Data freshness (snapshot age)
Data freshness, or snapshot age, is the time elapsed since the most recent input behind a displayed value was captured. A derived level such as a gamma wall inherits the age of the oldest input that went into it, so the age must be shown next to the level rather than assumed to be live.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Why one timestamp is not enough
A gamma exposure level is computed from several inputs captured at different moments: the option chain, the underlying's spot price and the open interest. Open interest is typically published once a day after the close, the chain may be delayed by its provider, and spot moves continuously. The level on the chart is only as fresh as its slowest input, even when the futures tape next to it is ticking live.
The same logic applies to any snapshot-based display: a DOM ladder whose last book update is seconds old is showing a photograph, and a news wire delayed by its source is not a real-time wire. Freshness is a property of the data, so it belongs on the screen with the value.
- Chain snapshot time: when the strikes and their greeks were captured.
- Spot time: the underlying price used to place the levels.
- Open-interest date: intraday gamma moves with spot and time, not with positions taken today.
Reading age correctly
- Log the three timestamps with any level you intend to observe on the tape; a band without its age cannot be evaluated afterwards.
- A delayed chain presented as live is a data error, not a market signal.
- A stale surface has not moved since capture. Price crossing a stale level says nothing about hedging.
- Refreshing recomputes from a new snapshot; it does not make an old open-interest figure current.
In Senzoukria
The GEX workspace shows a Calculation assumptions panel with a Data freshness row: the chain snapshot time, Spot at a given time, an age in minutes and a Refresh the chain action. Past a threshold the panel states that the page is older than that many minutes and that nothing has been refreshed since. The 3D surface carries its own Snapshot age label with the same wording: it is a photograph, not a live feed. Chain sources are configured per provider on the Account page; one of them is explicitly labelled delayed.
Outside options, the heatmap's depth panel displays the age of the last book received on the local clock and turns red after a few seconds, and the news panel prints Updated a given time ago with its source delay. The indicator menu adds a scope note: requirements describe the calculation, and the menu cannot certify the coverage or freshness of the chart data.
Common mistakes
- Overlaying an SPX-derived level and an SPY-derived level captured at different times as if they were one measurement.
- Using a ratio to transpose a level onto ES or NQ without noting when the ratio was last measured.
- Treating a quiet feed and a broken feed as the same thing because both show no movement.
- Assuming a refresh button guarantees a newer open-interest file.
Related
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Frequently asked questions
- How old can a GEX snapshot be before it is misleading?
- There is no universal cutoff, because it depends on how far spot has moved since capture and on the expiries in scope. The practical rule is to read the age every time and to treat a level whose spot time predates a large move as a stale photograph. The software prints the age and flags it past a threshold rather than deciding for you.
- Is intraday GEX live if my futures feed is live?
- No. The futures tape and the options chain come from different providers and different clocks. A live Rithmic or Databento feed for the chart does not make the options snapshot current; the chain is refreshed on its own schedule and its provider may deliver it delayed.