> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trinigence.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# When Not to Optimize

> Situations where optimization does more harm than good.

## When to stop

Do **not** optimize when:

* trade count is too low to be meaningful
* exits and risk rules are unclear or inconsistent
* behavior doesn’t match the idea you intended
* results only look good on a very short window

Optimization doesn’t fix broken logic. It only hides it.

***

## What to do instead

Before you optimize, focus on:

* **clarifying intent** (what the strategy is supposed to do)
* **fixing exits and risk** so losses are bounded
* **simplifying logic** until behavior is explainable
* **getting more data** or broader ranges if the sample is too small

***

## A simple rule of thumb

If you can’t explain why the strategy works, don’t optimize it.

***

## What to read next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Improving a strategy" icon="sliders" href="/iteration-optimization/improving-a-strategy" />

  <Card title="Overfitting & guardrails" icon="shield" href="/iteration-optimization/overfitting-and-guardrails" />

  <Card title="How to read results" icon="magnifying-glass-chart" href="/backtesting/how-to-read-results" />

  <Card title="Risk warnings" icon="shield-exclamation" href="/risk-execution/risk-warnings-and-suggestions" />
</CardGroup>