# REPLAY guide

> Find any finished session, play it back minute by minute, share the moment that matters, and use every free tool around the archive.

Source: https://firmtape.com/docs/replay

Free, no account. Today's session as it trades is LIVE.

## Why it matters

A dealer level is only worth something if it was on the screen before price got there. A chart of yesterday cannot show that: it shows the close drawn backwards. REPLAY opens each finished session with the book as it stood at every minute.

It answers one question: **what did the dealer book look like at this minute, on this day?** The walls, the zero-gamma flip, the levels of interest, the strike ladder and every readout follow the cursor, so the screen at 10:15 shows what was knowable at 10:15.

The archive holds every trading day since April 2022 and grows by one each evening. It is free, needs no account, and uses the same terminal and controls as LIVE. The free tools around it read the same archive: the screener and event pages filter it, /now and the ES, NQ and RTY pages show today's levels late, the symbol pages cover 123 tickers, and the MCP server hands all of it to an AI assistant.

## Where to find it

Open firmtape.com: the terminal starts in REPLAY on the newest finished session. The date button on the playback bar opens any other day; the site's Sessions, Screener and Week pages link straight into a replay.

The free tools are pages of their own: [/now](https://firmtape.com/now), [/calendar](https://firmtape.com/calendar), [/gex](https://firmtape.com/gex), [/es](https://firmtape.com/es), [/spx/most-active-options](https://firmtape.com/spx/most-active-options), [/expiry](https://firmtape.com/expiry) and [MCP](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/mcp).

| You want | Go to |
| --- | --- |
| The newest finished session | firmtape.com, which opens on it |
| A specific date | The date button on the playback bar, or /session/<date> on the site |
| Days with a given event | /sessions and its event chips (FOMC, CPI, NFP, opex and more) |
| Days where the book did something | /screener and its question pages |
| A link to this exact minute | The share icon at the top right of the terminal |
| Today's levels without an account | /now, and /es, /nq, /rty for the futures |
| The most traded contracts of a day | /spx/most-active-options |
| The expiries ahead | /expiry |
| The archive in your AI assistant | The MCP server, connect steps on /docs/developers/mcp |

## Read it in 30 seconds

1. The wordmark under the logo says **replay**, and the date on the playback bar is the session on screen.
2. The clock at the right of the playback bar is the cursor's minute; every level and readout is as it stood then.
3. Ticks on the scrubber are the day's scheduled releases, the minutes that moved the tape, and your notes.
4. The status line under the chart says whether the day is complete and how often its price moves (1s or 5m).
5. A level drawn on the chart was on screen at that minute; one that has not appeared yet was not.

## How to use it

**Find a session**

### The terminal, free on every finished day

**Why:** the terminal itself is the free archive: the walls, the flip, the levels of interest and the ladder of the last finished day, with nothing to sign up for. **Where:** firmtape.com; the wordmark under the logo reads **replay**. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open firmtape.com: the chart opens on the newest finished session.
2. Scrub the playback bar to any minute; every level follows the cursor.
3. Press **LIVE** at the top left to switch to today's session (the LIVE plan).

![The FirmTape terminal in REPLAY on a finished SPX session: candles, the walls and levels of interest, two ladder columns and the playback bar](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/home.b94374e1.webp)

How to read it:

- Every line is named at its left end and plated on the price scale, so the chart reads without a legend.
- Green is a positive-gamma strike, red a negative one, amber the zero-gamma flip; none of them says direction.

**Limits:** SPX carries all three books on every session; tickers beyond SPX start in September 2026.

**Related:** [LIVE: The chart at a glance](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#chart) · [LIVE: LIVE and REPLAY](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#live-and-replay) · [REPLAY: The playback bar](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#playback)

### The session archive and session pages

**Why:** one line and one page per trading day, with the levels it closed at, ready to open in the replay. **Where:** firmtape.com/sessions; each day at /session/<date>. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/sessions](https://firmtape.com/sessions): every finished session, newest first.
2. Read the line under a day: where SPX closed against the zero-gamma flip and how often the flip was crossed.
3. Narrow the list with the event chips (FOMC, CPI, NFP, opex and more), or open the screener for what the book did.
4. Open a day's page for its numbers: open, close, range, VWAP, the flip, call resistance, put support, 0DTE ATM IV and the regime at the close.
5. Press the replay link on that page to open the session minute by minute in the terminal.

