ORDERS guide

The order ledger#

Why: the session's large orders as decisions rather than fills, each placed against the book at the minute it printed. Where: ORDERS on the toolbar, or ?orders on a terminal address; the public page is /orders. Plan: Free on every finished session; today's live ledger is the ORDERS plan.

1. Press ORDERS on the toolbar; the panel docks right of the chart.
2. Read a row: time, Γ ADDED, structure, contracts, expiry, size, net premium, VS FLIP, VS EM and SHARE.
3. Click a row to open its detail with Open in OPTIONS; the OPT button does the same.
4. Click a contract name to open its contract card.
5. On a replay, move the cursor: the ledger shows the orders up to that minute.

What it measures: Each row is one SPX order above $100,000 of net premium, rebuilt from the tape: prints grouped by the millisecond into one order, the structure named from its legs. Γ ADDED is the change it made to the measured dealer book at its minute; VS FLIP is its distance from the volume flip in points, VS EM in expected moves; SHARE is its share of its busiest strike.

How to read it:

• Green gamma added means the order added gamma to the book, red that it shed some; it is a size, not a direction.
• A small $ chip on a row is a premium highlight you set; an amber expiry is today's.
• No row names a side: the side of an SPX print is close to a coin flip, and a quarter to a half of the orders carry none.

Limits: SPX only. Orders under $100,000 of net premium are not in the ledger. Finished sessions go back to January 2024.

Related: ORDERS: Sort and filters · ORDERS: The contract card · LIVE: The structure tester · LIVE: The three books

Orders on the chart#

Why: the session's ten largest orders drawn on the candles, at the minute and the price they printed. Where: LAYERS in the chart's header, the ORDERS row. Plan: Free on every finished session; today's live orders need the ORDERS plan.

1. Open LAYERS and switch ORDERS to ON.
2. Pick GAMMA or PREMIUM to size the circles.
3. Point at a circle to read the orders in it: time, structure, expiry and gamma.
4. The ORDERS button on the same row opens the ORDERS table on that day.

How to read it:

• A bigger circle is a larger order by the measure you picked; a number inside counts orders that share a circle.
• A letter names the structure: V vertical, D diagonal, R a ratio, S straddle, RR a strangle or risk reversal, IC iron condor, IF iron fly, C calendar, M several expiries; a single leg has none.

Limits: The ten largest of the session only.

Related: ORDERS: The order ledger · LIVE: LAYERS

Sort and filters#

Why: the slice of the ledger you trade, in the order you want to read it. Where: the filter row under the panel's tabs. Plan: Free on every finished session; live with the ORDERS plan.

1. Pick ALL EXP, 0DTE or NEXT for the expiry.
2. Pick a floor: $100k, $250k or $1M of net premium.
3. Pick BOOK, MONEY or TIME; the header reads the sort (BY TIME, MONEY FIRST).
4. Click a column head to sort by that column instead.

How to read it:

• The floors and the expiry slice apply to every view: ORDERS, STRUCT, TERM and BOARDS.

Limits: A narrow slice can be kept as its own tab.

Related: ORDERS: Saved tabs · ORDERS: STRUCT and TERM views

STRUCT and TERM views#

Why: the day's orders summed, so the mix of structures and the term structure of the size read at a glance. Where: STRUCT or TERM in the filter row. Plan: Free on every finished session; live with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press STRUCT: one row per structure with its orders, net premium, contracts and share of the slice.
2. Press TERM: the same slice by expiry bucket, 0DTE, this week, this month and later.
3. Combine either with the expiry and $ floors; the footer counts the orders in the slice.

How to read it:

• The bar is the structure's share of the filtered slice, not of the whole market.

Limits: SPX orders above the ledger's floor only.

Related: ORDERS: Sort and filters · ORDERS: The order ledger

Saved tabs#

Why: switch between the slices you read every day without setting them again. Where: the tabs row at the top of the panel. Plan: Free.

1. Press + beside the tabs; a new tab opens with its name field ready to type.
2. Set the view, the slices, the sort, the columns and the highlights.
3. Double-click a tab, or open its menu (the dots), to Rename, Duplicate or Delete it.
4. Switch tabs: each one restores everything it was set to.

Limits: One to twelve tabs, kept in this browser.

