Judas Swing Detector [algo_aakash]Judas Swing Detector is a session-based reversal indicator that models the institutional Judas Swing as a complete, sequential price event rather than a single false-breakout candle. Instead of flagging every session-open wick that reverses, the script requires a full chain of confirmed conditions — a locked Initial Range, a liquidity sweep beyond it, a rejection close back inside, an optional market structure shift, institutional-grade displacement, and higher-timeframe trend agreement — before a signal is ever scored, drawn, or alerted.
Problem Statement
A Judas Swing is commonly described as "price sweeps one side of the session open and reverses," but that description alone matches an enormous number of ordinary, low-quality wicks. Scripts that flag every such wick generate far more noise than usable signal, because a sweep and a close-back-inside is only the first half of the institutional sequence — it says nothing about whether the reversal has real structural or momentum support, or whether it agrees with the underlying daily trend.
This indicator addresses that gap by treating the Judas Swing as a seven-stage sequence and only surfacing a signal once every enabled stage has been satisfied on confirmed price data, with the overall setup then ranked by a disclosed, weighted confidence score.
Methodology
A session window (London Open, New York Open, or a fully custom session and timezone) drives an Initial Range engine that locks the session's high and low once a configurable opening window (5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes) elapses. The Initial Range is drawn as a transparent box and extends for the remainder of the session.
Once the Initial Range is locked, the script watches for a liquidity sweep: a wick that pierces beyond the Initial Range high or low by at least a minimum ATR-based distance, with the same candle closing back inside the range. This closing-back-inside requirement is what separates a genuine sweep-and-reject from an ordinary breakout continuation.
A confirmed sweep becomes a pending candidate. If Market Structure Confirmation is enabled, the candidate must be followed by a genuine structure shift measured against minor swing pivots that form strictly after the sweep bar: a higher high following a low-side sweep, or a lower low following a high-side sweep. Candidates that do not produce this structure shift within a configurable bar timeout are discarded with no signal created.
A qualifying candidate is then subjected to a Displacement Filter, requiring the confirming candle's body to reach a minimum ATR multiple, and an optional Higher Timeframe Bias check, requiring a fast/slow EMA relationship on a user-selected higher timeframe (e.g. 1H, 4H, Daily) to agree with the reversal direction. Only after every enabled stage passes does the script compute the Judas Confidence Filter score.
The Judas Confidence Filter combines five independently disclosed, user-weighted factors into a single 0-100 score: sweep depth (how far price pierced beyond the Initial Range in ATR units), displacement (the confirming candle's body size in ATR units), HTF agreement (the normalized separation between the fast and slow higher-timeframe EMA, reflecting how decisively the higher-timeframe trend supports the direction), rejection quality (where the sweep candle closed within its own range), and reversal aggression (how few bars elapsed between the sweep and structure confirmation). Weights are user-adjustable and auto-normalized. A signal is only plotted and only triggers alerts if its score meets the Minimum Confidence Score threshold — this is a genuine filtering mechanism that changes what is drawn, not a cosmetic label applied afterward.
Confirmed signals optionally draw an Entry Zone between the 50% and 62% retracement of the confirming displacement candle, reflecting where institutional-style retracement entries are commonly sought after a confirmed reversal, along with a stop-reference line at the sweep extreme. Both extend forward and are visually dimmed once price closes back through the sweep extreme, marking the setup invalidated.
Signal Workflow
Step 1 — the selected session opens and the Initial Range begins building from the session's first 5-30 minutes of price action.
Step 2 — the Initial Range locks; the script now watches for a liquidity sweep beyond either side of that locked range.
Step 3 — a wick pierces beyond the range by a minimum ATR distance and the same candle closes back inside, registering a pending sweep candidate.
Step 4 — if enabled, the candidate must be followed by a market structure shift measured against post-sweep swing pivots, within a bounded bar timeout.
Step 5 — the confirming candle must clear the ATR-based displacement threshold, and if enabled, the higher-timeframe EMA bias must agree with the reversal direction.
