simple-backtest-kankane 0.3.2

Simple backtesting framework for trading strategies

Simple Backtest

A high-performance, asset-agnostic backtesting framework for Python

Features • Installation • Quick Start • Data Loaders • Documentation

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📖 About

Simple Backtest provides a clean framework for running strategy backtests with strong validation, robust metrics, and extensible architecture.

You can still bring your own pandas DataFrame, but the project now also includes optional data source integrations so users can load and normalize OHLCV data faster.

✨ Features

• Backtesting Engine: Fast, deterministic strategy execution
• Validation First: Actionable errors for data, config, and strategy inputs
• Asset-Agnostic Design: Works with stocks, forex, crypto, ETFs, and more
• 20+ Metrics: Return, drawdown, Sharpe, Sortino, Calmar, alpha/beta, etc.
• Optimization: Grid search, random search, walk-forward
• Optional Data Integrations:
  • CSVLoader
  • YFinanceLoader
  • CCXTLoader
  • AlphaVantageLoader
  • PolygonLoader

📦 Installation

Core package

pip install simple-backtest

Optional loader dependencies

Install only what you use:

# Yahoo Finance
pip install yfinance

# Crypto exchange data
pip install ccxt

# REST API loaders (Alpha Vantage, Polygon)
pip install requests

Development setup

git clone <your-repository-url>
cd simple-backtest
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Requirements: Python 3.10+

🚀 Quick Start

Backtest from any OHLCV DataFrame

from simple_backtest import Backtest, BacktestConfig, MovingAverageStrategy

# data must contain: Open, High, Low, Close (Volume optional unless configured)
strategy = MovingAverageStrategy(short_window=10, long_window=30, shares=10)
config = BacktestConfig.default(initial_capital=10000)

backtest = Backtest(data, config)
results = backtest.run([strategy])

print(results.get_strategy(strategy.get_name()).summary())

Backtest using built-in CSV loader

from simple_backtest import Backtest, BacktestConfig, CSVLoader, MovingAverageStrategy

loader = CSVLoader()
data = loader.load("data/aapl.csv", start="2020-01-01", end="2023-12-31")

backtest = Backtest(data, BacktestConfig.default(initial_capital=10000))
results = backtest.run([MovingAverageStrategy(short_window=10, long_window=30, shares=10)])

🔌 Data Loaders

All loaders inherit from DataLoader and return a validated DataFrame with standardized columns:

Open, High, Low, Close, Volume

Validation is always run internally before the DataFrame is returned.

CSVLoader

• Reads local CSV files
• Auto-detects date column (Date, date, Datetime, datetime, or datetime index)
• Normalizes common column variants (open → Open, etc.)
• Supports optional date filtering via start and end

from simple_backtest import CSVLoader

data = CSVLoader().load("prices.csv", start="2021-01-01", end="2021-12-31")

YFinanceLoader

• Uses yfinance.download(...)
• Handles yfinance MultiIndex column outputs
• Raises clear import/data errors

from simple_backtest import YFinanceLoader

data = YFinanceLoader().load("AAPL", "2020-01-01", "2023-12-31")

CCXTLoader

• Uses ccxt exchange clients
• Supports constructor args: exchange_name, optional api_key, api_secret
• Converts millisecond timestamps to DatetimeIndex
• Auto-paginates OHLCV fetches for larger ranges

from simple_backtest import CCXTLoader

loader = CCXTLoader(exchange_name="binance")
data = loader.load("BTC/USDT", "2021-01-01", "2021-12-31", timeframe="1d")

AlphaVantageLoader

• Uses Alpha Vantage daily REST endpoint
• Constructor requires api_key
• Parses API JSON into standardized OHLCV DataFrame
• Applies start / end filtering post-load

from simple_backtest import AlphaVantageLoader

loader = AlphaVantageLoader(api_key="YOUR_KEY")
data = loader.load("AAPL", "2020-01-01", "2023-12-31")

PolygonLoader

• Uses Polygon aggregates REST endpoint
• Constructor requires api_key
• Handles next_url pagination
• Parses o/h/l/c/v/t fields into standardized OHLCV DataFrame

from simple_backtest import PolygonLoader

loader = PolygonLoader(api_key="YOUR_KEY")
data = loader.load("AAPL", "2020-01-01", "2023-12-31", timespan="day", multiplier=1)

Create your own loader

import pandas as pd
from simple_backtest import DataLoader


class MyCustomLoader(DataLoader):
    def load(self, symbol, start, end) -> pd.DataFrame:
        # fetch/construct your data
        data = pd.DataFrame(...)
        return self._finalize_dataframe(data)

📚 Documentation

Built-in strategy helpers

When writing a custom strategy (subclass of Strategy), you can use:

• self.has_position()
• self.get_position()
• self.get_cash()
• self.get_portfolio_value()
• self.buy(shares)
• self.sell(shares)
• self.sell_all()
• self.hold()
• self.buy_percent(percent)
• self.buy_cash(amount)

Config presets

from simple_backtest import BacktestConfig

config = BacktestConfig.default(initial_capital=10000)
config_zero_fees = BacktestConfig.zero_commission(initial_capital=10000)
config_hft = BacktestConfig.high_frequency(initial_capital=100000)
config_swing = BacktestConfig.swing_trading(initial_capital=10000)

Optimizers

• GridSearchOptimizer
• RandomSearchOptimizer
• WalkForwardOptimizer

📓 Notebooks

Jupyter examples are available in the notebooks folder:

• 01_basic_usage.ipynb
• 02_candle_strategies.ipynb
• 03_ta_strategies.ipynb
• 04_ml_strategies.ipynb
• 05_commission_usage.ipynb
• 06_advanced_optimization.ipynb

🛠️ Development

Run tests

pytest

Run linting

ruff check simple_backtest tests

Format

ruff format simple_backtest tests

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

1. Fork repository
2. Create branch
3. Add tests for changes
4. Run pytest and ruff check
5. Open pull request

📄 License

MIT. See LICENSE.

📬 Support

• Issues: Use your repository issue tracker
• Discussions: Use your repository discussions page