Algorithm Framework

To add insights to the InsightManager, return a list of Insight objects from the Update method of your Alpha model or call the EmitInsights method. If you manage an InsightCollection that's seperate from the InsightManager, there are some methods to add Insight objects to it.

To add an insight to an InsightCollection, call the Add method.

_insightCollection.Add(insight);

self.insight_collection.add(insight)

To add a list of insights, call the AddRange method.

_insightCollection.AddRange(insights);

self.insight_collection.add_range(insights)

To check if an insight exists in the InsightManager, call the Contains method.

if (algorithm.Insights.Contains(insight))
{
    
}

if algorithm.insights.contains(insight):
    pass

To check if the InsightManager has an insight for a Symbol, call the ContainsKeycontains_key method.

if (algorithm.Insights.ContainsKey(symbol))
{
    
}

if algorithm.insights.contains_key(symbol):
    pass

To check if the InsightManager has active insights for a Symbol at a specific Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), call the HasActiveInsights method.

if (algorithm.Insights.HasActiveInsights(symbol, utcTime))
{
    
}

if algorithm.insights.has_active_insights(symbol, utc_time):
    pass

To get the insights for a Symbol, index the InsightManager with the Symbol.

if (algorithm.Insights.ContainsKey(symbol))
{
    var insights = algorithm.Insights[symbol];
}

if algorithm.insights.contains_key(symbol):
    insights = algorithm.insights[symbol]

To get the insights that pass a filter, call the GetInsights method.

var insights = algorithm.Insights.GetInsights(insight => insight.Direction == InsightDirection.Up);

insights = algorithm.insights.get_insights(lambda insight: insight.direction == Insightdirection.up)

To iterate through the InsightManager, call the GetEnumerator method.

var enumerator = algorithm.insights.get_enumerator();

enumerator = algorithm.insights.get_enumerator()

To get all of the insights that will be active at a certain UTC time, call the GetActiveInsights method.

var activeInsights = algorithm.Insights.GetActiveInsights(utcTime);

active_insights = algorithm.insights.get_active_insights(utc_time)

To get the next insight expiry time in UTC, call the GetNextExpiryTime method.

var nextExpiry = algorithm.Insights.GetNextExpiryTime();

next_expiry = algorithm.insights.get_next_expiry_time()

Only the Portfolio Construction model should remove insights from the InsightManager. It should remove insights when the insights expire and when the corresponding security leaves the universe.

To remove an insight from the InsightManager, call the Removeremove method.

var removeSuccessful = algorithm.Insights.Remove(insight);

remove_successful = algorithm.insights.remove(insight)

To remove all the insights for a set of Symbol objects, pass a list of Symbol objects the Clear method.

algorithm.insights.clear(symbols);

algorithm.insights.clear(symbols)

To remove all the insights that will be expired at a certain UTC time, call the RemoveExpiredInsights method.

var expiredInsights = algorithm.Insights.RemoveExpiredInsights(utcTime);

expired_insights = algorithm.insights.remove_expired_insights(utc_time)

In some cases, you may want to cancel an Insight. For example, if a Risk Management model in your algorithm liquidates a security, it should also cancel all of the active insights for the security. If you don't cancel the insights, the Portfolio Construction model might create a new PortfolioTarget to re-enter the position.

Another example of a situtation where you would want to cancel an Insight is when an Alpha model in your algorithm determines the trading opportunity has pre-maturely ended. For instance, say you want your algorithm to enter a long position in a security when its Relative Strength Index (RSI) moves below 20 and then liquidate the position when the security's RSI moves above 30. If you emit an Insight that has a duration of 30 days when the RSI moves below 20 but the RSI moves above 30 in 10 days, you should cancel the Insight when the RSI moves above 30.

To cancel insights, call the Cancel/Expire method with a list of Insight objects.

algorithm.insights.cancel(insights)

algorithm.insights.cancel(insights);

To cancel all the insights for some securities, call the Cancel/Expire method with a list of Symbol objects.

algorithm.insights.cancel(symbols)

algorithm.insights.cancel(symbols);

When you cancel an active insight, it's CloseTimeUtc property is set to one second into the past.

Follow these steps to use the Object Store to preserve the algorithm state across live deployments:

1. Create an algorithm that defines a storage key and adds insights to the Insight Manager.

public class ObjectStoreChartingAlgorithm : QCAlgorithm
{
    private string _insightKey;
    public override void Initialize()
    {
        _insightKey = $"{ProjectId}/insights";
        SetUniverseSelection(new ManualUniverseSelectionModel(QuantConnect.Symbol.Create("SPY", SecurityType.Equity, Market.USA)));
        SetAlpha(new ConstantAlphaModel(InsightType.Price, InsightDirection.Up, TimeSpan.FromDays(5), 0.025, null));    
    }
}

class ObjectStoreChartingAlgorithm(QCAlgorithm):
    def initialize(self):
        self.insight_key = f"{self.project_id}/insights"
        self.set_universe_selection(ManualUniverseSelectionModel([ Symbol.create("SPY", SecurityType.EQUITY, Market.USA) ]))
        self.set_alpha(ConstantAlphaModel(InsightType.PRICE, InsightDirection.UP, timedelta(5), 0.025, None))

2. At the top of the algorithm file, add the following imports:

from Newtonsoft.Json import JsonConvert
from System.Collections.Generic import List

Insight objects are a C# objects, so you need the preceding C# libraries to serialize and deserialize them.

3. In the OnEndOfAlgorithm event handler of the algorithm, get the Insight objects and save them in the Object Store as a JSON object.

public override void OnEndOfAlgorithm()
{
    var insights = Insights.GetInsights(x => x.IsActive(UtcTime));
    ObjectStore.SaveJson(_insightKey, insights);
}

def on_end_of_algorithm(self):
    insights = self.insights.get_insights(lambda x: x.is_active(self.utc_time))
    content = ','.join([JsonConvert.SerializeObject(x) for x in insights])
    self.object_store.save(self.insight_key, f'[{content}]')

4. At the bottom of the Initializeinitialize method, read the Insight objects from the Object Store and add them to the Insight Manager.

if (ObjectStore.ContainsKey(_insightKey))
{
    var insights = ObjectStore.ReadJson<List<Insight>>(_insightKey);
    Insights.AddRange(insights);
}

if self.object_store.contains_key(self.insight_key):
    insights = self.object_store.read_json[List[Insight]](self.insight_key)
    self.insights.add_range(insights)

The following algorithm provides a full example of preserving the Insight state between deployments:

The InsightManager has the following properties: