by itself.

Indicators have their own publication flow. You can also ask the assistant in Chat to publish an expression indicator you own. It confirms the title and visibility with you first and defaults to link-only. Open the resulting indicator page from its publication link, or find public indicators in Explore Indicators. See Publish an indicator from Chat.

Use Share to copy/open the publication link. The link opens for anyone signed in, in either mode. If it can't be opened, for example because the strategy was unpublished, Terminal says so instead of opening empty. Use the owner's Publication actions for available management/removal actions. Publishing and sharing are separate from starting a deployment. Unpublishing the original does not establish that all existing user copies or deployments have been deleted. Astral unpublishes a strategy automatically when its author deletes it or when the author's live deployment of it ends; a published strategy that was never deployed stays published until you unpublish it.

Discuss and follow

Open an item's Discussion/comments section, type in Add a comment (or the selected reply), then choose Send comment. Cancel reply returns to a top-level comment. Use Like / Unlike to change a reaction and the author's profile to follow/unfollow. These actions can require sign-in and a public profile.

Live strategies and Trending

Strategies lists published strategies that their authors are running now. Each row shows:

• a faded equity sparkline behind the content when chart data is available; it fades away on row hover or keyboard focus;
• its return, which updates and flashes green or red as the prices of what it holds move. Sorting by Trending shows the 24-hour return; Today, 7D Return and Total Return show that return instead;
• the tokens it held 15 minutes ago, largest first, as icons. The desktop panel shows up to three overlapping circular token logos and a rounded N+ badge for additional holdings, each on a solid background. Missing artwork uses a neutral placeholder. Explore never shows how much of each it holds; a banknote icon labelled In cash means it held none;
• how many other people are running an unedited copy, and how many started today (in the desktop Terminal panel, the running count appears in the card; hover the return for today's starts);
• its Sharpe ratio and largest fall over the last 7 days, once there is enough history (the desktop panel shows 7D drawdown beside return, with Sharpe also available in the return tooltip).

Trending ranks running strategies on several measures at once: the 24-hour return (counted for less when the strategy has made few trades), the return relative to how much it swung, the largest fall over 7 days, how many people started running it, and recent likes, comments, saves and shares. Each measure is compared with the other running strategies, so a single big return doesn't decide the order. One author can hold at most two of the top ten places. The ranking is recalculated every few minutes and changes gradually.

A strategy is ranked once it has run for a day, traded in the last 7 days and has recent results. Running strategies that don't meet these yet appear after the ranked ones. Strategies that trade perpetual futures are not listed under Strategies or Leaderboard; they stay available under Backtests and on their own pages.

To list a running strategy, choose Post to Explore in the publication flow. A new listing appears within a few minutes, first with Waiting for live results if it has none yet.

Backtests lists published strategies that aren't running live, with their backtest results. A strategy that was running and stopped is unpublished, so it doesn't move here. Sort them by Recent, Popular or Trending (recent likes, comments, saves and shares).

Leaderboard has Top strategies, ranked by the sort you choose (Total Return, Today, 7D Return or Popular), and Top accounts. An account's return combines all of its ranked live strategies, giving larger strategies more weight; only the percentage is shown.

Indicators are not listed by performance.

In the desktop Terminal Explore panel, Strategies, Backtests and Leaderboard share the same compact top tab bar as Feed and the other Terminal panels. The collapse button sits in its own cell at the left, beside the tabs. A second row contains Everyone / Following for Strategies and Backtests when signed in, or Top strategies / Top accounts for Leaderboard. This row uses the Strategies toolbar's spacing, with the choices at the left and Filters aligned at the right. Under Backtests, Following shows only backtests from authors you follow; Show everyone restores the full list if there are none. Each list keeps its own audience selection. The panel has no search field; use Explore search to search publications. Mobile Feed keeps its own search controls.

Each strategy item follows the Feed layout: the author's name and a small profile avatar sit above a softly outlined strategy card, with small Save and Deploy buttons below it. Clear gaps separate the author header, card and action row, with more space between whole items. The card header shows the strategy name on the left and token icons or the In cash banknote icon at the top right. Names can wrap to two lines, with supporting information underneath. Hover the cash icon for its label. The Trending rank sits beside the author. Faded sparklines sit behind the strategy card's content when chart data is available.

A compact metric row below the supporting text shows the selected return period beside 7D drawdown on live cards. Backtests shows Backtest return, Max drawdown and Trades together. Trades counts completed positions from the published backtest. If the card is showing live results alongside backtest statistics, those statistics are labelled Backtest drawdown and Backtest trades. Missing values show —; an available zero trade count shows 0. Live cards show a positive running count as supporting information. Backtests keeps the result type and win rate below the name. Hover a return for supporting statistics. Top accounts keeps its account rows, avatars and return column heading.

Save and Deploy stay visible together below each strategy card. Save adds the strategy to your library; Saved requests removal through the existing Confirm Unsave flow. Deploy opens the existing deployment review. These actions require sign-in and follow the same access checks as the full preview. A pending action is disabled while it is being prepared; an already deployed strategy shows Deployed, and unsupported strategies have Deploy disabled with the reason in its tooltip.