![The SPX session archive: event chips, a link to the screener, and the latest sessions each with its close against the zero-gamma flip](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/sessions.807c2bc1.webp)

> **What it measures:** A session page carries the volume book's day levels, read at 15:45 ET, how many times price crossed the flip, the tape's completeness, the day's scheduled events with what the book did after each, and the minutes that moved the tape.

How to read it:

- The flip and walls on a session page are the day levels, read at 15:45 ET; the replay shows them minute by minute.
- Closing above or below the flip is a fact about the close, not a forecast of the next session.

**Limits:** Only finished sessions are listed. Today's levels, fifteen minutes behind, are on [/now](https://firmtape.com/now).

**Developer reference:** [/docs/developers/replay](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/replay)

**Related:** [The session archive and session pages, the full page](https://firmtape.com/features/replay/session-archive) · [REPLAY: The session screener](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#screener) · [REPLAY: Sessions by event](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#event-pages) · [REPLAY: The week page](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#week) · [REPLAY: Now: today's levels, delayed](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#now-delayed)

### The session calendar

**Why:** a month grid of every session, with the scheduled events marked, one click from the chart. **Where:** the date button at the left of the playback bar. **Plan:** Free on every finished session.

1. Click the date on the playback bar.
2. Days with a session are in bold; a dot marks a scheduled event, amber for high impact.
3. Click a day to open it; the arrows page months and the date field takes a typed date.
4. **TODAY** returns to the newest session.

![The session calendar for October 2026 open over the chart, with event dots under the days and the history starting 2022-04-14](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/calendar.720a5c35.webp)

How to read it:

- A grey day had no session: a weekend, a holiday, or a day not finished yet.

**Limits:** The calendar opens SPX days; a ticker's history starts the day it was added.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The playback bar](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#playback) · [REPLAY: Market calendar and pulse](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#market-calendar)

### Sessions by event

**Why:** every FOMC, CPI, payrolls or opex day in one list, with the release's measured effect on the tape. **Where:** the event chips on /sessions, or /sessions/fomc, /sessions/cpi and the rest. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/sessions](https://firmtape.com/sessions) and pick an event chip, for example **FOMC**.
2. Read the header: the measured effect of the release on the window after it, against the tape's own volatility, and what the volume book did on those days.
3. Each row gives the session, the event time, the prints against the forecast and the move; the date opens the session page and its replay.

![The FOMC decision days page: the hour after 14:00 measured against the tape's own volatility, what the volume book did, and each FOMC session with its prints and the move](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/event.31400f06.webp)

> **What it measures:** The window after the release on event days against the same window on every other archived day, so the header says how much bigger the move ran, not which way.

How to read it:

- The move column is the signed change in index points after the release; it is a record, not a forecast.

**Limits:** Event kinds include FOMC, CPI, NFP, PCE, PPI, GDP, retail sales, JOLTS, ISM, claims, auctions, Fed speakers, opex, VIX settlement and more. A kind with few days says so in its count.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive) · [REPLAY: Market calendar and pulse](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#market-calendar) · [REPLAY: The session screener](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#screener)

### The week page

**Why:** five sessions side by side, with the flip at each close and what the week's events did. **Where:** firmtape.com/week for the last full week; earlier weeks are one link back. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/week](https://firmtape.com/week) for the last full week.
2. Read each day's open, close, change, range, close to close, the flip read at 15:45 ET with its crossings, and the gamma at the close.
3. Read the summary under it: points moved, total range, the flip's drift and the sessions that closed in positive gamma.
4. Use the link at the top for the previous week; every week has its own address.

How to read it:

- The flip's drift across the week is where the book's balance point moved, not where price will go.

**Limits:** Weeks are listed from April 2026.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive) · [REPLAY: Sessions by event](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#event-pages)

### The session screener

**Why:** test a hunch on the whole archive in seconds, before a backtest and before opening a single replay. **Where:** firmtape.com/screener and its question pages. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/screener](https://firmtape.com/screener) and set the filters: regime at the open and at the close, flip crossings, direction and size of the move, the net-gamma percentile at the close, 0DTE ATM IV at the open, the event and the weekday.
2. Press **Screen**. The count and the share closing above the flip are shown against the whole archive.
3. Read the table of matching sessions; each date opens its session page and replay.
4. Press **JSON** for the same result as data.
5. Or start from a question page, such as days that moved 1% or more, and adjust any filter from there.

