A Setup is the stricter confirmation layer
BULL and BEAR Setups are separate from Opportunity alerts. A fresh Setup is produced only when the timeframe-specific setup engine, quality checks, fresh-state requirement and trigger spacing all pass on a confirmed candle close.
When that happens, LevelBeacon can print a BULL or BEAR marker and the user-facing state becomes BULL ACTIVE or BEAR ACTIVE.
Strict Setups also require LevelBeacon to have sufficient completed history. A LEARNING state means the normal production setup context is not yet available.
What the strict engine evaluates
The dedicated intraday profiles use the following categories. The rules above 15m differ, as explained below:
- Structural role: bullish setups need support context; bearish setups need resistance context.
- Relevant MTF direction: the setup engine checks the timeframes that matter to the chart and can be stricter than the 2-of-3 Opportunity rule.
- Price-action confirmation: candle body/momentum behavior must fit the setup profile.
- Location and distance: price must be in an acceptable relationship to the active structural level.
- Time/session filters where applicable: some optimized workflows are intentionally selective.
- Quality gate: a candidate can be rejected even when broad direction looks correct.
- Cooldown/freshness: repeated adjacent conditions are not allowed to print an endless cluster of new markers.
The exact engineering thresholds are tuned implementation details. Knowing them does not improve the user workflow; it can encourage traders to reverse-engineer a marker instead of reading the level, Strength, trend and price behavior together. This guide therefore explains every user-facing behavior without publishing clone-ready setup code.
Opportunity does not have to become a Setup
An Opportunity can alert because the chart is near the level with sufficient Strength and 2-of-3 MTF alignment, yet the stricter setup conditions can still fail. That is expected. The Opportunity layer is deliberately broader.
The reverse can also feel surprising if you are watching only one component: a Setup can depend on timeframe-specific price-action and quality conditions that are not visible as a simple “percentage threshold.”
Confirmed candle close matters
The four named production alerts use confirmed-close guards. A BULL/BEAR marker is therefore tied to completed chart information rather than an unfinished candle that could change before close. When creating TradingView alerts, use the alert setup described in the TradingView alerts guide.
What happens after a fresh Setup
The state becomes ACTIVE and can stay latched for up to eight confirmed chart bars, unless it ends earlier because the active level changes or the setup is structurally invalidated. Live Strength continues updating during those bars.
A Setup marker is not an automatic market order
Use the marker as confirmation inside a complete process. A trader can still skip a valid marker because the stop would be too wide, the price is already extended, market conditions are abnormal, important news is imminent, or the trade does not fit their personal rules.
Which setup rules apply?
The dedicated intraday profiles cover charts up to 1m, above 1m through 5m, and above 5m through 15m. Those profiles combine role, timeframe direction, candle behavior, distance and quality checks; some also use time filters.
Above 15m, the source uses a simpler role-and-Strength condition, plus eligibility, freshness and cooldown. Do not assume the intraday MTF, candle or session rules apply unchanged there. A marker is an indicator event, not proof that a trade is suitable.