CVD Divergence Indicator: Formula, Settings and How to Read It
CVD Divergence marks bars where cumulative volume delta and price moved in opposite directions over a fixed lookback. An up arrow is drawn at the low when the net flow rose while price fell, and a down arrow at the high when the net flow fell while price rose.
Senzoukria · Indicators · Updated September 2026
CVD Divergence ships with the Senzoukria desktop app, in the Tape & flow group of the indicator catalogue. It is drawn on the price chart.
What CVD Divergence measures
The test compares two differences over the same window: cumulative delta now minus cumulative delta N bars ago, and the close now minus the close N bars ago, with N defaulting to 5. Both inequalities are strict, so an unchanged flow or an unchanged price is not a divergence. Both endpoints must belong to the same session, because cumulative delta resets at the session open and a difference spanning that reset would be arbitrary. The marker follows the sign of the flow, against the price: net buying into falling price reads as accumulation and is marked bullish at the bar's low, and the opposite case is marked bearish at the high. The delta divergence indicator uses the same convention, so the two can be read on one chart without reversing your interpretation between them.
The formula, as implemented
This is not a description of how the indicator is usually defined elsewhere — it is what the shipped code computes, documented next to the implementation:
Divergence CVD / prix sur N barres — RÈGLE EXACTE : Δcvd = CVD[i] − CVD[i−N] Δpx = close[i] − close[i−N] Δcvd > 0 ET Δpx < 0 → arrow-up au LOW de la barre i (haussier) Δcvd < 0 ET Δpx > 0 → arrow-down au HIGH de la barre i (baissier) Inégalités STRICTES des deux côtés : un CVD ou un prix inchangé n'est pas une divergence. Les deux barres doivent appartenir à la MÊME SÉANCE (le reset du CVD rendrait Δcvd arbitraire) ; warm-up → aucun marqueur. CONVENTION DE MARQUAGE (la même que `delta-divergence`, delta2.ts, et c'est délibéré) : le marqueur suit le signe du FLUX, à contre-courant du prix. Le flux net achète pendant que le prix baisse ⇒ quelqu'un accumule contre la baisse ⇒ marqueur HAUSSIER, posé au low. Miroir pour l'autre sens. Deux indicateurs du même catalogue qui marqueraient la même situation dans des sens opposés seraient impossibles à lire ensemble. POURQUOI le CVD plutôt que le delta d'une barre : la divergence barre-à-barre (delta2.ts) attrape le bruit d'une seule enchère ; ici on compare la PENTE D'ACCUMULATION de la séance au déplacement du prix sur la même fenêtre — le motif classique d'absorption, à l'échelle où il se joue. Défaut N=5 : la fenêtre de `delta-divergence-strength` (delta.ts), qui mesure la même idée sur le delta brut — deux vues de la même fenêtre.
How to read it
- The arrow points the way the flow leans, not the way price has been moving — that opposition is the whole definition.
- Judge the context before the pattern: a divergence at the edge of a multi-day range is a different observation from the same arrows inside a strong trend, where they appear often and resolve nothing.
- Divergences can persist. Several arrows in a row mean the disagreement continued, not that it is about to end.
- Look for a price level to anchor the reading, such as a prior low being tested; a divergence with no reference level is hard to act on and easy to over-read.
- If price then breaks through in its original direction, the divergence has failed and should be dropped rather than reinterpreted.
Parameters and defaults
The period sets how far back both differences reach and defaults to 5 bars, the same window as the delta divergence-strength measure, which lets the two be read as two views of one window. A short period reacts to local noise and prints many arrows; a longer one compares slower swings and produces far fewer. Bullish and bearish colours are separate, and no marker can be drawn until N bars of the current session exist.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | number | 5 | 1 – 200 |
What it does not show
A divergence is a disagreement between two series, not a reversal and not a timing tool; both can stay divergent for a long time. Cumulative delta itself depends on aggressor classification and resets at each session open, so no divergence spans the boundary and the first bars of a session produce nothing. The comparison uses only two closes and two flow values, so everything that happened between them is invisible to the test. Low-liquidity conditions inflate both differences and make the pattern less meaningful.
Using it in Senzoukria
Add it from the Indicators panel of any footprint chart or candle chart. It runs on futures data from Rithmic or Databento and on crypto pairs from Binance and Bybit, on the same engine — the calculation does not change with the venue, only the data feeding it does. Market data subscriptions are billed by the provider, separately from the app.
Related indicators
- Tape Speed — Tape & flow
- Diagonal Imbalances — Tape & flow
- Stacked Imbalances — Tape & flow
- Absorption Score — Tape & flow
- Unfinished Auctions — Tape & flow
- Effort vs Result — Tape & flow
See the full indicator library, or start with the order flow guide if you are new to reading aggression, delta and absorption.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a CVD divergence?
- A bar where cumulative volume delta and price moved in opposite directions over the same lookback: the net aggressive flow rose while price fell, or the reverse. It shows that the direction of the traded flow and the direction of price stopped agreeing over that window.
- Why is the arrow drawn below the bar when CVD rises and price falls?
- Because the marker follows the flow. Net buying arriving while price declines is read as accumulation against the move, so it is marked as a bullish observation and placed at the bar's low, with the mirror case at the high. Keeping this convention identical across the divergence indicators lets them be read side by side.
- Why does this use cumulative delta rather than each bar's delta?
- Because a bar-to-bar comparison reacts to a single burst of trade. Measuring the change in cumulative delta over N bars compares the session's accumulation against the price travelled over the same window, which is the scale at which the absorption pattern plays out.