![Screener results: each matching session with its close, move, flip, distance from the flip, gamma percentile, flip crossings and events](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/screener-results.5664b2d5.webp)

> **What it measures:** Every filter reads a closing measurement the session pages print. The shares are counts over the matched days next to the same counts over the whole archive.

How to read it:

- A share that matches the archive's own is a base rate, not a pattern.
- A count is a description of past sessions; it says nothing about the next one.

**Limits:** The screener filters SPX sessions. To test a rule with entries and exits, use LAB.

**Related:** [LAB: The LAB desk and the backtest](https://firmtape.com/docs/lab#backtester) · [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive) · [REPLAY: Sessions by event](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#event-pages)

### The tape's receipt

**Why:** each session's own record of how much of the tape arrived, so a replay is read with its completeness in view. **Where:** firmtape.com/status. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/status](https://firmtape.com/status).
2. The header says whether a session is running and how fresh the ticker books are.
3. Read the table: one row per session over the last sixty, with the share of the session the archive carries.

![The tape's receipt on /status: the newest finished session, then each session's share of the tape and the minute it was published](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/status.f651525d.webp)

How to read it:

- A full bar means the session's minutes are all in the archive.

**Limits:** The receipt covers the last sixty sessions.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive)

**Play it back**

### The playback bar

**Why:** the bar under the chart moves the minute on screen, and every level and readout follows it. **Where:** the bar under the chart; the keys below work anywhere on the terminal. **Plan:** Free on every finished session; the same bar works in LIVE.

1. Press play and pick a speed, from the session's own pace (1×) up to an hour a second.
2. Drag the scrubber to any minute; the clock on the right names it.
3. The inner arrows step one candle; the outer buttons jump to the open and the close.
4. Read the ticks on the scrubber: scheduled releases, the minutes that moved the tape, and your notes.
5. The fold button turns the bar into a chip on the status line.

![The playback bar: the date, the step and play buttons, the speed set to two minutes a second and the scrubber with event ticks](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/playback.c992feda.webp)

| Key | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| ← → | One minute |
| shift + ← → | Ten minutes |
| Home, End | The open, the close |
| space | Play, pause |
| Cmd K | Every command, day and ticker in one box; typing a ticker anywhere opens it too |
| Option 1 to Option 6 | Chart layouts: single, 2-up, 2-stack, 3-up, 3-stack, 4-up; each pane holds its own symbol and follows the page's day and minute |
| ? | Every key on one card |

Stepping by hand pauses playback: having picked a moment, you did not ask to be moved off it a tick later.

**Limits:** The scrubber is coarse for a specific minute; use the keys, or open a link with ?t=HH:MM.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The session calendar](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-calendar) · [REPLAY: Share a link to a view](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#share) · [LIVE: Would-be fires on a replay](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#would-be-fires)

**Keep and share**

### Share a link to a view

**Why:** a link that opens the same session, symbol, book, layers and minute, and leaves the other person's own toolbar alone. **Where:** the share icon at the top right of the terminal; the camera beside it saves an image. **Plan:** Free on every finished session; works in LIVE without the minute.

1. Press the share icon: a link to the session, the symbol, the book, the layers that are on and the cursor's minute is copied.
2. Paste it anywhere; whoever opens it lands on the same picture.
3. Press the camera icon to save the terminal as an image at twice the screen's pixels; shift-click saves the chart alone at three times.

