---
title: "Get an options chain for an instrument"
method: GET
path: "/finance/options"
tags: ["finance"]
---

# Get an options chain for an instrument

`GET /finance/options`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1`
- URL: `https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/finance/options`
- Auth: API key in header `x-api-key`

Returns one expiry's option chain as a flat unified OptionContractList: calls and puts in a single list distinguished by `type`, each with strike, bid, ask, last price, volume, open interest, implied volatility and an in-the-money flag. Flattening is deliberate, so filtering by `type` works exactly like filtering by `strike` instead of walking two differently-shaped arrays. Options quotes are OPRA data and are delayed by roughly 15 minutes; this endpoint is not suitable for execution decisions.

## Query parameters

- `keyword` string, required
- `expiry` string

## Headers

- `Cache-Control` string
- `Idempotency-Key` string

## Response `200`

Successful response

- object
  - `success` boolean, required: Whether the request succeeded
  - `platform` string, required: Platform name
  - `endpoint` string, required: API endpoint path
  - `data` object, required: Platform-specific response data
    - `items` object[]: Array of canonical option-contract wrappers ({ option_contract })
      - `option_contract` object: Canonical OptionContract object (one contract)
        - `id` string: OCC contract symbol
        - `symbol` string, nullable: The UNDERLYING instrument, not the contract
        - `contract_symbol` string, nullable: String at option_contract.contract_symbol
        - `type` string, nullable: call | put
        - `strike` integer, nullable: Strike price
        - `expiry` union: Expiry date, absolute UTC
          - string
          - integer
        - `last_price` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.last_price
        - `bid` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.bid
        - `ask` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.ask
        - `change` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.change
        - `percent_change` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.percent_change
        - `volume` integer, nullable: Numeric at option_contract.volume
        - `open_interest` integer, nullable: Contracts outstanding
        - `implied_volatility` integer, nullable: Implied volatility as a decimal fraction
        - `in_the_money` boolean, nullable: Whether the contract is currently in the money
        - `contract_size` string, nullable: String at option_contract.contract_size
        - `currency` string, nullable: String at option_contract.currency
        - `last_trade_date` union: Union: string | integer | null
          - string
          - integer
    - `next_cursor` string, nullable: Opaque cursor for the next page. Pass it back as a query parameter on endpoints that support pagination. Present only when the upstream reports more results.
    - `total` integer, nullable: Total number of matching results, when the upstream provides a count. Omitted otherwise.
    - `_warnings` string[]: Non-fatal notices about this response (field-map drift, clamped computed values). Advisory only: its presence never means the request failed. Omitted entirely when there is nothing to report, so treat absent as 'no warnings'.
  - `credits_used` integer, required: Number of credits consumed
  - `credits_remaining` integer, nullable, required: Current account balance, or null when this response could not establish one. Free cache hits always return null because they do not establish an authoritative post-request balance. An idempotency replay also returns null when its current-balance lookup fails. It is never a fabricated zero, so a zero here means the account really is empty. The authoritative reading is the one on a billed response, which comes straight from the deduction.
  - `request_id` string, required: Unique request identifier for support
  - `cached` boolean, required: Whether the response was served from cache
  - `idempotent_replay` boolean: True only when this response is an idempotency replay
  - `meta` object: Optional. Present only when this call completed a pattern that one other call does more cheaply or in one step, at most once per pattern per API key per day. Send the header `X-SocialCrawl-Hints: off` to never receive it.
    - `hint` object: One suggestion: what to call instead and why, with the price when the suggested call costs more than the calls it replaces.
      - `code` string: creator_card | batch_profiles | search_multi | incremental_sync | comment_labels | search_repeat
      - `message` string: One sentence for a person or an agent to read.
      - `method` string: GET or POST.
      - `path` string: The call the hint points to.

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid request - missing or malformed parameters
- `401`: Unauthorized - missing or invalid API key
- `402`: Payment required - the account balance is too low, or the calling key has spent its own per-key credit limit
- `404`: Not found - the endpoint does not exist, or the requested resource was not found upstream
- `405`: Method not allowed - wrong HTTP verb for this endpoint
- `409`: Conflict - an idempotent request is still in flight, its completed body exceeded the replay limit, or the cohort resource is not in a state that allows this operation
- `410`: Gone - the discover run's retention passed and its rows were deleted; start a new run
- `413`: Payload too large: the JSON request body exceeds the 1 MB size limit and is rejected before parsing, or a single cohort result cannot fit beneath the 1 MB response-page ceiling
- `422`: Idempotency payload mismatch - this Idempotency-Key was already used with a different request payload; or a discover request with async=false is over what one call can answer (NEEDS_ASYNC)
- `429`: Rate or concurrency limit exceeded. `RATE_LIMITED`: more than 600 requests in a 1-minute sliding window on this API key (headers `X-RateLimit-Limit`/`Remaining`/`Reset`; `Retry-After` is seconds until the window resets). `CONCURRENCY_LIMIT`: more than 50 simultaneous in-flight requests (headers `X-Concurrency-Limit`/`Remaining`; short static `Retry-After`). Both are unbilled. Honor `Retry-After`, then back off with jitter. See /docs/rate-limits.
- `500`: Internal server error - an immediate refund is attempted; credits_used reports the committed net charge and exact compensation is queued if that refund cannot commit
- `502`: Upstream error - the platform returned an error; an immediate refund is attempted and credits_used reports the committed net charge
- `503`: Service unavailable - the request is unbilled when rejected before deduction, otherwise an immediate refund is attempted and credits_used reports the committed net charge
- `504`: Gateway timeout - the request was still running close to the platform time limit and is answered as UPSTREAM_ERROR, the same code as 502. An immediate refund is attempted and credits_used reports the committed net charge. When details.retry_with is set, retryable is false and there is no Retry-After

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/socialcrawl/apis/socialcrawl-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/socialcrawl/apis/socialcrawl-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/socialcrawl/apis/socialcrawl-api/revisions/a0ad2511004a?raw)