Watchers and alerts
Writing a watcher in plain words, the seven kinds of rule, when a watcher fires, and where its alerts go.
A watcher is a standing rule over one ticker: "Tell me when SPY loses zero gamma." When it fires you get an alert that says what happened, with the levels around it. Watchers live on the Watchers page (/SPX/watchers), the last page in the pages rail.
Writing one
Type what you want to know in What should it tell you? and press Write it. Theta Vantage turns the sentence into a rule and shows it in words ("SPY falls below zero gamma") and as controls you can change: the ticker, what to watch, the level, the direction, the expiration set. If your words could mean two things it asks rather than guesses ("Almost: choose above, below, or either."). Or build it yourself opens the controls directly. Check the rule, then Save watcher.
Athena and your AI app can write a watcher too. They show you the rule first and save it only after you say yes. In Athena you can also press Save watcher on the rule. Saving a rule you already have doesn't add a second one.
What a watcher can watch
| Kind | Fires when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Price and a level | The price crosses zero gamma, a wall, a near wall, max pain, an edge of the expected move (from the last close, so it holds for the session), or a price you name, in the direction you pick | SPY falls below zero gamma |
| A level moves | The level moves (a wall or max pain to another strike, zero gamma or the move's edge by 0.5%, or by an amount you set) and holds for two snapshots | QQQ's put wall moves |
| Gamma turns | Dealer gamma at the price turns positive or negative and holds for two snapshots | IWM turns negative gamma |
| IV rank | IV rank (1-year lookback) crosses a number | NVDA's IV rank rises above 80 |
| A large flow (Pro) | A flow prints on the ticker at or above a premium you set, calls, puts, or either | A NVDA call flow of $1.00M or more |
| Drift turns (Pro) | Net premium drift crosses toward calls or puts | TSLA's net premium drift turns to puts |
| Earnings ahead | The next report is within the days you set | MU reports earnings within 3 days |
Level rules count the expiration set you choose (All, 0DTE, Week, or Month). Watchers can't watch indicators or news, and they never suggest a trade.
When it fires
A watcher checks each new snapshot of its ticker and, for price rules, the ticker's trades during the regular session.
- A cross has to happen while it watches. A new watcher only records where the price is. If SPY is already below zero gamma, "loses zero gamma" fires after SPY has gone back above it and stayed there for 15 minutes.
- One alert per real cross. After an alert, a watcher fires again only once the price has gone back to the other side, stayed there for 15 minutes, and crossed again. Chop around the level, a few minutes back above, or one odd trade doesn't repeat it, at any price. IV rank and gamma turns work the same way. A watcher on either direction tells you when the price has crossed back and stayed.
- A level counts as it stands. If zero gamma moves across the price, that's a cross too, and the alert says so.
- Moves and turns must hold for two snapshots in a row, so a wall flickering between two strikes doesn't fire.
- At most five alerts a day per watcher, and for level moves, flows, drift, and earnings at most one every 15 minutes. What fires past that is held back, not saved for later.
Alerts
Each alert has a headline saying what happened and, under it, what the headline doesn't: the gamma regime and the nearest levels above and below, with the numbers from that moment ("TSLA fell below 363.88 at 353.47" · "Negative gamma. Zero gamma 360.23 above, put wall 350 below."). It's never advice. Alerts arrive:
- In the app: the bell in the top bar shows the unread count and the newest unread alerts. Opening one, or Mark all read, takes it off the bell. An empty bell says "You're all caught up." Nothing there is deleted. The Watchers page keeps alerts, newest first, until you delete one or Delete all (a watcher's alerts when you opened its History, otherwise every alert). Alerts older than 30 days are removed. A watcher's count of alerts stays. Where alerts go sits above the list. A new alert also shows briefly under the top bar.
- As a notification in your browser, once you press Turn on notifications on the Watchers page and allow it. Each browser is turned on separately.
- By email, where it's available, which you can turn off (Email my alerts) on the Watchers page or in the Alerts section of your account page.
Where alerts go on the Watchers page shows what's on for you.
Managing watchers
Each watcher shows its rule, whether it's running or paused, and for price rules the price and the level now ("SPY 671.20 · level 668.40 · 0.42% away"). Pause and Resume, Edit (resuming, or changing the rule, starts it fresh; changing only your words keeps its place), History for its alerts, and Delete for the watcher and its alerts. On an alert, Delete this alert removes that one. Delete all asks first.
Plans
Free keeps 1 watcher on SPX, SPY, QQQ, or IWM, on All expirations, of every kind but flow and drift. Pro keeps 25 on any ticker with listed options, every kind and expiration set. If you move from Pro to Free, your oldest watcher keeps running and the rest are held until there's room. Without an account there are no watchers.