![The share icon at the top right of the terminal with its tooltip: copy a link to this view, with the session, the book, the layers and the minute](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/share.df7eaac1.webp)

A session lives at `/replay/2026-08-28`, and the query string says how it should open. Nothing is remembered: a link shows someone else's chart and leaves your own toolbar as you left it. To compose one by hand:

| Parameter | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| ?book= | `volume`, `oi` or `measured`: the book the ladder and its levels are drawn from. A link names one book |
| ?levels= | The levels card as one list: `lad`, `lines`, `bands`, `trail`. Anything not named is switched off |
| ?lad= and the rest | One switch each: `?lines=off`, `?trail=dim`. LAD and TRAIL take `dim` for their middle state; read after `?levels`, so a list plus one override works |
| ?t= | The moment to open at: `?t=14:30`, seconds and colons optional (`1430`, `143000`) |

`/replay/2026-08-28?book=measured&levels=lad,lines&t=15:40` opens the measured book with the ladder and lines only, parked on the last twenty minutes.

**Limits:** A LIVE link carries no minute: the stream is wherever it has got to when the link is opened.

**Related:** [LIVE: Notes on a minute](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#notes) · [ORDERS: A link that opens ORDERS](https://firmtape.com/docs/orders#orders-link) · [LIVE: Chart layouts](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#layouts)

### Daily replay clips

**Why:** a short video of the day's replay with its levels, for when watching is quicker than scrubbing. **Where:** [youtube.com/@firmtape](https://www.youtube.com/@firmtape); the explainers are also embedded on the Learn pages. **Plan:** Free.

1. Open the channel for the daily clip of the last finished session.
2. Open the session in the terminal to stop at any minute the clip passes.

![A FirmTape video on the market calendar page: a poster from a real session, the play button and the link to the channel](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/clips.0d1dc228.webp)

**Limits:** A clip is a recording; the replay is where every level and readout can be read at any minute.

**Related:** [REPLAY: The terminal, free on every finished day](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#free-replay) · [REPLAY: Learn the terms](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#learn-the-terms)

**Free around the archive**

### Most active SPX options

**Why:** the day's most traded contracts as a page you can read, quote and link, without opening the terminal. **Where:** [/spx/most-active-options](https://firmtape.com/spx/most-active-options), one page per finished session. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/spx/most-active-options](https://firmtape.com/spx/most-active-options) for the newest finished session and the list of every day with a page.
2. Read the sentence at the top: the day's most traded SPX option, written to be quoted.
3. Read the four tables of ten contracts each: by volume, by premium, by open interest and by volume over open interest, with the expiry, the days to expiry and the share of volume inside multi-leg orders.
4. Read the structure mix of the most traded contract: how much of it traded alone and how much inside verticals, condors and the other shapes.
5. Step to the session before or after, or open the day in the terminal for the full contract boards and a card per contract.

![The most active SPX options of August 21, 2026: the ten contracts with the most volume, with open interest, volume over open interest, premium and the multi-leg share](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/most-active.bd41828d.webp)

> **What it measures:** The 1D contract boards of the session cut to ten rows, counted from the options tape after the close. Volume over open interest is the day's volume over the morning's open interest.

How to read it:

- A high Vol/OI says the day's trading was large against the positions that existed; it does not say whether they were opened or closed.
- Counts only: no price target, and no side of any print is read.

**Limits:** Finished sessions only; today never has a page, whatever the clock says. A day without the evening's contract file has no page.

**Related:** [ORDERS: Contract boards](https://firmtape.com/docs/orders#contract-boards) · [ORDERS: The contract card](https://firmtape.com/docs/orders#contract-card) · [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive)

### Expiration calendar

**Why:** every expiry-class date ahead, by rule, and the measured share of dealer gamma that left the book on the last session. **Where:** [/expiry](https://firmtape.com/expiry), also linked from the market calendar. **Plan:** Free, no account.

1. Open [/expiry](https://firmtape.com/expiry) and read **The dates ahead**: monthly and quarterly options, the ES and NQ futures expiry and roll, month-end and quarter-end SPX, the January LEAPS cycle, and the days on which they coincide.
2. Read **How much gamma expired, by symbol**: each symbol's share of its book that expired on its last session, with a mark at what is usual for that weekday.
3. Read the SPX strip of recent sessions; a bar opens that session in the terminal.

![How much gamma expired by symbol on the last session, each bar against what is usual for that weekday](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/expiry.1fc5df49.webp)

> **What it measures:** The share is the unsigned dealer gamma of the contracts that expire on the day over the unsigned gamma of every expiry inside the book's reach (120 days since 2026-09-26, 45 before), near the money, read at 10:00 ET. The usual mark is the median of the symbol's earlier sessions on the same weekday.

