FirmTape levels in Sierra Chart

Beta · version 0.1.1 · Study (C++ source, built in Sierra) · Live, every 5 s · part of the LIVE plan

An ACSIL study, shipped as source and built by Sierra Chart itself, that draws the flip, the walls and gamma by strike, live. These are measurements of dealer positioning, not trade signals: the plugin places no orders and raises no alerts.

FirmTape Levels for Sierra ChartBeta

Download 0.1.1FirmTapeLevels-0.1.1.cpp · 47.6 KB

SHA-256 e05bcbcc4110be9fade133f612ab0e59bee4fd2f50205bcb726b76a9d76ed3a1

What you need

Sierra Chart on Windows, with a package that allows custom studies (ACSIL).
A FirmTape account on the LIVE plan, and an integration token.

Get a token

Hold the LIVE plan. The levels API and every integration are part of it.
Open /account#integrations, section Integrations, and press Create integration token. Give it a name (for example the platform and the machine).
Copy the token when it is shown: it starts ftpl_ and is shown once. It reads levels only; it cannot run LAB or spend credits.

Install

Download FirmTapeLevels.cpp below and copy it into Sierra Chart's ACS_Source folder (usually C:\SierraChart\ACS_Source).
In Sierra Chart: Analysis > Build Custom Studies DLL. Select the file, press Build > Remote Build (or Build with Visual C++ if you have it). Wait for "Build succeeded"; it writes FirmTapeLevels_64.dll into the Data folder.
Open a chart (ES, MES, NQ, MNQ, SPX or a covered stock or ETF), then Analysis > Studies > Add Custom Study, find FirmTape Levels and add it.
In the study's Settings, paste your token into API key and press OK. The lines, the profile and the status line appear within a few seconds.

Updating: copy the new file over the old one and build again. Sierra Chart unloads the old DLL for the build; the study keeps its settings.

Why the build step: the study ships as source code, and Sierra Chart's own build service compiles it for your installation, so nothing precompiled needs to be trusted.

Settings

Setting	Default	What it does
API key	blank	Your `ftpl_` token.
Symbol	blank	Blank reads the chart: ES and MES ask for ES, NQ and MNQ for NQ, anything else is the chart symbol without its exchange suffix and contract month (`AAPL-NQTV` becomes AAPL). Type one to override, for example SPX on an SPX options chart.
Poll every (seconds)	5	How often the levels are fetched. Minimum 3.
Show open-interest levels	No	Adds the open-interest book's flip and walls as dashed lines.
Show gamma profile	Yes	The gamma-by-strike bars at the right edge.
Gamma profile book	Volume	Volume or Open interest.
Gamma profile width	15	Longest bar as a percent of the chart width.
Flip / Call / Put colour	amber / green / red	Line colours; the call and put colours also paint positive and negative gamma bars.
Status text colour	grey	The status line when all is well. Errors and STALE show in the put colour.
Line width	2	Volume-book lines; open-interest lines are one pixel thinner.
Label font size	0	0 keeps the chart's font size.

What is drawn

The volume book's zero-gamma flip (amber), call resistance (green) and put support (red) as full-width lines with a label at the right edge.
Optionally the same three levels of the open-interest book, dashed.
A gamma-by-strike profile at the right edge of the price region: bars grow left, green for positive dealer gamma, red for negative.
A status line top left, for example FirmTape ES (ESZ26) volume book, basis +58.75, 12 s old, or the problem when there is one.

Every level is FirmTape's volume book, the one the terminal draws; the open-interest book is the optional set.
ES and NQ are the SPX and NDX books moved by the day's basis (the running median of the day's basis measurements from put-call parity, rounded to 0.25), exactly as the terminal draws them. MES and MNQ read the same levels as ES and NQ.
Cadence: SPX and ES are rebuilt every second; NQ and the tickers carry a book rebuilt every five minutes and a price of the second.
Gamma units are named by the API: millions of USD per index point for SPX and ES, USD per 1% move for NQ and the tickers. Compare bar lengths within one chart, not across charts.

Requests and limits

The levels API allows 120 requests a minute per token, counted across everything that uses it; an unchanged reading answers 304 with no body and does not count. Each chart with the study makes about 16 requests a minute at a 5 s poll. The profile is fetched less often than the levels: every 15 s for SPX and ES, once a minute for NQ and tickers.

Notes

One FirmTape study per chart. Sierra Chart lets a chart have one web request in flight at a time, shared by every study on it, so two such studies on one chart take turns and each updates more slowly.
The token is stored in the chartbook (.Cht) in plain text, as every study setting is. Clear it before sharing a chartbook.
The token travels in the URL (?key=), because Sierra Chart's web request cannot set headers. The connection is HTTPS, so it is encrypted on the wire. Use a token made for Sierra Chart alone, and revoke it if a URL was ever shared.

Troubleshooting

Status says	Meaning and fix
`key missing`	No token in the settings. Paste it.
`key rejected`	The token is mistyped, revoked or unknown. Create a new one on /account#integrations. A revoked token stops working within a minute.
`LIVE plan required`	The account behind the token holds no active LIVE plan. The plugin keeps retrying and picks the plan up by itself.
`rate limited`	More than 120 requests a minute on this token, counted across every chart, machine and script that uses it. Poll less often, draw fewer symbols, or give each tool its own token. The plugin waits as long as the server asks.
`symbol not covered`	The chart's symbol is not one FirmTape covers, or it did not map. Type the symbol in the plugin's symbol setting; the list is /api/v1/symbols.
`no basis yet`	ES or NQ early in the session, before the day's first basis measurement. It clears by itself.
`network error, retrying`	No answer: offline, DNS, a proxy or a firewall. Allow `https://firmtape.com` on port 443. The plugin backs off up to two minutes and retries.
`closed, last session`	Outside market hours. The lines are the last session's close. Nothing to do.
`STALE`	Market hours, but the book has not moved for longer than it should. The lines are the last good reading and clear up when the book moves again.
`request failed, retrying`	Sierra Chart could not complete the request: no network, a firewall, or a key or plan error that Sierra reports only as a failure. If it persists on a working network, check the token and plan on /account#integrations.
`no answer, retrying`	A request got no answer in 30 s.
`Nothing at all`	Check Window > Message Log for `FirmTape Levels` lines, and that the build succeeded.

Tokens and the TradingView and thinkorswim levels string: /account#integrations.
The levels API reference: /api/v1 (OpenAPI).
Every platform: /integrations.

Beta software, provided as is, not yet verified inside every version of Sierra Chart. Sierra Chart is a trademark of its owner; no affiliation with, or endorsement by, it is implied. Not investment advice.