Step 6 — the completed sequence is scored by the Judas Confidence Filter across five weighted factors; only scores at or above the minimum threshold are plotted and alerted.
Step 7 — an optional 50%-62% entry zone and stop-reference line are drawn from the confirming candle and remain active until price closes back through the original sweep extreme.
Why This Indicator Is Different
Most public "Judas Swing" or session-sweep scripts fire on the sweep-and-close-back-inside event alone, with no structural or momentum confirmation and no higher-timeframe context.
This script models the full institutional sequence explicitly — session, Initial Range, sweep, rejection, structure shift, displacement, HTF agreement — and only creates a signal after every enabled stage resolves in order on confirmed bar closes.
The Judas Confidence Filter converts five independently disclosed factors, including reversal aggression measured in bars-to-confirmation and rejection quality measured from close position within the sweep candle's own range, into a single adjustable score rather than a binary flag.
Confidence weighting is fully exposed, letting the ranking be tuned toward sweep depth, displacement strength, higher-timeframe agreement, rejection quality, or reversal speed depending on the trader's approach.
The optional 50%-62% Entry Zone models a specific, disclosed institutional retracement convention rather than simply marking the signal bar.
Inputs
Session Engine
Session (London Open / New York Open / Custom)
Custom Session Window
Session Timezone
Initial Range
Initial Range Duration (5/10/15/30 minutes)
Show Initial Range Box
Liquidity Sweep Detection
Minimum Sweep Pierce (x ATR)
Market Structure Confirmation
Require MSS Confirmation
MSS Pivot Length
MSS Timeout (bars)
Displacement Filter
Displacement Threshold (x ATR)
ATR Length
Higher Timeframe Bias
Require HTF Bias Agreement
HTF Timeframe
HTF Fast/Slow EMA Length
Judas Confidence Filter
Minimum Confidence Score
High-Confidence Threshold
Advanced weight sliders for sweep depth, displacement, HTF agreement, rejection quality, and reversal aggression
Entry Zone
Show Entry Zone (50%-62% Retracement)
Entry Zone Extension (bars)
Visual Settings
Show Sweep Markers / Confirmation Arrows / Stop Marker
Label Size
Bullish/Bearish/Initial Range/Elite Score Colors
Status Panel
Show Status Panel
Panel Position
Alerts
Alerts are available for:
Session Started
Liquidity Sweep detected
Bullish Judas Swing confirmed
Bearish Judas Swing confirmed
High-Confidence Judas Swing (Elite grade)
Higher-Timeframe Bias Change
Entry Zone Reached
Practical Usage
Use the status panel's HTF Bias reading as directional context before evaluating an individual Judas signal.
Treat a High-Confidence (Elite) signal as a materially stronger setup than one that merely clears the minimum threshold, since it reflects agreement across all five scored factors rather than a narrow pass.
Raise the Minimum Confidence Score on lower timeframes or noisy instruments to reduce the number of marginal signals generated.
Disable Require MSS Confirmation only if you specifically want to evaluate the sweep-and-rejection event on its own, understanding this removes one of the seven confirming stages.
Combine the alert feed with a broader trade plan, since each alert marks a structural event, not an execution signal.
Limitations
The Initial Range and session logic depend on the chart's intrabar data matching the selected session window; behavior on markets with irregular or 24-hour sessions may differ from traditional FX/futures sessions.
Market structure confirmation depends on minor swing pivots, which require bars to form on both sides before they confirm, introducing an inherent, bounded delay.
Confidence scoring is a relative, disclosed ranking and does not predict the outcome of any individual signal.
The higher-timeframe bias is read via a standard non-repainting security call and reflects EMA relationship only; it is not an independent trend-strength model.
As with any structure-based tool, results will vary across instruments, timeframes, and market regimes.
Notes
This indicator is a session and structure analysis tool intended to organize and score the Judas Swing sequence through a disclosed, multi-stage validation process.
All session state, sweep detection, structure confirmation, displacement, and scoring are evaluated on confirmed bar closes only, so no element of the script repaints once drawn.
The output is intended to support structural analysis and is not a standalone buy or sell recommendation.
Indicator
