Getting Started with AlgoStudio: Build Your First EA in 5 Minutes

Building automated trading strategies has traditionally required deep programming knowledge — months of learning MQL5, debugging syntax errors, and wrestling with MetaEditor. AlgoStudio changes that by giving you a visual drag-and-drop builder for MetaTrader 5 Expert Advisors. In this tutorial, you'll build a complete, working EA from scratch in under 5 minutes.

What You'll Build

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a fully functional Moving Average crossover EA that:

• Buys when the fast EMA (10) crosses above the slow EMA (50)
• Sells when the fast EMA crosses below the slow EMA
• Uses ATR-based stop losses that adapt to market volatility
• Takes profit at a 2:1 risk-reward ratio
• Only trades during the London session for optimal liquidity

This is the same strategy used in our Moving Average Crossover template — one of the most popular and well-tested approaches in forex trading.

Step 1: Create a New Project

After signing up for a free account (no credit card required), you'll land on your dashboard. Click "New Project" and give it a descriptive name like "MA Crossover Strategy." This helps you stay organized as you build more EAs later.

The visual builder canvas opens automatically. You'll see a clean workspace with a block toolbar on the left side, organized into categories: Timing, Indicators, Price Action, Trading, and Trade Management.

Step 2: Set the Timing

Every strategy starts with a Timing block. This controls when your EA is active — it's the foundation everything else connects to.

From the Timing category, drag a "Trading Sessions" block onto the canvas. Select "London Session" (08:00–17:00 GMT). This limits your EA to the most liquid hours of the forex market, when major pairs have the tightest spreads and strongest trends.

Why not trade 24 hours? Outside major sessions, spreads widen, volume drops, and trends are weaker. Session timing is one of the simplest filters that improves nearly every strategy.

Step 3: Add Indicator Blocks

Now add the indicators that define your entry conditions. From the Indicators category:

1. Drag a Moving Average block onto the canvas. Set it to EMA, period 10. This is your fast MA — it reacts quickly to recent price changes.
2. Drag a second Moving Average block. Set it to EMA, period 50. This is your slow MA — it represents the broader trend direction.

Connect both MA blocks to the Trading Sessions block. The connections define the logical flow: the EA checks the session timing first, then evaluates the indicator conditions.

The crossover logic is built into the block connections — when the fast EMA crosses above the slow EMA, it triggers a buy signal. When it crosses below, it triggers a sell signal.

Step 4: Add Trade Execution

From the Trading category, add a Place Buy and a Place Sell block. Connect them to your indicator blocks. These blocks tell the EA what action to take when the crossover conditions are met.

Add Risk Management

No EA should trade without proper risk management. From the Trade Management category, add:

• Stop Loss — Set to ATR-based, 1.5x multiplier, period 14. ATR-based stops automatically adapt to current volatility: wider in volatile markets, tighter in calm ones.
• Take Profit — Set to 2:1 risk-reward ratio. If your stop is 40 pips, your take profit is automatically set to 80 pips.
• Position Sizing — Set to 1% risk per trade. This ensures you never risk more than 1% of your account on any single trade.
• Max Trades Per Day — Set to 3. This prevents overtrading in choppy conditions.

Connect all risk management blocks to your Place Buy and Place Sell blocks.

Step 5: Export Your EA

Your strategy is now complete on the canvas. Click the green Export MQL5 button. AlgoStudio generates a production-ready .mq5 file with all your logic, indicator calculations, risk management, and trade execution code.

Loading into MetaTrader 5

1. Download the .mq5 file from AlgoStudio
2. Open MetaTrader 5 and navigate to File → Open Data Folder
3. Go to MQL5 → Experts and paste the .mq5 file
4. Open MetaEditor (press F4) and compile the file (press F7)
5. Back in MT5, right-click on a chart and select Expert Advisors → your EA

Step 6: Backtest Your EA

Before risking real money, backtest on historical data. Open the MT5 Strategy Tester (Ctrl+R) and configure:

• EA: Select your exported EA
• Symbol: EURUSD
• Timeframe: H1
• Period: Last 2 years
• Model: Every tick based on real ticks

Run the test and review the results. Look for a profit factor above 1.3, maximum drawdown below 25%, and at least 100 trades for statistical significance. Read our complete backtesting guide for more details.

What's Next?

Your first EA is working. Now you can iterate and improve:

• Add an ADX filter to only trade when there's a strong trend (ADX above 25)
• Test different MA periods — try 8/21, 10/30, or 20/50 combinations
• Try different pairs — GBPUSD and USDJPY also trend well
• Explore other strategies — try the RSI Mean Reversion template or the Breakout EA template

Each change takes seconds in AlgoStudio's visual strategy builder — drag a new block, connect it, and re-export. No code to debug, no syntax errors to fix.

Want to learn more about building EAs without code? Read our in-depth guide on no-code MT5 EA building, or explore all available EA templates. And before you go live, make sure to read about the 5 most common mistakes traders make when automating strategies.