Related: ORDERS: Columns and highlights · ORDERS: Sort and filters

Columns and highlights#

Why: the columns you read in the order you read them, and the rows you care about marked. Where: COLUMNS in the panel header. Plan: Free.

1. Press COLUMNS. Tick a column to show it; the arrows move it; RESET restores the default order.
2. Under HIGHLIGHT, mark orders larger than their strike's open interest (OI), expiring today (0D) or of at least a net premium ($: $0.5M, $1M, $2.5M or $5M).
3. The tag appears on the row.

How to read it:

• A highlight describes the order only; none of them rests on the side of the order.

Related: ORDERS: Saved tabs · ORDERS: CSV and IMG

CSV and IMG#

Why: the exact slice you are reading, as a file or a picture. Where: CSV and IMG in the panel header. Plan: Free on every finished session; live with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press CSV to download the active tab as orders-<day>.csv, in its sort and columns.
2. Press IMG to copy the table to the clipboard as a picture.

How to read it:

• Both use exactly what the tab shows: view, filters and columns.

Limits: The file holds FirmTape's own fields only, never a vendor's option price or quote.

Related: ORDERS: Saved tabs · ORDERS: Orders API and MCP

EXPAND#

Why: the full ledger without a cut column or a shortened contract list. Where: EXPAND in the panel header. Plan: Free.

1. Press EXPAND; press it again for the normal width.
2. In the wide panel the OPT button shows on every row and long contract lists are no longer cut.

Related: ORDERS: The order ledger

A link that opens ORDERS#

Why: send someone straight to a session's orders. Where: the address bar, or any link you write. Plan: Free.

1. Add ?orders to a terminal address, for example /replay/2026-08-21?orders.
2. Combine it with the other switches of the address, such as ?t= for the minute.

Related: REPLAY: Share a link to a view · ORDERS: The order ledger

Order rules#

Why: an alert when a new order in today's live ledger matches what you look for. Where: RULES in the panel header. Plan: ORDERS.

1. Press RULES, then + NEW RULE, and give it a name.
2. Pick PREMIUM AT LEAST ($100k to $5M), a STRUCTURE (any, or one or more shapes) and an EXPIRY (any, this week, 0DTE).
3. Optionally pick NEAR A LEVEL: one of its strikes within 5, 10, 25 or 50 points of the flip or a wall.
4. Press SAVE. Each rule can be switched on or off, edited or removed.

What it measures: A rule describes the order: its premium, structure, expiry and distance to a level. It never reads the side, because the side of an SPX print is close to a coin flip.

How to read it:

• A match is sent once, by the first rule it matches.

Limits: Up to ten rules. At most 30 order alerts an hour. They go where level alerts go (Telegram, push, the webhook, as type order).

Developer reference: /docs/developers/live/events/order

Related: LIVE: Where alerts go · LIVE: Webhooks · ORDERS: The order ledger

Contract boards#

Why: see which single contracts the session traded most, over one session or seven. Where: BOARDS in the ORDERS filter row; each finished day's boards are also a page at /spx/most-active-options. Plan: Free on every finished session; today's boards with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press BOARDS.
2. Pick the ranking: TOP VOLUME, TOP PREMIUM, TOP OPEN INT or UNUSUAL VOL/OI.
3. Pick the window: 1D (one session) or 7D (seven sessions).
4. Read the head line: calls, puts, the put-call ratio and the total.
5. Click a row to open its contract card.

What it measures: Each board ranks contracts over the window. Vol/OI is the window's volume over the open interest at its start; 7D sums seven sessions and divides by the open interest at the first one's morning.

How to read it:

• A high Vol/OI says the day's trading was large against the positions that existed; it does not say positions were opened.
• The multi-leg share says how much of the contract traded inside multi-leg orders; read the structure, not the leg.

Limits: Nothing on a board names a side, or whether a position was opened or closed. Today's boards are rebuilt every five minutes from the tape so far; the evening's build replaces them at full width.

Related: ORDERS: The contract card · LIVE: Ladder columns · Open interest and volume

The contract card#

Why: one contract's day in one place: how much traded, when, at what average price, inside which structures, and in which large orders. Where: click a strike on the price scale, right-click a ladder row and pick Contract card, or click a board row or an order's leg. Plan: Free on every finished session; live with the ORDERS plan.