How to read it:

- Amber marks a day at least half again above the symbol's usual share.
- The share says how much of the book is about to disappear, not what price does afterwards; each symbol is compared with its own history only.

**Limits:** Dates are rules, so they are known years ahead; a third Friday that is a market holiday moves to the Thursday. The by-symbol history starts in September 2026.

**Related:** [REPLAY: Market calendar and pulse](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#market-calendar) · [REPLAY: Gamma by symbol](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#symbols-on-the-site) · [REPLAY: Sessions by event](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#event-pages)

### Now: today's levels, delayed

**Why:** the current reading, free, for anyone without the live stream. **Where:** [firmtape.com/now](https://firmtape.com/now). **Plan:** Free; the undelayed stream is LIVE.

1. Open [/now](https://firmtape.com/now) during the session for the reading at least fifteen minutes behind, stamped with its own time; when the market is shut it shows the last session's levels, read at 15:45 ET.
2. Read the title line for the flip and both walls, then the distance from the flip, the regime and the gamma percentile for the minute.
3. Read the next calendar event with what usually followed, and the ES, NQ and RTY levels.

![The /now page: the last session's SPX zero-gamma flip, call resistance and put support, read at 15:45 ET, with the regime and the net-gamma percentile](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/now.284114fb.webp)

How to read it:

- The gamma percentile ranks net gamma against the same minute of the prior 20 sessions.
- Positive gamma on the volume book is a position, not a forecast.

**Related:** [REPLAY: ES, NQ and RTY levels](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#futures-levels) · [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive)

### Market calendar and pulse

**Why:** what is scheduled, what usually followed it, and which minutes moved the tape today. **Where:** the calendar and pulse icons in the top bar; the public calendar at [/calendar](https://firmtape.com/calendar). **Plan:** Free.

1. Click the calendar icon for the week: FOMC, CPI, NFP, PCE, ISM, opex and the rest, with actual, forecast and prior.
2. Click the pulse icon for the session's tape-confirmed minutes with their tag and the move 5 and 15 minutes after each; a click seeks the scrubber five minutes before the minute.
3. On [/calendar](https://firmtape.com/calendar), read this week and next with what usually followed each kind of release across the archive; subscribe by webcal or read it as JSON.

![The calendar window for the week of October 5, 2026 with the day's releases and the high-impact legend](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/live/calendar.9f08556e.webp)

How to read it:

- "What usually followed" is a measurement over the archive, not a forecast for this release.

**Related:** [LIVE: ±σ band and event marks](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#sigma-band) · [REPLAY: Sessions by event](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#event-pages)

### Learn the terms

**Why:** the concepts behind the terminal, in plain language, with what they do not mean. **Where:** [/learn](https://firmtape.com/learn), and this guide's glossary; every guide on one page at [/guide](https://firmtape.com/guide). **Plan:** Free.

1. Open [/learn](https://firmtape.com/learn) for gamma exposure, the zero-gamma flip, call and put walls, vanna and charm, reading a gamma chart, 0DTE, open interest against volume, skew, and ES and NQ levels.
2. Read an article: a boxed definition, a short video on a real session, then how to read it on the chart.
3. Open [/guide](https://firmtape.com/guide) to read every product guide on one page.

**Related:** [LIVE: The three books](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#the-book) · [Zero-gamma flip](https://firmtape.com/learn/zero-gamma-flip)

### MCP server

**Why:** ask your assistant about dealer positioning and get answers built on measurements, not on what it remembers. **Where:** the address and the connect steps are on [MCP](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/mcp). **Plan:** Free tools need no account and no key; LAB tools need a sign-in or a Lab token and spend LAB credits.

1. Add the server's address from [MCP](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/mcp) to your assistant as a remote MCP server.
2. Ask about a session, a level or a week: the assistant calls the free tools.
3. To backtest from the assistant, sign in when it asks, or give it a Lab token.

