Choosing an Instrument & Chart Data

Two choices define what your indicators are calculated on:

1. Instrument - what you're trading (NIFTY, RELIANCE, BTCUSD…)
2. Chart data - which price series the indicators run on (Spot, Futures, Options, Synthetic Futures, or Combined Premium)

The same EMA crossover behaves very differently on a spot chart vs an option premium chart, so this choice matters as much as your conditions.

Step 1: Select the instrument

Click the Instrument dropdown on the Canvas and search or select.

Supported instruments:

Category	Instruments
Indices	NIFTY, BANKNIFTY, SENSEX, MIDCPNIFTY, FINNIFTY, BANKEX
Stocks	All NSE F&O enabled stocks
Crypto	BTCUSD, ETHUSD (traded via Delta Exchange)
RWA tokens	Stocks such as Apple, NVIDIA, Tesla (traded via Delta Exchange India)

note

MCX commodities, and non-F&O stocks are not supported.

Run one strategy on many instruments

Want the same strategy on a group of stocks, indices, or crypto? Pick a saved watchlist as the instrument. The data type you pick applies to every underlying in the watchlist.

Step 2: Select the chart data

Click the data selection dropdown (it shows Spot by default), pick a data type, and click Apply.

Which data type should I use?

Data type	Indicators run on	Best for	Available on
Spot	The underlying index/stock price	Most strategies; the standard choice	Indices, stocks, crypto
Futures	The futures contract price	Futures traders; futures price includes premium/discount vs spot	Indices, stocks, crypto
Options	A single option's premium (CE or PE)	Trading on option premium behavior (decay, IV moves)	Indices, stocks, crypto
Synthetic Futures	A futures like price derived from CE/PE combinations	Futures like signals without futures data	Indices, stocks, crypto (BTCUSD, ETHUSD)
Combined Premium	The summed premium of multiple option legs (e.g., straddle CE+PE)	Volatility and premium decay strategies	Indices, stocks, crypto

RWA tokens support Perpetual Futures only

RWA tokens have no options, so only the Futures (Perpetual Future) data type works with them. Options, Combined Premium, and Synthetic Futures can't be selected. See RWA Tokens.

Spot

Indicators are applied to the underlying cash/index price - the simplest and most common setup.

1. Select your instrument.
2. Click the data selection dropdown, choose Spot, and click Apply.

Futures

Indicators are applied to the futures contract price. Futures can trade at a premium or discount to spot, so signals may differ from the spot chart.

1. Select your instrument.
2. Click the data selection dropdown and choose Future.
3. Select the Expiry and click Apply.

Options

Indicators run on a single option's premium instead of the underlying price. Option premiums are driven by the underlying move plus time decay (theta) and volatility (IV) - expect signals to differ substantially from spot.

1. Select your instrument.
2. Click the data selection dropdown and choose Options.
3. Configure the option:
   • Strike Selection Timing - Rolling (the strike updates whenever a different strike matches your criteria; indicators are evaluated on the current matching strike) or Fixed (the strike is locked once per day at a set time, e.g., 9:16, and all signals for the day are evaluated on that one strike - typical for intraday strategies).
   • Option Type - Call (CE) or Put (PE).
   • Expiry - Weekly, Next Weekly, Monthly, or Next Monthly. For BTCUSD and ETHUSD you can also pick Today or Tomorrow (daily expiries).
   • Strike Criteria - how the strike is chosen; see the full list below. With Strike Type, also pick the strike, from ITM20 through ATM to OTM30.
4. Click Apply.

Strike Criteria options:

Criterion	What it selects
Strike Type	A strike by distance from ATM - from ITM20 (20 strikes in the money) through ATM to OTM30
Premium Range	A strike whose premium falls between a lower and an upper value
Closest Premium	The strike whose premium is closest to a target premium
Premium >=	The nearest strike with a premium at or above a value
Premium <=	The nearest strike with a premium at or below a value
Straddle Width	A strike offset from ATM by a multiple of the ATM straddle premium
% of ATM	A strike a set percentage away from the ATM strike
Synthetic Future	A strike based on the synthetic future price instead of spot
ATM Straddle Premium %	A strike offset by a percentage of the ATM straddle premium
Closest Delta	The strike whose delta is closest to a target delta
Delta Range	A strike whose delta falls within a range
Exact Strike	A specific strike price you type in

For the full strike selection reference, see Strike Selection in the Leg Builder.

Synthetic Futures

Indicators run on a synthetic futures price calculated from CE/PE option combinations - futures like behavior derived from the options market.

1. Select your instrument.
2. Click the data selection dropdown, choose Synthetic Future, and click Apply.

More detail: Synthetic Future reference.

Combined Premium

Indicators run on the summed premium of multiple option legs - for example, an ATM straddle's CE + PE. Useful for volatility strategies (premium expands and contracts with market movement and IV).

1. Select your instrument.
2. Click the data selection dropdown and choose Combined Premium.
3. Pick a Template - Straddle, Strangle, Iron Condor, or Iron Fly. The template creates the legs.
4. Each leg has its own tab under Legs (Leg 1, Leg 2…). Click + Add to add another leg.
5. Configure each leg separately - every setting is per leg:
   • Multiply - 1 to 50 (default 1); scales that leg's premium in the calculation
   • Strike Selection Timing - Rolling or Fixed (same meaning as on the Options tab)
   • Option Type - Call or Put
   • Expiry - Weekly, Next Weekly, Monthly, or Next Monthly; for BTCUSD and ETHUSD also Today or Tomorrow
   • Strike Criteria and Strike Type - the same options as on the Options tab (see the Strike Criteria list there)
6. Click Apply.

Next steps

• Use a watchlist to run one strategy on many instruments
• Set signal limits to control how often your strategy trades
• Build your entry and exit conditions