During the Buy in rollout, eligible live publications also show Buy in beside Deploy, using the existing review flow described below. In the Terminal Explore rows, Save, Deploy and Buy in form one compact button group with a shared border, dividers and small uppercase Geist Mono labels. Buy in uses a circled incoming arrow. Narrow panels show text-only segments so every action remains visible. The three-dot menu stays separate at the far right. A newly deployed strategy with pending live results shows Waiting for live results until results arrive.

For another author's publication, signed-in readers can open the Strategy actions three-dot menu at the far right of that action row. Report spam sends the strategy for moderation review; Spam reported confirms receipt and does not mean the publication has been removed. Block author hides that author's Explore publications after confirmation. Choose Undo in the confirmation to unblock them while signed in to the same account. Explore author blocks are separate from Feed/chat blocks. If an action fails, the error explains that it was not confirmed; open the menu to try again. Your own publications and signed-out rows do not show this menu.

Select the strategy card, or focus it and press Enter or Space, to open the full detail preview with its description, assets, charts and metrics. The author header opens the author's profile when a public handle is available. There is no inline expansion. The separate Save and Deploy buttons do not open the preview. Closing the preview returns to the list with its tab and filters preserved. Touch users can tap the strategy card to open details or tap its actions directly.

Mobile Feed's Strategies and Top strategies lists use the same rows and visible actions. Mobile Backtests keeps its cards, which open details directly.

Strategy charts

A published strategy that its author has run live can be opened as a chart, like a token. Strategy charts are being rolled out gradually, so you may not see them yet.

• Choose Open chart on a strategy's page or in its details window (opened from search, a profile or an Explore list), or Open chart in the actions menu of your own published strategy on the Dashboard. In the terminal search, selecting a running strategy under Strategies opens its chart directly.
• The chart shows the strategy's value as an index that starts at 100 when its author first deployed it, as candles on 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h, 4h and 1D. An index of 112 means it is up 12% since then. Only returns are shown, never amounts.
• Every time its author has run it counts. When they stopped and deployed it again, the index carries on from where it ended; the time in between has no candles.
• Each minute values what the strategy held at that minute's prices. When it holds several tokens, a candle's high and low are the most and least it could have been worth that minute.
• New minutes appear about a minute and a half after they end. There is no delay for anyone.
• The card on the chart shows its name and return since its first deployment, with a link to its page.
• The Trade panel on the right is the same ticket as for a token, with the strategy as the asset: Buy in (or Buy more once you follow it) and Sell (see Buying in to a strategy). The chart's Buy and Sell buttons open it. On a phone, the trade button beside the chat box opens it.
• Save it to your Watchlist with its star, like a token: the row shows the index and its 24-hour change.

Buying in to a strategy

Buying in is being rolled out gradually, so you may not see it yet. While a published strategy's author runs it live, it has Buy in next to Deploy. The two do different things:

• Deploy copies the rules into your library and starts your own deployment. It trades on its own from then on, starting in cash.
• Buy in follows the author's own live deployment. Your amount buys what that deployment holds right now, at the same weights. After that, every trade it makes is copied to your wallet in proportion until you leave: when it spends a quarter of its money on a token, you spend a quarter of yours; when it sells half of a token, you sell half of yours. The author's own manual trades are separate and never reach you.

Every published strategy's rules are public, so you can read exactly what a strategy does before buying in.

1. Open the strategy from Explore, or select Buy in on its row or card. Buy in appears only while the author's deployment is live, and not on your own strategies.
2. Check What your money buys now (each token and its share), the strategy's live results and backtest, its rules, Recent trades and Followers.
3. In the Buy in modal, enter Amount to buy in (at least $10, from your Astral Wallet's USDC). The wallet balance appears below the amount; What your money buys now lists the current tokens and their shares, or a Cash 100% row while the strategy waits for its next trade. Followers' results shows follower count, median return and share in profit when available, or No followers yet. The footer pairs Cancel with Review. Cancel has a subtle outlined surface and a muted label that brightens on hover or keyboard focus, with a background change on desktop hover. Choose Review to continue.
4. Review buy in shows your amount, current holdings and how execution, results and leaving work. Use Back to amount to change the amount, or choose Buy in with the displayed dollar amount to confirm. Opening the modal or choosing Review does not buy anything. Your buys go through within a few seconds after confirmation; the completion screen points you to Deployed. Loading, unavailable-account and strategy-status messages keep Review disabled when you cannot proceed.

You can also buy in from the strategy's chart: open its Trade panel, choose Buy in, enter an amount in dollars (or tap a size preset, a share of your wallet's USDC), choose Buy in, review, then confirm.

The followed strategy appears under Deployed as Following: followed by the strategy's name. Its chart's Trade panel shows your position: what it's worth now, what you put in, and your return.