![The MCP server's free tools: list_sessions, get_session, get_levels and get_level_history with what each returns](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/mcp-tools.1c08c461.webp)

> **What it measures:** Only derived per-session measurements cross the interface, one session per call: the levels, the regime, the percentiles and the events. Nothing on it is a trade call.

| Tool | What it answers |
| --- | --- |
| list_sessions | The finished trading days in the archive, newest first |
| get_session | One session: open, high, low, close, the flip and its crossings, the walls, the gamma percentile, ATM IV |
| get_levels | The level set of a day and where the session closed against it |
| get_level_history | How the flip and the walls moved over up to 40 sessions |
| get_symbol_gamma | The latest book of a ticker other than SPX, or of ES and NQ |
| get_events | The market calendar for a window, with what usually followed each kind of event |
| get_gex_profile | Gamma by strike of a session |
| screen_sessions | Filters and counts sessions across the archive |

How to read it:

- A ticker's book comes from five-minute chain snapshots with a trust grade; it is not a tape-signed book.

**Limits:** One session per call. LAB tools spend the same credits as the terminal. The tool list and the connect steps for each assistant are on [MCP](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/mcp).

**Developer reference:** [/docs/developers/mcp](https://firmtape.com/docs/developers/mcp)

**Related:** [MCP server, the full page](https://firmtape.com/features/replay/mcp-server) · [REPLAY: Pages for AI assistants](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#for-ai-agents) · [LAB: The LAB desk and the backtest](https://firmtape.com/docs/lab#backtester) · [REPLAY: The session archive and session pages](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#session-archive)

### Pages for AI assistants

**Why:** an assistant that cites the right page and the right number instead of guessing. **Where:** [For AI agents](https://firmtape.com/for-ai-agents), [llms.txt](https://firmtape.com/llms.txt) and the Markdown copy of every features and docs page. **Plan:** Free.

1. Give an assistant [/for-ai-agents](https://firmtape.com/for-ai-agents): what FirmTape provides, how to reach it, and what to say about it.
2. For a crawler, [/llms.txt](https://firmtape.com/llms.txt) summarises the site and [/llms-full.txt](https://firmtape.com/llms-full.txt) carries more.
3. Add `.md` to any features or docs address for its Markdown copy; [/docs/llms.txt](https://firmtape.com/docs/llms.txt) lists them all.

How to read it:

- The pages state the date their facts were checked.

**Limits:** They describe the product; the numbers themselves come from the MCP server and the pages it links.

**Related:** [REPLAY: MCP server](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#mcp-server)

### Gamma by symbol

**Why:** the flip, the walls and net gamma for QQQ, SPY, sector ETFs and the most traded stocks, free. **Where:** [Symbols](https://firmtape.com/gex), and one page per ticker at /gex/<symbol>. **Plan:** Free on the site; on the LIVE chart every five minutes through the session.

1. Open [Symbols](https://firmtape.com/gex). The top box gives the ES, NQ and RTY levels.
2. Sort by size against the symbol's own turnover, net gamma in dollars, distance to the flip or prints a second; filter to index, ETF or stock.
3. Open a row for its symbol page.
4. On the page, read the tiles, the session chart, gamma by strike in both books and the per-expiry table out to 120 days; a link replays the symbol in the terminal.

![The symbols scanner: tickers ranked by net gamma against their own option turnover, with price, flip side, walls and a trust grade](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/data/scanner.d9c1d627.webp)

> **What it measures:** Each ticker's book is built from a snapshot of its whole option chain every five minutes: spot from put-call parity, the volume and open-interest books, the flip and the walls. Net gamma is scaled by the symbol's own option turnover so a stock and an index can share one scale.

How to read it:

- The trust grade says how much of the book the chain supports.
- "Above the flip" is a position against the level, not a forecast.
- The data-as-of stamp says how old the reading is.

**Limits:** No measured book for tickers (it needs the signed tape), no hold band. A ticker's history starts the day it was added, in September 2026.

**Related:** [LIVE: Symbol picker](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#symbols) · [REPLAY: ES, NQ and RTY levels](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#futures-levels) · [LIVE: Levels API](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#levels-api)

### ES, NQ and RTY levels

**Why:** the dealer levels in the points you chart, if you trade the E-mini rather than the index. **Where:** [ES](https://firmtape.com/es), [NQ](https://firmtape.com/nq) and [RTY](https://firmtape.com/rty); the micros trade the same prices. **Plan:** Free at least fifteen minutes late, or the last close; every second on the LIVE chart.

