§22 OPTIONS_FLOW¶
OVERVIEW¶
Options Flow surfaces unusual activity in the US options market — contracts where today's volume runs more than 2.5× the open interest, indicating fresh positioning, not roll-over. Calls, puts, or both. Sorted by an internal unusual-score, raw volume, or recency. The first place to look when a ticker prints a clean breakout out of nowhere.
WHAT IT IS¶
A scanner over the listed options chain. The detector runs continuously through the session and flags any contract whose intraday volume divided by yesterday's open interest crosses 2.5. Rows include the contract symbol, strike, expiration, last price, volume, OI, V/OI ratio, and time since detection. Detection events stick on the table for 24 hours, then drop off.
WHEN TO USE IT¶
When a ticker moves and you want to see whether positioning is leaning long, when a sector rotates and the call side fills before the headline hits, when IV expands and you want to see who's paying premium. Options flow is forward-leaning; the prints precede the move more often than they follow it.
OPEN IT¶
Path: /options-flow
Shortcut: none
Tier-gate: Pro and above — Free shows the upgrade gate
HOW TO USE IT¶
- Open
/options-flow. The page loads with ALL types, sorted by Top score, limit 200. - Filter by CALL, PUT, or ALL from the toolbar tabs.
- Change the sort:
- Top score ranks by the unusual-activity composite;
- Top volume sorts raw contract volume;
- Most recent sorts by detection time.
- Filter to a specific ticker with the Filter symbol… input. Substring match — typing
NVDmatchesNVDAand any contracts on that root. - Click a row to drill into the contract —
/research/<TICKER>for the underlying, or jump to the chart with the timeframe of your choice. - Hit the refresh button (top right) to force a re-pull; the page auto-refreshes when filter or sort changes.
FIELDS¶
| Column | What it is |
|---|---|
| SYMBOL | Underlying ticker |
| TYPE | CALL or PUT |
| STRIKE | Contract strike price |
| EXP | Expiration date |
| LAST | Last traded premium |
| VOL | Today's volume on this contract |
| OI | Open interest as of prior close |
| V/OI | Volume divided by open interest — the unusual ratio |
| AGO | Time since detection (seconds, minutes, hours, days) |
LIMITS¶
- Detection threshold: V/OI > 2.5× — contracts below that don't appear
- Rolling window: 24 hours from detection; events drop off after
- Source: US-listed options only (OPRA feed); foreign exchanges not covered
- Refresh cadence: manual — hit refresh, or change the type/sort filter to trigger a re-pull. The server-side detector reruns every 15 minutes during market hours, so the freshest data is at most one cycle behind regardless of when you refresh
- The composite score weights V/OI, premium size, and time-to-expiration; the exact formula is internal
- Sweeps vs. blocks are not currently distinguished — the detector flags by V/OI ratio only and does not expose a sweep/block tag on the row
- Pre-market and after-hours options volume is sparse; most detections fire after the 9:30 ET open
TROUBLESHOOTING¶
Table is empty mid-session. Either no contract has crossed 2.5× V/OI in the last 24h (rare during regular hours) or the symbol filter is too narrow — clear the filter and check ALL.
A ticker I know had a huge call sweep isn't showing. Three possibilities: the volume was on a contract with high OI (so V/OI stayed under 2.5×); the detection event aged out of the 24h window; the print was on the bid (sell-to-open by retail), which the detector still flags but you should read the context, not just the row.
Score column ranks don't match what I'd expect from raw V/OI. The score is a composite — premium size and DTE matter too. A $5 weekly with V/OI = 3.0 outranks a $0.05 LEAP with V/OI = 8.0 because the dollar premium is what positions get measured in.
"Loading…" never resolves.
Hard-refresh the page. If it persists, check the network panel — a 429 means the API rate limit hit; a 403 means your subscription dropped to Free.
RELATED¶
- Gamma Exposure
- Scanner
- Research
- Charts