Installing

Stancel installs by copying files. There is no installer, you don't need administrator rights, and it never touches the Windows registry.

It takes ten minutes and you only do it once.

Before you start: check the manifest

Inside the package there is a file called MANIFIESTO.txt. Open it before anything else. It says three things:

• Which version the package is
• Which day, and which code revision it was built from
• Whether it passed the tests: it must say VERIFICADO

⚠️ If it says NO VERIFICADO, do not install it on an account with real money. That seal is applied by the publishing tool, and it refuses to apply it if the tests aren't green. It's the only signal you have that this specific package was tested in full.

The six pieces, and where each one goes

The second one is not optional, even though it looks like it. The desk requests Stancel_Lienzo by name to build the mosaic and the drawing tools. If it's missing, no error appears: the mosaic simply doesn't show up, and it looks as if the desk is broken. It's the most common installation mistake, and the hardest one to diagnose.

Nothing else is installed. No DLLs, no external libraries, no hidden resources. The folders, configuration and mosaic templates are created by the program itself the first time it starts.

If you already had Stancel installed: back up first

If this is your first time, skip this — there's nothing to back up yet.

If not, before touching anything copy this whole folder to somewhere outside MetaQuotes:

C:\Users\<YOUR USER>\AppData\Roaming\MetaQuotes\Terminal\Common\Files\Stancel\

That's where all your drawings, zones and notes live, across every terminal. It's the only safety net: a drawing file written by a newer version isn't read by an older one, and if you ever need to roll back, the program's next move saves the empty store over it. You don't lose the drawings from in between — you lose all of them, including ones from months back.

If you're coming from a much older install, under a different product name: also delete that version's global variables (Tools → Global Variables, F3). They survive restarts, and if they're left behind they drag the old version's configuration in without any warning.

The five steps

1 · Open MetaTrader's data folder

In MetaTrader 5: menu File → Open Data Folder. An Explorer window opens. Inside it there is a folder called MQL5.

That's the right folder, and it is not the folder where you installed MetaTrader. Copying the files into the installation folder is the second classic mistake: it gives no error, things simply don't show up.

2 · Copy each file into place

Following the table above. If a folder doesn't exist, create it with that exact name.

3 · Restart MetaTrader

Close the terminal completely and open it again. MetaTrader reads programs on startup; without restarting it won't see the new ones.

4 · Drag Stancel onto a chart

In the Navigator (Ctrl+N), open Expert Advisors, find Stancel, and drag it onto any chart.

In the window that opens:

• Common tab: tick Allow algo trading
• Click OK

And check that the Algo Trading button on the MetaTrader toolbar is green. If it's red, no expert can trade — not even Stancel.

5 · Check the version in the title

The top of the panel shows the name and the number. It has to say exactly the same thing as the manifest.

If it says something else, that terminal does not have the package you think it has. It's a one-second check that avoids the worst kind of confusion: believing you're protected by one version while actually running another.

Why the version and not the file size. The MQL5 compiler is not deterministic: two builds of the same code produce files of different sizes. The manifest carries a hash of each file so you can check the download arrived intact, but to know what's running in your terminal the only reliable signal is the version shown in the title.

The three-timeframe mosaic, if you want it

Stancel can build three timeframes into a single window. Use the script:

In the Navigator → Scripts, drag STC_AbrirMarcos onto the chart.

It's not required: the desk works exactly the same on a normal chart.

Telegram, if you want it

It's the only piece installed separately, because it's a service, not an expert. It's explained in its own section: Telegram alerts — including how to create your own bot to receive alerts, and how to tell it apart from @stancel_bot, which is ours and is where you ask for help.

You can skip it entirely. If the service isn't there, the desk doesn't complain: there simply are no alerts.

If you need help

Write to @stancel_bot on Telegram (t.me/stancel_bot), or to hola@stancel.net. More detail in Telegram alerts.

Uninstalling

Delete the six files and restart. Nothing else is left on the system.

If you also want to delete your settings, they're in MQL5\Files\ in a folder named after the product.

If something doesn't show up

More in If something goes wrong.