1. Open [ES](https://firmtape.com/es), [NQ](https://firmtape.com/nq) or [RTY](https://firmtape.com/rty).
2. Read the price, the flip, call resistance and put support in the future's points beside the index's.
3. Read the basis line: the contract, the basis and the time it was read.
4. Press the button to open the same view in the live terminal.

![The NQ page: the NDX volume book's flip, call resistance and put support at the NQ price, beside the index values](https://archive.firmtape.com/press/features/replay/futures.b0d7e9c5.webp)

> **What it measures:** The index's volume book moved by the day's basis: the future minus the index, measured from put-call parity on the index's own quarterly options, so no futures exchange data is used. Only prices move; the regime and every size are the index book's own.

How to read it:

- MES and MNQ trade at the same prices as ES and NQ.
- When no basis was measured for the day, the page says so and shows the index levels in index points.

**Limits:** Regular session only. YM is not offered: its basis cannot be measured cleanly.

**Related:** [LIVE: Futures views: ES, NQ, RTY, GC, SI, ZB, CL](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#futures-views) · [REPLAY: Gamma by symbol](https://firmtape.com/docs/replay#symbols-on-the-site) · [ES and NQ levels](https://firmtape.com/learn/es-nq-gamma-levels)

## Use it with other tools

| Tool | How it pairs |
| --- | --- |
| [LIVE](https://firmtape.com/docs/live) | The same chart and controls; learn them on a finished day, use them live. |
| [LAB: The LAB desk and the backtest](https://firmtape.com/docs/lab#backtester) | Test on the whole archive what you saw on a few replays. |
| [ORDERS: The order ledger](https://firmtape.com/docs/orders#order-ledger) | The day's order ledger stops at the replay cursor. |
| [LIVE: Would-be fires on a replay](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#would-be-fires) | Your alert lines mark where they would have fired on the day on screen. |
| [LIVE: The ASK drawer](https://firmtape.com/docs/live#ask-drawer) | Ask about the minute on screen; answers link back to replay times. |

## Ask about it

Open ASK beside the chart and try:

| You want | Ask |
| --- | --- |
| What were the levels at this minute? | /levels |
| Which orders printed today? | /orders |
| Was this level tested this week? | /history 7800 |
| What was on the calendar this day? | /calendar |

## Good to know

- Stepping by hand pauses playback, so a minute you picked stays on screen.
- A replay draws session levels (prior day, opening range, week, month) as they stood at the cursor.
- A shared link carries the view, never your own settings: the person who opens it keeps their toolbar.
- The premarket is not shown in a replay; it is a LIVE-only drawer.
- /now and the ES, NQ and RTY pages are at least fifteen minutes behind the tape and stamp the time their reading belongs to.
- The most active options pages cover finished sessions only; today's never has a page.

### If something looks wrong

| You see | Do this |
| --- | --- |
| The chart is empty for a date | The market was closed that day, or the session is not finished yet: the calendar shows sessions in bold. |
| A level appears partway through the day | That is when it came in: levels of interest stay once their strike has held up, and a replay shows that moment. |
| The minute I shared opens somewhere else | A LIVE link carries no minute; share from REPLAY, or add ?t=HH:MM by hand. |
| A ticker's history starts in September 2026 | Tickers beyond SPX were added then; SPX goes back to April 2022. |
| The RTY page shows index points | No basis was measured that day, so the page shows the RUT levels in index points instead of inventing RTY prices. |

## Glossary

| Term | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| session | One trading day, 09:30 to 16:00 ET, kept in the archive once it has finished. |
| replay | The terminal reading a finished session, minute by minute, at the cursor. |
| cursor | The minute on screen; every level and readout is as it stood at that minute. |
| [zero-gamma flip](https://firmtape.com/learn/zero-gamma-flip) | The price where the book's net dealer gamma changes sign. |
| [volume book](https://firmtape.com/learn/open-interest-vs-volume) | The book built from the day's traded volume, signed by the call or put side; the one the chart draws by default. |
| MCP | The Model Context Protocol: how an AI assistant calls a server's tools. FirmTape's server reads the archive. |
| [Vol/OI](https://firmtape.com/learn/open-interest-vs-volume) | A contract's volume over its open interest at the start of the window. |