# The chart, layer by layer

Source: https://tactiq.pro/docs/chart-layers · Reading the market · updated 2026-10-31

What a first visit shows, how to read the chart in four steps, and the question each layer answers. Every layer can be shown or hidden.

The Chart draws Tactiq's layers on one price scale and one time axis. Each layer answers one question. Open the **Indicators** menu to show or hide each one. Almost every picture in these docs is the BTC perpetual with one layer on the candles, so you can see what that layer adds. Click a picture to open it full size.

### Reading the chart in four steps

When you first open the Chart, one layer is on: heavy aggression zones. Turn on what you want in the **Indicators** menu; the chart remembers your choice for the next visit. A good set to start with: levels, volume profile, flow zones, the footprint, VWAP, the Tactiq Flag and the delta pane, plus, on BTC and ETH, two options layers: gamma envelopes and big option flows. The picture below shows only those two options layers, so they are easy to see.

![A 30-minute BTC chart from 28 to 31 October with two options layers: a teal line tagged +γ wall 78,830 · slows price above price, a yellow line tagged Zero γ 76,570 · calm above / fast below and a magenta line tagged −γ wall 76,320 · speeds price below it, with magenta diamonds near 80,000 and 82,000 and teal squares near 76,000 and 78,000 for big option trades.](https://tactiq.pro/docs/chart/gamma-default.webp)

*BTC perp, 30m, 28–31 Oct 2026: two options layers turned on: the three gamma envelope lines and the big option flows.*

1. **Read the top-left line first.** It describes the bar under your pointer (or the forming bar): timeframe, open, high, low, close, volume, delta and taker-buy share. In the picture: *30m · forming bar … Vol 80.78 BTC, Delta −2.37 BTC, Taker buy 49 %*: buyers and sellers were about even in that bar.
2. **Read the yellow tag: it says which side is calm.** Here it reads *Zero γ 76,570 · calm above / fast below*, and price (77,439) is above it, so price is on the calm side. The tag can also read *calm below / fast above*, or *No flip near price · all calm* (or *· all fast*) when there is no switch close to price. Then look at the teal *+γ wall 78,830 · slows price*, where rallies may slow, and the magenta *−γ wall 76,320 · speeds price*, where a fall could speed up. Look left: on the evening of 29 October price fell through the yellow line and kept falling, about 4,000 USD in a few hours; hover any past bar to read which side was calm then.
3. **Look at the big option trades.** A diamond is a call, a square is a put; teal means the customer bought, magenta sold. In the picture, calls were sold at 80,000 and 82,000 (magenta diamonds) and puts were bought near 76,000 and 78,000 (teal squares). Hover one for its premium and expiry. Small triangles at the top and bottom edge are trades whose strike is off the chart.
4. **Confirm with flow, then wait for a closed bar.** The lines and markers are places to watch, not signals. Look at the zones, the footprint and the panes (turn them on in **Indicators**) to see what traders actually do at those prices, and decide on a closed bar, never on a wick. More in [Options gamma in 2 minutes](https://tactiq.pro/docs/options-gamma).

| Layer | The question it answers | Made from | Key |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Heavy aggression](https://tactiq.pro/docs/heavy-aggression) | Where did one side take unusual size, and what did price do next? | Executed trades, per second | menu |
| [Iceberg zones](https://tactiq.pro/docs/iceberg-zones) | Where did a resting order absorb more than it showed? (estimated) | Best bid and ask, trades | menu |
| [Flow zones](https://tactiq.pro/docs/flow-zones) | Where did one side dominate, level by level? | Footprint imbalances | menu |
| [Liquidity heatmap](https://tactiq.pro/docs/liquidity-heatmap) | Where is size resting, and has it stayed? | Order book | `h` |
| [Liquidation heatmap](https://tactiq.pro/docs/liquidation-heatmap) | Where would leveraged positions be forced out? (estimated) | Open interest, modelled | `j` |
| [Tactiq Flag](https://tactiq.pro/docs/tactiq-flag) | What is the market doing on this timeframe? | Six lanes on closed bars | `q` |
| [Supporting layers](https://tactiq.pro/docs/supporting-layers) | Where did the auction accept or reject price? | Levels, profile, VWAP, order blocks, footprint, big trades | menu |
| [Options gamma](https://tactiq.pro/docs/options-gamma) | Where may option dealers' hedging calm or speed price? (estimated, BTC and ETH) | Deribit options trades | menu |

### Three rules that hold for every layer

- **Executed is not resting.** Heavy aggression and flow zones come from trades that happened. The heatmap comes from orders that are waiting and can leave. Tactiq never mixes the two.
- **Closed bars decide.** A zone ends when a bar *closes* through it. A wick through a zone does not end it.
- **Each layer says what it is not.** A zone is a place to watch, not an order. Check whether flow agrees.

### Zone colours

teal: buyers were aggressive. coral (red): sellers were aggressive. A zone that price has closed through fades and then disappears.