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

Desk Bundle or Pro Graded alerts guide

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

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