Getting started
Exporting data from NinjaTrader
Verdict Strategy Builder imports bar data exported from NinjaTrader 8 by the bundled BarsExporter add-on. The pipeline is: NinjaTrader → BarsExporter → CSV file → import into the app.
Install the BarsExporter add-on
- In the app, open the Setup guide's Get your data step (top bar → Setup guide) and click Show addon file — this reveals the bundled
BarsExporter.csin your file manager. The Copy path button copies the destination folder. - Copy
BarsExporter.csinto NinjaTrader's add-on folder:Documents\NinjaTrader 8\bin\Custom\AddOns\ - In NinjaTrader 8, open the NinjaScript Editor and press F5 to compile.
- Bars to CSV now appears under Control Center → Tools.
Export bars
Open Control Center → Tools → Bars to CSV and fill in the dialog:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Native NinjaTrader instrument picker (e.g. MES, ES, NQ). |
| Bar size (minutes) | The export is always minute bars. 1-minute is the most flexible — the app can resample 1-minute data to any coarser timeframe. |
| Trading hours | Defaults to the instrument's template and re-syncs when you change instrument. |
| From / To | Inclusive date range. The export quietly starts three days earlier than From so indicators have warm-up data. |
| Output path | Auto-named <symbol>_<size>m.csv. |
How much history to export? More is better for validation — the walk-forward gauntlet carves folds and an incubation hold-out from the date span, so a year or more gives the validator real out-of-sample evidence to work with.
The CSV format
BarsExporter writes semicolon-separated UTC rows:
timestamp_utc;open;high;low;close;volume
2024-01-02T05:00:00Z;5306.00;5306.75;5305.50;5306.25;142
The app expects exactly this header. Don't open and re-save the file in Excel — it converts separators and mangles timestamps, and the import will reject it. If a file was damaged, re-export it from NinjaTrader rather than repairing it by hand.
Next
Import the CSV on the app's Data screen: Importing data.