Unusual Options Activity
Returns option contracts flagged as unusual — the API equivalent of the live options flow “unusual” view.
This is the Hottest Chains screener with the unusual preset applied by default: the contract-expressible subset of the live-options-flow criteria — volume > OI, out-of-the-money, DTE ≤ 60, ask-side ≥ 50%, premium ≥ $10k, issue types ADR/Common Stock/ETF.
Every Hottest Chains filter is accepted here and overrides the preset (e.g. ?min_premium=25000&max_dte=30); pass unusual=false to return the full screen. For the complete list of filters and the response shape see the Hottest Chains endpoint.
For real time streaming of the same data, subscribe to the contract_screener websocket channel, see https://api.unusualwhales.com/docs/websocket/contract-screener.
NOTE: Contracts with a volume of less than 200 are not being returned
Authorizations
Bearer authentication header of the form Bearer <token>, where <token> is your auth token.
Query Parameters
A comma separated list of tickers. To exclude certain tickers prefix the first ticker with a -.
"AAPL,INTC"
An array of 1 or more sectors.
A singular sector.
Basic Materials, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Defensive, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, Real Estate, Technology, Utilities Whether to apply the unusual preset (volume>OI, OTM, DTE≤60, ask-side≥50%, premium≥$10k). Defaults to true for this endpoint; pass false to return the full screen.
The minimum total premium on the contract.
The maximum days to expiry.
An array of 1 or more issue types.
A singular issue type.
Common Stock, ETF, Index, ADR The field to order the results by.
Whether to sort ascending or descending. Defaults to descending.
How many items to return. Defaults to 100. Max 200.
A trading date in the format of YYYY-MM-DD. This is optional and by default the last trading date.
"2024-01-18T00:00:00.000Z"
Response
The amount of volume that happened on the ask side.
Ask side is defined as (ask + bid) / 2 < fill price.
119403
The volume weighted average fill price of the contract.
"1.0465802437910297887119234370"
The amount of volume that happened on the bid side.
Bid side is defined as (ask + bid) / 2 > fill price.
122789
The previous trading day's contract price.
"1.29"
The last fill on the contract.
"0.03"
The amount of cross volume. Cross volume consists of all transaction that have the cross trade code.
0
The time when the earnings will be released.
unknown, afterhours, premarket "premarket"
The contract expiry date in ISO format.
"2023-12-22T00:00:00.000Z"
The amount of floor volume. Floor volume consists of all transaction that have the floor trade code.
142
The highest fill on that contract.
"2.95"
The last time there was a transaction for the given contract as UTC timestamp.
"2023-09-08T17:45:32.000Z"
The lowest fill on that contract.
"0.02"
The amount of volume that happened in the middle of the ask and bid.
Mid is defined as (ask + bid) / 2 == fill price.
22707
The amount of volume that happened as part of a multileg trade with another contract. This can be spreads/rolls/condors/butterflies and more.
7486
The next earnings date of the ticker. Null if either unknown as of now or if the ticker does not have any earnings such as an ETF
"2023-10-26T00:00:00.000Z"
The amount of volume that happened on no identifiable side. This can be late, out of sequence and/or cross transactions.
0
The first fill on that contract.
"0.92"
The open interest for the contract.
18680
The option symbol of the contract.
You can use the following regex to extract underlying ticker, option type, expiry & strike:
^(?<symbol>[\w]*)(?<expiry>(\d{2})(\d{2})(\d{2}))(?<type>[PC])(?<strike>\d{8})$
Keep in mind that the strike needs to be multiplied by 1,000.
The option type of the contract.
call, put "call"
The total option premium.
"27723806.00"
The financial sector of the ticker. Empty if unknown or not applicable such as ETF/Index.
Basic Materials, Communication Services, Consumer Cyclical, Consumer Defensive, Energy, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials, Real Estate, Technology, Utilities "Technology"
The amount of volume that happened as part of a stock transaction and possibly other option contracts. This can be covered calls and more.
52
The close stock price of the ticker.
"182.91"
The contract strike.
"375"
The amount of sweep volume. Sweep volume consists of all transaction that have the sweep trade code.
18260
The total amount of options volume for the given ticker.
The total count of changes to the NBBO ask during that day's trading session.
165
The total count of changes to the NBBO bid during that day's trading session.
28
The amount of transaction for this contract.
39690
The contract volume.
264899
