Get Option Info by Ticker

Fetch information about a particular option by providing its ticker symbol

Overview

This GET endpoint enables you to retrieve information about a particular option by providing the option's ticker symbol in the request's header. Whereas the first three methods in the Securities section deal with equities' information, this endpoint provides information exclusively about options.

There are four required parameters that must be provided in the request:

1. Authorization (header). This is the authorization token from the very first token request. The value of this header must have the following format: Bearer BQ898r9fefi (Bearer + 1 space + the token).

2. API version (path). Unless necessary, leave it at "1.0".

3. symbol (path). This is the ticker symbol of the option whose information you'd like to retrieve. This ticker symbol can be fetched using the API request that lists filtered options.

Here's the final template for this API request:

GET apiURL/v1.0/options/VSSQ1 260117P00008000

Response

In response to this API request, you'll receive a JSON file with comprehensive information about the enquired option:

{
    "Id": 13210821,
    "Symbol": "VSSQ1 260117P00008000",
    "Description": "PUT Virtual Stock (static quotes) $8.00000000 EXP 01/17/26",
    "Exchange": "VIRTEX",
    "Currency": "USD",
    "AddedDate": "2018-09-11T07:20:10.318803Z",
    "ModifyDate": "2018-12-19T17:10:36.943Z",
    "Type": "Option",
    "Precision": 2,
    "VolumePrecision": 0,
    "TickSize": 0.01,
    "Enabled": true,
    "AllowTrade": true,
    "AllowMargin": true,
    "AllowShort": true,
    "OptionType": "Put",
    "ExpirationType": "Flex",
    "ExpirationDate": "2026-01-17T00:00:00Z",
    "StrikePrice": 8,
    "SeriesId": 125685,
    "UnderlyingAssetSymbol": "VSSQ1",
    "ContractSize": 100
}

where:

Parameter	Description
Id	This is the internal ID of the security in AutoShares.
Symbol	This is the ticker symbol under which the option is listed on the exchange. Note that the length of this parameter must be equal for all options, and this is achieved by adding spaces between the underlying ticker and the option's details (the underlying ticker + the spaces must add up to 6). For example: V 210618C00195000. Notice the five spaces between V and 2. Underlying ticker (1) + spaces (5) = 6. AAPL 210618C00195000. Notice the two spaces between AAPL and 2. Underlying ticker (4) + spaces (2) = 6.
Description	Usually this is the full name of the underlying company.
Exchange	This is the exchange on which the security is listed.
Currency	This is the currency in which the security is denominated.
AddedDate	This is the date on which the security was added to the database.
ModifyDate	This is the date in which the security's information was last modified.
Type	This is the type of the security — option in the case of this API request.
Precision	This is the number of decimal places in the security's price.
VolumePrecision	This is the number of decimal places in the security's trading volume (might be useful for cryptocurrencies).
TickSize	This is the minimum price change of the security. For example, if this property equals 0.01 for AAPL, the minimum price change for AAPL is 0.01 (150.67 —> 150.68, but not 150.675). For securities with the market price of less than $1, the TickSize is equal to 0.0001.
Enabled	This field indicated if the security is enabled and can be traded by users.
AllowTrade	This field indicates is the security if permitted for trading.
AllowMargin	This field indicates if the security is allowed to be traded on margin.
AllowShort	This field indicates if the security can be sold short.
OptionType	This is the type of option. Possible values: call, put.
ExpirationType	This is the expiration type of the option. Possible values: Regular, Quarterly, Weekly, Flex, Undefined, Mini, NonStandard.
ExpirationDate	This is the expiration date of the option.
StrikePrice	This is the price at which the holder of the option can buy or sell the underlying asset.
SeriesId	This is the internal ID of the option series in AutoShares.
UnderlyingAssetSymbol	This is the ticker symbol of the underlying asset.
ContractSize	This is the deliverable quantity of the option's underlying asset.

Common Mistakes

Here are some of the common mistakes that developers make when attempting to retrieve an option's information by their ticker symbol.

Mistaking the Character Count in Symbol

An extremely common mistake when calling this endpoint is not ensuring that the combined character count of the underlying ticker and the following spaces is 6. If it's anything other than 6, the request will fall through.

For example:

• V 210618C00195000. Notice the five spaces between V and 2. Underlying ticker (1) + spaces (5) = 6.

• AAPL 210618C00195000. Notice the two spaces between AAPL and 2. Underlying ticker (4) + spaces (2) = 6.

Specifying the Underlying Security's Ticker instead of the Option's Ticker Symbol

Another common mistake in retrieving information about a particular option is specifying the underlying security's ticker symbol instead of the enquired option's ticker symbol. Doing so will lead to the 409 status code.

The following article covers the syntax for this API request in detail.