1. Click a strike on the price scale: the card opens beside it as a popover. C and P switch the right.
2. Read the numbers: volume and prints, morning open interest, Vol/OI, average price, premium traded and the share in multi-leg orders.
3. Read VOLUME PER 5 MINUTES: single-leg and multi-leg bars with the average fill price as a line; hover a bar for its five minutes.
4. Open the tabs: STRUCTURES, LARGEST ORDERS and SESSIONS.
5. In LARGEST ORDERS, press the play button on a row to move the replay to that second.
6. Press Expand for the drawer, one scrolling card over the chart's right edge beside ORDERS.

What it measures: Volume and prints are the session's; open interest is the morning count, before the open. Structures group multi-leg prints by the millisecond and name them by shape, as shares of the contract's volume. The change in open interest on SESSIONS is the next morning's count minus this one.

How to read it:

• A high Vol/OI says the session's trading was large against the morning's positions; it does not say positions were opened.
• A large multi-leg share means the contract mostly traded as a leg; read the structure, not the leg.
• The average fill price line is a price, not a direction.

Limits: Nothing on the card names a side, or whether a position was opened or closed. A session's change in open interest is known the next morning.

Related: The contract card, the full page · ORDERS: Contract boards · ORDERS: Card actions: alert line and its orders · ORDERS: The order ledger · REPLAY: The playback bar

Card actions: alert line and its orders#

Why: from reading a contract to watching it in one press. Where: the two buttons under the card's title. Plan: Alert line: LIVE. Show its orders: free on finished sessions, live with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press Alert line at <strike>: the button turns to Alert line set and the line appears on the chart with its bell.
2. Press Show its orders: the ledger gains a chip with the contract (for example 7680C Aug 21) and lists only the orders that touched it.
3. Press the chip's x to remove the filter.

Limits: On a replay only the orders up to the cursor show.

Related: LIVE: Alert lines · ORDERS: The contract card

Orders API and MCP#

Why: the same rows the panel draws, as data, with the fields the panel has to abbreviate. Where: keys under Account, Orders; the reference is at /docs/developers/orders. Plan: The Orders API or Team plan.

1. Take the API or Team plan on /pricing#orders.
2. Create a key under Account, Orders; it is shown once.
3. Follow the reference to ask for a dated session or the newest one, or point an assistant at the MCP server.

The rows carry every field the panel shows, plus per-leg detail. Half of them carry no side, and the reference says why. POSITIONS checks and entry logs are available the same way.

Developer reference: /docs/developers/orders

Related: ORDERS: The order ledger · ORDERS: CSV and IMG · ORDERS: Entry log · REPLAY: MCP server

POSITIONS panel and editor#

Why: your shorts read against the market minute, side by side, with the large orders at your strikes one panel away. Where: POSITIONS on the toolbar (ORDERS opens with it), then + or EDIT. Plan: Free signed in on finished sessions; the live day with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press POSITIONS on the toolbar, then + for a new position or EDIT for the one shown.
2. Pick a structure: IRON CONDOR, STRANGLE, PUT SPREAD or CALL SPREAD.
3. Set the strikes with 1 EM OUT, LAST USED or TYPE STRIKES (low to high); the line under them gives each short's distance from spot in expected moves.
4. Set ENTRY (between 09:30 and 16:00) and ALERT FROM, and where the alerts go.
5. Switch your conditions on or off with their thresholds, then SAVE POSITION.
6. Read each side's label and its reason; 15m, 30m and 60m set the window the orders near your shorts are counted in, 1x and 2x the panel's width.

What it measures: The check reads each side against the market minute, the same for every account: the short's distance in points and in expected moves left to the close, the large orders near it, the levels inside or outside it, the move toward it, and realised against implied volatility. A side's label counts the counted conditions that are on: TRADE below your CAUTION count, CAUTION from it, SKIP from your SKIP count (two and three by default).

How to read it:

• A label is a count of your own conditions, at the threshold you chose. It is not a forecast and not an instruction.
• The reason names the conditions that are on, and the one that is off but nearest its threshold.
• A condition whose input is not known at that minute reads not known yet and never counts.

Limits: SPX only, 0DTE structures: condor, strangle, put spread or call spread. Up to five positions an account. A position is a set of strikes you typed, not an account at a broker.

