MZpack AI Skill

What Is MZpack AI Skill

MZpack AI Skill is a portable, versioned Agent Skill that gives AI agents the correct context for creating NinjaTrader 8 strategies with the MZpack Strategies API.

It includes the API surface, 16 worked examples, three buildable templates, and common pitfalls. It requires MZpack Strategies or Full Suite: the corpus does not compile with the Indicators-only package.

Compatibility

Component	Version or Requirement
Strategies API	2.4.17
Platform	NinjaTrader 8.0.27+
Runtime	.NET Framework 4.8
Language	C# 7.3
Build	MSBuild

Installation

Download the MZpack AI Skill ZIP. Open the downloaded ZIP, then open the mzpack-ai-skill folder inside it. Copy its contents — including SKILL.md — into your agent's mzpack-strategies directory. Do not copy the outer mzpack-ai-skill folder itself.

Codex

<project>\.codex\skills\mzpack-strategies\

Claude Code

<project>\.claude\skills\mzpack-strategies\

Cursor

<project>\.cursor\skills\mzpack-strategies\

After installation, SKILL.md must be directly inside the mzpack-strategies directory.

First Step

After installation, open your agent and start with this sample request:

I want to create a new NinjaTrader 8 strategy using MZpack. Start from `templates/StrategyTemplate`. Before creating files, ask me for the strategy name and requirements. Then help me add an imbalance signal.

What Is Included

Path	Contents
AGENTS.md	Start here. How an MZpack strategy is put together: host, algo class, signals, the signal tree, entries, risk, the signal probe, build, and deploy.
docs/api-surface.md	Types, members, and enums for MZpack.NT8.Algo in one place.
docs/pitfalls.md	Reasons code can compile but do nothing; read this before debugging.
docs/catalog.md	Which sample to open for a given pattern.
samples/	16 worked examples, one technique per example, each with a README.
templates/	Three buildable templates: plain strategy, Pattern Dashboard, and Control Panel.
Directory.Build.props	Central paths to NinjaTrader and MZpack; edit once or set environment variables.

Build and Configuration

MSBuild is required. It is already on PATH in Developer PowerShell for Visual Studio:

Run this command from the root directory of the extracted MZpack AI Skill:

msbuild templates\StrategyTemplate\StrategyTemplate.csproj

• Build the template, not the corpus root: samples/ is intentionally not part of a project, and there is nothing to build at the root.
• Close NinjaTrader before building. Otherwise it holds assemblies in bin\Custom, and a successful build will not add the strategy to the list.
• For a standard installation, Directory.Build.props already contains the required paths. For custom paths, edit that file or set NINJATRADER_INSTALL, NINJATRADER_USER, and MZPACK_DLL as environment variables, then restart your shell or Visual Studio.