Trigger: setup vs. conferma

Without a trigger, an entry rule that fires opens a position on the very next bar. A Trigger inserts a second stage: the entry rule is the setup ('after the 100/200 EMA cross, I want longs'), and the trigger is the confirmation ('but only once price pulls back to the fast EMA'). The setup arms the trigger; the trigger opens the trade.

A trigger is configured per direction with a max_wait_bars window. If the confirmation does not happen within that window, the armed signal expires and nothing opens. This is what stops you from chasing a breakout you already missed.

The seven trigger kinds

• pullback — price retraces to a moving level (EMA, SMA, VWAP, Donchian mid). A Pullback gives a better fill inside a trend than buying the breakout.
• rule — any leaf from the rule grammar, reused as a confirmation. Threshold-cross, breakout, volume spike — if you can write it as a rule, you can use it as a trigger.
• time_delay — fire a fixed number of bars after the setup arms. The simplest 'let it settle' confirmation.
• confirmation_candle — wait for a named candle pattern (engulfing, inside-bar, hammer). A Confirmation candle suits reversals, where you want price to commit before you do.
• retest — price breaks a level, returns to it, and holds. A Retest is the standard Smart Money Concepts confirmation: broken resistance becoming support.
• divergence — price and an oscillator move opposite ways. The Divergence trigger is a built-in exhaustion signal for catching the end of a move.
• liquidity_sweep — a wick pierces beyond a prior swing then closes back inside. The Liquidity sweep catches the stop-hunt before a reversal.

Which kind, when

Match the trigger to the trade's logic. Trend-continuation setups want pullback — you have a direction, you just want a cleaner entry. Reversal setups want confirmation_candle or divergence — you need evidence the old move is done. SMC structure plays want retest or liquidity_sweep. And time_delay or a generic rule cover everything in between.

If divergence as a concept is new, the Trading 101 volume lesson introduces it before you wire it up as a trigger here.