Learn · Confluence Tape · #tape

How to read Confluence Tape

Confluence Tape is live, classified SPY 0DTE options flow — posted to Discord #tape and available via API. It answers “is the tape agreeing?” when price is already at a rail. It is context only, never a standalone buy/sell signal.

Derived options-flow analytics generated from underlying market data; not a raw options quote or trade feed.

One-sentence rule

Use Tape to confirm or contradict a setup you already see on structure (level + candle). If there is no rail and no confirmed candle, ignore the tape — even if it looks loud.

Graded alerts live in #alerts-a / #alerts-b. See how graded alerts work.

What a #tape card looks like

Each post is a Discord embed. Title color is a quick bias read:

Field-by-field

5-min slope

The acute read — net signed hedging premium over roughly the last five minutes. Positive = dealers/customers leaning buy-side hedges lately; negative = sell-side. This is the timing dial: rising into a put-wall reclaim strengthens a call idea; falling into a call-wall rejection strengthens a put idea.

Very near the open the 5-min window can whip around zero. Demand cleaner structure early (same reason graded alerts start hard at 9:45).

Session

The cumulative line since the collector started for the day — buy-side, sell-side, or balanced. Use it for the day’s bias, not the exact entry second. Session vs 5-min disagreement is useful: e.g. session still sell-side but 5-min turning up at a low = flow may be flipping.

Order Flow Imbalance (OFI)

Normalized bullish versus bearish classified options premium over a rolling five-minute window, from −1 to +1. Near 0 = balanced / two-sided. Magnitudes around ±0.30+ describe one-sided aggression: positive is bullish context, negative bearish. 0.30 is interpretive guidance, not a mandatory scanner entry cutoff. OFI and the five-minute dollar slope summarize the same classified flow; they are not independent signals.

MCP get_tape() exposes ofi_5m in the latest published snapshot. It does not reset or freeze at a one-minute candle close. After the confirming candle closes, check the latest fresh OFI, Tape slope, and premium tone together; do not treat a prior spike as permanent confirmation. No rule requires OFI to hold 0.30 for five minutes, and crossing back below that magnitude is not itself a structural stop or re-entry signal.

Check the snapshot's ts / updated_at, age_sec, and stale. Retain the timestamp when logging a decision; stale or offline flow is unavailable confirmation, not a neutral reading. Continued monitoring never overrides the card's structural invalidation.

Premium tone (quadrant)

Call premium and put premium are tracked separately so “net” doesn’t hide both-sided days:

Hot strikes

Where the money is clustering — usually a short list of strikes with the largest net premium, often split into session leaders and last ~5 minutes. Tags like buy-side / sell-side lean and “above / below / near spot” help you see if flow is defending a wall or pressing through it. Still confirmation only.

How to use it with graded alerts

  1. Wait for a structure alert (or your own level + closed candle).
  2. Check the latest fresh snapshot after that close: do OFI direction, 5-min slope, and premium tone support the idea?
  3. If Tape is flat, both-sold, or clearly against — stand down or size smaller.
  4. If the feed shows offline / stale — ignore Tape until it recovers; trade only off structure or wait.

What Tape is not

Where to get it

Tape & developer plans Graded alerts guide

Educational product documentation only. Not investment advice. Options involve substantial risk of loss.

0DTE Confluence — Data, levels, confluence, edge.