# Continuation Continuation is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®. A continuation state machine: it establishes trend from swing structure, boxes each pause, and confirms resumption when price clears the impulse extreme with retracement inside 61.8%, contracting range and thinning volume. Confirmed continuations print an annotated triangle plus a dotted stop level at the pause extreme; deep, stale or structure-breaking pauses invalidate. For trend traders timing the next leg. - Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Jun 16, 2026. - Access: free. - Concepts: [Continuation](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/continuation/) (primary) - Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=ntfjpy7as8t8x6x4iwdxlqfu - Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/continuation/ **Continuation** is the definitive clean implementation of [continuation](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/continuation/) trading: a state machine that establishes trend from swing structure and confirms resumption only when a pause resolves trendward with the right character. A trend arms after two rising (or two falling) swings; once price rests 3 bars without a new extreme, the pause is boxed and measured: depth, range, volume. The outcome is a confirmed continuation triangle, with the pause statistics in its tooltip, or a quiet dissolve. ## How to Trade the Continuation? - **Pause box**: dashed while digestion runs; it must hold inside the 61.8% retracement cap and resolve within 40 bars or it invalidates. - **Continuation triangle**: prints when price clears the impulse extreme with retracement, range and volume checks passed; the tooltip carries the pause statistics. - **Stop level**: each confirmed continuation drops a dotted line at the pause extreme, beyond which stops are commonly placed. - **Prior swing line**: the level the trend must hold. A close through it breaks structure outright and resets the machine. ## Continuation Settings - **Swing Length** (default 10): pivot length behind trend structure. - **Minimum Pause Length** (default 3): bars without a new extreme before a pause forms. - **Maximum Pause Length** (default 40): longer pauses go stale and invalidate. - **Maximum Retracement %** (default 61.8): deepest share of the impulse leg the pause may give back. - **Range Contraction** (default on): pause true range must contract below the impulse leg's. - **Volume Contraction** (default on): volume must thin during the pause; skipped without volume data. - **Resolution Trigger** (default Close): confirm on a closing basis, or Wick for the faster read. - **Expansion On Resolution** (default off): requires the resolution bar's range to expand beyond the pause average. - Style toggles cover pause zones, invalidated pauses, the prior swing level, stop levels and colors. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does this relate to flag patterns? A [bull or bear flag](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/bull-bear-flag/) is one recognizable shape a pause can take. This build ignores shape and weighs evidence (depth, range contraction, volume drain), so any qualifying pause counts, flag-shaped or not. ### Should I use the Close or Wick trigger? Close, the default, confirms only on a settled bar beyond the impulse extreme, filtering intrabar pokes. Wick fires earlier but admits more marginal resolutions; Expansion On Resolution restores some selectivity. ### What invalidates a continuation setup? A retracement deeper than the cap, a pause outlasting the maximum length, or a close through the prior swing, which breaks trend structure outright. Invalidations fire an alert; failed pauses can stay on the chart in neutral. ## Related indicators - [Significant Breakout Levels (FVG)](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/significant-breakout-levels-fvg/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/significant-breakout-levels-fvg.md - [Gap Fill Breakouts](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/gap-fill-breakouts/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/gap-fill-breakouts.md - [Retest & Break Setup](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/retest-break-setup/) (Retest): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/retest-break-setup.md - [9:30 AM 15m Fib Breakout](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/9-30-am-15m-fib-breakout/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/9-30-am-15m-fib-breakout.md - [Opening Range with Breakouts & Targets](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/opening-range-with-breakouts-targets/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/opening-range-with-breakouts-targets.md - [Reversal Signals](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/reversal-signals/) (Reversal): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/reversal-signals.md - [Trendline Breakout Navigator](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trendline-breakout-navigator/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trendline-breakout-navigator.md - [Breakouts with Tests & Retests](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/breakouts-with-tests-retests/) (Breakout): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/breakouts-with-tests-retests.md --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/continuation/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/