Understanding data freshness
What "delayed", "end of day", "as of" and "stale" mean, where the data comes from, and why the freshness badge is on every page.
Overview
OptionsScreenerPro is built on delayed and end-of-day market data from publicly available feeds. The platform never pretends otherwise: every table, chart, email and alert carries a freshness badge.
The badge
A badge reads, for example, sample-feed · delayed 15 min · as of 10:45 ET.
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Provider | The adapter that supplied the data (for example a delayed exchange feed, or a fallback provider). |
| Quality | delayed N min: the provider's declared delay; end of day: settlement data from the previous session; derived: computed by the platform from other fields (money flow, surge %, break-even); indicative: a provider marks the value as not tradeable. |
| As of | The time the provider stamped on the data, in US Eastern time. When the provider does not stamp a time, the time the platform received it is used. |
| STALE | Shown in red when the data is older than the platform's threshold for that kind of data (for example an option chain older than 30 minutes during market hours). |
Snapshots, not streams
The platform ingests snapshots on a schedule rather than streaming every trade. During regular trading hours option chains are refreshed on a fixed interval; after the close an end-of-day snapshot is taken. Open interest is published by exchanges once a day, so it is always "as of the previous settlement".
Consequences:
- Session volume on the page is the total at the "as of" time, not the final total.
- Two snapshots in the same hour can show the same numbers if the provider has not updated.
- "Previous snapshot" comparisons (surge %, change %) compare the two most recent snapshots the platform holds.
Provider fallback
Market data goes through a provider router. Administrators order providers per capability, and the first provider in the order is the main source. When it is failing, out of its daily quota or returns stale data, the next provider in the chain is used automatically.
A short per-minute limit is handled differently depending on who is asking:
- Scheduled snapshots (the intraday and end-of-day ingestion) wait up to about a minute for the main provider's limit to reset and stay on it, so the data you see comes from the main source wherever possible. Backup providers are used only when the main one is really unavailable or the run is about to reach its time limit.
- Pages you open never wait: if the main provider is busy, the next provider answers straight away.
The badge always names the provider that actually supplied the rows you are looking at, so two pages may name different providers.
When something is not available
OptionsScreenerPro tells you calmly when data or a feature is not available, and never shows a blank grid or a misleading 0:
- Markets are closed (weekend or holiday): the page shows the last session's data and says from when.
- Delayed data: a short note names the provider and how many minutes behind the quotes are.
- Live updates are paused (the provider is not answering): the last good rows stay on screen with their time and refresh by themselves when the provider is back.
- On a paid plan: a feature your plan does not include shows what it is, the plan that has it, and See plans - this is not an error and there is nothing to retry.
- Not part of your role: a staff page you cannot open says so plainly; ask an administrator if you need it.
If the whole service is restarting (for example after a quiet night), pages say the data service is waking up and retry by themselves. The public website and this Help Center keep working even then.
Plans and freshness
The Free plan shows the previous day's snapshots. Paid plans show the latest snapshot. Neither plan receives real-time data. See Account and billing.
FAQs
Will there be real-time data?
Not in the current release. Real-time data needs paid exchange licences; the platform labels its delayed data as delayed instead.
Troubleshooting
What do I do with a stale badge?
Treat the numbers as historical. Check the market status pill in the header: outside trading hours stale badges are expected. During trading hours a stale badge means ingestion has fallen behind or every provider in the chain is unavailable; staff are alerted and see the details in the admin area.
Two pages show different providers
Expected: each page names the provider that supplied its rows, and the router may have fallen back between the two loads.