# DATASET: The whole SPX dealer-gamma archive, as files on your own machine. > Every finished session minute by minute and strike by strike, in the volume, measured and open-interest books, as the same files the terminal reads. A new session lands the evening it closes. Every field is defined in the data dictionary, with its book, unit and the day it starts. Source: https://firmtape.com/features/dataset The DATASET licence, monthly or yearly. Reading single sessions on the site stays free. Guide: [DATASET guide](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset) ## The problem **The free archive is built for reading one session at a time.** - Research over a thousand sessions means a thousand page loads, and the site limits how many distinct days one visitor fetches. - Three books sit side by side in every session, and a number from one is meaningless next to a number from another unless you know which is which. - A backtest is only as good as the day it was last refreshed. ## With DATASET **The archive as files, with a dictionary that names every field's book.** The DATASET licence delivers every finished SPX session as one file a day, the same file the terminal reads, with the per-visitor limit on distinct days removed for your account. Each field's book is in its name and in the data dictionary, so the volume, measured and open-interest books are never mixed, and a session is added the evening it closes. ## Step by step 1. **Start with the dictionary**: Every field of the files and every LAB column, grouped by the book it reads. Read it before you license: it is public. ![Start with the dictionary](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/dictionary.eb9d819f.webp) 2. **Pick a book**: VOLUME, MEASURED, OPEN INTEREST or NO BOOK: each tab lists the fields of one book, and the volume book is the default the chart draws. ![Pick a book](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/dictionary.eb9d819f.webp) 3. **Read a field**: Each row gives the field, what it means, its unit and since when it exists. Its suffix names its book. ![Read a field](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/dictionary.eb9d819f.webp) 4. **Download every evening**: With the licence active, fetch each day's file with your account's token; a new session lands the evening it closes. ![Download every evening](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/dictionary.eb9d819f.webp) ## What you can do with DATASET - **Every session as a file**: One file a day, the same one the terminal reads, minute by minute and strike by strike. - **Three books, never mixed**: Volume, measured and open interest, each field named for its book. - **A new session every evening**: The archive grows by one session each evening, so a study rerun tomorrow includes today. ## Everything in DATASET 6 features in 2 groups. ### The files - [The day files and the dictionary](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#archive-files): Compute on every finished session by fetching one file a day, each field defined in the data dictionary. - [Three books in every file](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#three-books): Keep the volume, measured and open-interest books apart by reading the book each field names. - [A new session every evening](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#evening-delivery): Keep a study current by fetching the session that lands each evening after the close. - [Older days in the levels API](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#deep-history): Ask the levels API for days older than its usual window by holding the licence on the same account. ### The licence - [Dataset licence](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#dataset-licence): Run your own research on every finished session by licensing the archive as files. - [Licensing for your product](https://firmtape.com/docs/dataset#licensing): Show FirmTape's levels or stream to your own users by taking a printed redistribution licence. ## What it gives you - **Your own compute**: No credits, no browser and no rate limit on distinct days: the files run in your own notebook or pipeline. - **Three books, never mixed**: Every field names its book by suffix and in the dictionary, with its unit and the date it starts. - **Current every evening**: The session lands the evening it closes, so a study rerun tomorrow includes today. ## Add to DATASET - [Redistribution licences](https://firmtape.com/licensing): Show FirmTape's levels or its stream to other people in your app, site, bot or channel, on printed terms ## Works with - [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/features/replay/session-archive): Read any session on the site for free before you license the files. - [LAB: The LAB vocabulary](https://firmtape.com/docs/lab#vocabulary): LAB's columns are built from the same fields, so a rule tested in LAB can be rebuilt from the files. - [LIVE: Levels API](https://firmtape.com/features/live/levels-api): The levels API answers recent history for charts; older days come with the licence. ## Questions about DATASET **What is in the files?** Every finished SPX session minute by minute with per-strike detail in the volume, measured and open-interest books, plus the market calendar file. **How do I download?** One file a day at the same address the terminal reads, with your account's token as a bearer header; the day list tells you which days exist. **How fresh is it?** A session lands the evening it closes; delivery starts the evening the licence starts. **Can I show the data to my own users?** Not under this licence, which is for your own research. Showing the numbers to other people is a redistribution licence, priced on /licensing. **Does it include the raw options tape?** No. Only FirmTape's derived measurements; licensed raw data never leaves FirmTape. **Does it carry today's session as it trades?** No. The files are finished sessions; today's session as it trades is LIVE. ### What it does not do - It does not include the raw options prints or quotes. - It does not cover today's session while it trades. - It does not allow redistribution or a competing service; that needs a separate licence. - It does not forecast anything: every field is a measurement of a finished session.