• Buy more: enter an amount, review and confirm. It moves that much USDC from your wallet into the strategy, which buys what the author's deployment holds right now, at the same weights.
• Sell: enter a dollar amount or tap a size preset (a share of your position), review and confirm. Astral sells that share of every token the strategy holds for you; once the sells go through, that share of the cash returns to your wallet and you keep following with the rest. Selling 100% (99% or more) sells everything and stops following.
• Leave, in the strategy's actions under Deployed, does the same as selling all: Astral sells everything, then undeploys it and returns the cash to your wallet.

One change goes through at a time; the panel shows it until it finishes. A followed strategy can't be paused or edited, and keeping its tokens when you leave isn't available yet.

If the author stops their deployment or changes its rules, Astral sells everything it holds for you and stops following. When the author pauses it, Buy in closes until it resumes; your copy keeps following its sells.

While Buy in is open, the strategy page also shows:

• Recent trades: what the author's deployment bought and sold.
• Followers: roughly how many (1-9, 10+, 50+, 100+) and the share in profit.

Things to know before buying in:

• The author's deployment trades first; your copy is placed right after, so the author fills slightly before you. Because the rules are public, others can also act on what the strategy is about to do.
• Your results differ from the author's and other followers' because of fees (Astral's normal trading fee applies to every copied trade), price impact and timing.
• When many followers buy the same token at once, their buying moves its price: up on the way in and down on the way out.
• Buy in uses your Astral Wallet on Solana. Strategies that trade perpetual futures or tokens on other networks can't be bought into.

For your own strategies: people can buy in once you publish one and deploy it live with real money. A deployment keeps the rules it started with: to change them, publish the change and deploy again (your followers are sold out when the deployment stops, and the strategy is unpublished). While your strategy has followers, you can't manually buy or sell a token it holds until it sells that token.

Explore areas

• Home presents discovery sections and community activity.
• Strategies lists running strategies, Trending first; choose Following above the list for people you follow.
• Backtests lists published strategies that aren't running.
• Leaderboard shows top strategies and top accounts.
• Indicators browses public custom indicator groups and previews.
• Following (on the Explore page) shows the newest strategies from profiles you follow.
• Saved shows public strategies and indicators you bookmarked or copied into the Explore library.

Private backend-only strategies do not automatically appear in the Explore Saved tab; use strategy-management surfaces for the full private library.

Strategy and indicator details

Detail pages can show author, description, assets, timeframe, metrics, equity, preview charts, code or expression context, comments, save/copy state, and actions to open the item in Terminal. Exact fields depend on the publication.

Public metrics describe the published snapshot or linked deployment state available to Explore. They are not a promise that copying the item will reproduce the result.

Under Strategies, Trending is the live ranking described above. Under Backtests and Indicators, Trending counts recent community engagement only, so zero recent engagement can legitimately produce a zero score. Missing or stale deployment results remain unavailable rather than becoming zero returns.

Save, copy, open, and deploy

• Save/bookmark adds a public item to the Explore library.
• Copy creates your own editable strategy or indicator representation where supported.
• Open in Terminal starts or routes to a workspace with import context.
• Deploy first resolves or creates an eligible saved strategy, then opens the normal deployment review and gates.

Publishing and comments

Publishing associates a saved item with your public profile and creates a public detail route. Review generated descriptions, metadata, preview, code, and metrics before confirming. Comments are public discussion attached to an Explore item.

How to evaluate a public strategy

Start with the logic, not the return. Identify the assets, timeframe, entry and exit rules, sizing, protective instructions, test dates, and number of trades. A result with very few trades or one unusually strong period may be fragile even when the headline return is high.

Then ask what is missing. Public detail data may not include every fee assumption, spread, borrow constraint, tax consequence, rejected order, or data-quality caveat. Compare the published snapshot with a fresh backtest using your intended dates and settings.

1. Read the complete rule set

   Confirm that the written description matches the inspectable strategy logic. Pay special attention to sizing, exits, and conditions combined with AND or OR.
2. Inspect the evidence

   Review drawdown, trade count, equity path, orders, and regime dependence rather than relying on one metric.
3. Copy into your workspace

   Create your own editable version where supported. The copy is a starting point, not a synchronized subscription.
4. Retest and revise

   Use your preferred period and assumptions. Change one idea at a time so you can explain why the result moved.
5. Choose an operation mode deliberately

   Use notifications or Astral Paper before considering eligible live execution.

Strategy versus indicator publications

A strategy includes rules intended to produce actions or signals. An indicator transforms data for analysis and may not define an entry, exit, size, or portfolio behavior. Saving an indicator adds an analytical building block; it does not create a deployable strategy by itself.

Version and ownership behavior

The public author owns the publication. Your copied record belongs to your account and can diverge immediately. Later author changes should not be assumed to update your copy, your saved backtest, or an active deployment. Record the version and test date when reproducibility matters.

Sharing links responsibly

Public routes can be opened by signed-out readers. Before sharing, confirm the page contains the intended publication and no accidental sensitive details. When discussing performance, include the tested period and make clear whether the numbers are historical, paper, or connected-account results.