Developer reference: /docs/developers/orders/positions

Related: POSITIONS panel and editor, the full page · ORDERS: Conditions and the not counted list · ORDERS: Opening read and label changes · ORDERS: Entry log · ORDERS: The order ledger

Conditions and the not counted list#

Why: the label is yours: each test has the threshold you choose, and the ones you do not count stay visible. Where: POSITIONS, section 01 Your conditions and 03 Not counted; thresholds in the editor. Plan: Free signed in on finished sessions; the live day with the ORDERS plan.

1. Read each side's counted conditions with the value now and your threshold.
2. The tick on each bar is your threshold; a filled dot marks a condition that is on.
3. Under 03 Not counted, read the conditions shown but not counted, each with where it stands now.
4. Press COUNT beside one to add it to the label, or switch it in the editor.

How to read it:

• An uncounted condition is still read and shown in the reason's words; it never moves the label until you count it.
• A condition that cannot be measured at that minute reads not known yet and is never counted as on.

Limits: Needs above priced uses the same formulas as OPTIONS, at the ATM vol of the minute.

Related: ORDERS: POSITIONS panel and editor · LIVE: The expected move · LIVE: Against the book

Label track#

Why: whether a side's count has been steady or keeps changing. Where: POSITIONS, section 02 Label, last hour. Plan: Free signed in on finished sessions; the live day with the ORDERS plan.

1. Read the PUT and CALL rows: one cell per minute, coloured by the label.
2. Read the sentence under them: the minutes at each label and since when the current one holds.

How to read it:

• Colour is the label of your own count at that minute; it says nothing about the next minute.

Related: ORDERS: POSITIONS panel and editor

Opening read and label changes#

Why: the first read of the day at your time, then one message only when something changes. Where: POSITIONS editor, Entry & alert. Plan: The live day with the ORDERS plan.

1. Set ALERT FROM (ten minutes before the entry by default); the line under it says what will be sent.
2. Pick TELEGRAM, EMAIL or WEBHOOK (Telegram must be linked in the account), or OFF.
3. At that minute every side's label and reason arrive in one message, sent whether or not anything changed: the opening read.
4. After it, one message each time a side's label changes, to the close.

How to read it:

• A message reports your conditions' count and its reason; it is not an instruction.

Limits: Live sessions only, between 09:30 and 16:00 New York. A label that stays put sends nothing, and each label is sent once a day per side.

Related: ORDERS: The POSITIONS webhook · LIVE: Where alerts go · ORDERS: POSITIONS panel and editor

The POSITIONS webhook#

Why: the opening read and every label change as data your own code can act on. Where: POSITIONS editor, Entry & alert, WEBHOOK. Plan: The Orders API or Team plan.

1. Pick WEBHOOK and paste an https:// address.
2. Copy the signing secret shown under it and keep it on your server.
3. Press SEND TEST to post a test message to the address.

What it measures: The body is the same check the Orders API returns, so one parser serves both, signed as the level alerts' webhook is: HMAC-SHA256 over the timestamp header, a dot and the raw body.

Limits: Without the Orders API or Team plan the WEBHOOK channel is locked. The address must be public.

Developer reference: /docs/developers/orders/events

Related: ORDERS: Opening read and label changes · LIVE: Webhooks · ORDERS: Orders API and MCP

Entry log#

Why: how your conditions read at your entry minute day after day, recorded or replayed. Where: ENTRY LOG in POSITIONS, or LOG in the ORDERS filter row. Plan: Free signed in; the live day's record with the ORDERS plan.

1. Press ENTRY LOG (or LOG in ORDERS). With no saved position it says NO POSITION YET.
2. Read each day's entry record: the label of the put and call side at entry, the reason, how close price came to each short after entry and where it stood at the close.
3. Read the tallies of days by the label at entry, and how many kept both shorts outside at the close.
4. DOWNLOAD CSV or COPY AS JSON to keep the table.

What it measures: RECORDED rows are kept exactly as they were on live days; REPLAYED rows are worked out later from the archive, with every strike moved by how far the price at the entry minute stood from the newest session's, because a 0DTE strike is set from the day's price. Either way the check reads nothing after the entry minute; only a recorded row proves you saw it then. Points only.

How to read it:

• The tallies count your own conditions' labels at entry and what price did after; they are a record, not a forecast of the next session.

Limits: Recent sessions only.

Related: ORDERS: POSITIONS panel and editor · ORDERS: Orders API and MCP