A
- 0DTE
- Zero days to expiration. An options contract that expires on the same trading day it is held. SPX 0DTE options expire at the close of the same session in which they are entered. The full mechanics, history, and structural implications are walked in Chapter 1.
- ATM straddle
- An at-the-money straddle is the simultaneous purchase of a call and a put at the same strike, where the strike is closest to the underlying’s current price. Used in the framework as the source for the day’s expected move at the open: the price of the ATM straddle priced against the SPX open is the EM value, and EM+ and EM− are derived from it. Established in Chapter 7.
- ATR(5)
- Average True Range over a five-bar lookback. The framework uses ATR(5) on the SPX one-minute chart as the volatility-compression input to the three-signal entry rule. The default ATR period in most platforms is 14; the framework uses 5 explicitly. ATR(5) compression — defined as a sustained low reading across at least ten consecutive one-minute bars — is the second of three required signals. Established in Chapter 16.
- AI-augmented trader
- The trader who runs the framework. The phrase names a working modality: a single trader operating the full discipline of a systematic SPX 0DTE framework with AI absorbing the operational tax — premarket analysis, intraday updates, post-mortem authorship, framework iteration — that would otherwise make the framework impossible to run alone. The book’s title is a description of the modality, not an aspirational claim.
- AI dependency
- The framework’s AI dependency is on Claude. The framework was built against Claude as the strategic intelligence layer, the six prompts are written in voice and structure that target Claude, and the framework’s verification discipline assumes Claude as the assistant being verified against. A trader operating the framework on a different AI platform is doing legitimate work, but is responsible for re-validating prompt outputs in that environment. Established in Chapter 10.
B
- Barchart Premier
- The framework’s confirmed AI ingestion source for SPX options chain data. Barchart Premier provides a CSV export of the SPX options chain that includes the strike-by-strike Greeks the framework’s GEX analysis depends on. The framework treats Barchart Premier as the sole source of record for AI ingestion. Other sources are evaluated for visual reference or supplementary context but are not used as input to the framework’s premarket build. Established in Chapter 4.
- Bear call spread
- A defined-risk credit structure consisting of a short call at one strike and a long call at a higher strike on the same expiration. The trader collects credit at entry; the maximum loss is the wing width minus the credit. The framework uses bear call spreads as a directional credit expression in Dealer Gamma Long and as a fade entry expression at the Resistance Zone in Dealer Gamma Short. Walked in Chapter 15.
- Bold-lead paragraph
- A paragraph format used throughout the book where the opening phrase is bolded and carries a complete claim, with the rest of the paragraph elaborating it. The bold lead is intended to read as a standalone summary; the elaboration is the support. The pattern is one of the book’s standing voice conventions and is named here because readers may notice the format and wonder whether it carries semantic meaning beyond emphasis. It does not; it is a navigational aid.
- Bull put spread
- A defined-risk credit structure consisting of a short put at one strike and a long put at a lower strike on the same expiration. The trader collects credit at entry; the maximum loss is the wing width minus the credit. The framework uses bull put spreads as a directional credit expression in Dealer Gamma Long and as a fade entry expression at the Support Zone. Walked in Chapter 15.
C
- Call Wall (CW)
- The strike with the highest absolute call gamma concentration in the current dealer structure. CW functions as a hard structural ceiling because the dealer hedging flows at that strike are the largest in the system. The framework rule is explicit: short call strikes must clear CW by a minimum of ten points. Established in Chapter 7.
- Canon
- Inside the framework, canon refers to the rules, definitions, and conventions that are settled and operate without re-derivation in any session. The Session Framework Load prompt (Prompt 6) carries the canon at session start. Canon updates are deliberate and infrequent; they happen through the framework iteration discipline (Chapter 13) and are propagated through the Prompt 6 update. The framework’s canon is not the same as the broader options-trading literature’s canon.
- Canon-evaluation
- The discipline by which a candidate framework rule is evaluated for inclusion in the canon. The candidate clears four pre-evaluation conditions, runs through five canon-evaluation stages, and clears three operational gates before hardening into canon. Walked in Chapter 25.
- Cboe Level 1
- Real-time bid, ask, and last quotes for SPX options as published by the Cboe options exchange. Live Level 1 data is required for 0DTE execution management; fifteen-minute delayed data is not sufficient. Establishing a Level 1 subscription on the trading platform is part of the Pre-Trade Validation Checklist (Appendix D).
- Claude
- The AI system the framework is built around. Anthropic’s Claude is the strategic intelligence layer in both the enriched and the Claude-only configurations of the framework’s AI toolkit. The framework’s six prompts are written for Claude. Established in Chapter 9 and Chapter 10.
- Closing pull-quote
- The italicized, indented sentence that closes most chapters in the book. It is rhetorical, not operational — a thematic compression of the chapter’s argument rather than a rule the trader is expected to apply. Pull-quotes are reproduced verbatim from the chapter prose and are not new claims.
- Compression
- In the framework, volatility compression is a sustained low reading on ATR(5) across at least ten consecutive one-minute bars. Compression is the second of three required entry signals; it indicates that the structural read on the chart is being respected by price action in real time. Established in Chapter 16.
- Credit received
- The net premium collected at entry on a credit spread or iron condor, reported as the net credit per contract. The framework records credit received in the trading journal alongside the trade structure and the realized risk. Used in the post-mortem to compute return on risk. Walked in Chapter 20.
- CSV (Barchart SPX options chain export)
- The comma-separated-values file the framework uses as the canonical input to the premarket GEX analysis. The CSV exports the strike-by-strike Greeks for the full SPX options chain on the current expiration. Submitted to Claude alongside the panel screenshot at session start through the Premarket Setup prompt. Established in Chapter 4.
D
- Danger Top (DT)
- The outer call gamma boundary above the Resistance Zone. Beyond DT, gamma structure thins; risk profile for short call positions is elevated. Established in Chapter 7.
- Danger Bottom (DB)
- The outer put gamma boundary below the Support Zone. Beyond DB, put gamma structure thins and negative gamma amplification intensifies. Short put positions below DB carry elevated tail risk. Established in Chapter 7.
- Danger Zone
- The low-gamma corridor between the primary support node and the dominant put gamma cluster (DB region) on the downside, and between the primary resistance node and the dominant call gamma cluster (DT region) on the upside. The framework does not target Danger Zone entries. DT and DB are context levels.
- Dealer Gamma Long
- The regime above GT, where aggregate dealer gamma exposure is net long. In this regime, dealer hedging is generally stabilizing: when price rises, dealers sell to maintain delta neutrality; when price falls, dealers buy. The framework’s default expressive structure in this regime is the iron condor. Established in Chapter 8.
- Dealer Gamma Short
- The regime below GB, where aggregate dealer gamma exposure is net short. In this regime, dealer hedging is generally destabilizing: when price falls, dealers sell more; when price rises, dealers buy more. The framework treats Dealer Gamma Short as a regime requiring different structural expressions and elevated risk discipline. Established in Chapter 8.
- Debit paid
- The net premium paid at entry on a debit structure (long condor, debit spread). Debit paid equals the maximum risk on the position. The framework records debit paid in the trading journal in a separate column from credit received because the two structure types have different risk-return profiles. Walked in Chapter 20.
- Discretionary Hold Limit Ratchet
- The framework rule that when a position transitions from a profit-target hold to a discretionary hold, the trader’s working limit order is updated to protect at least fifty percent of the accrued profit. The rule is named because the transition point is where a passive profit-taking discipline can drift into a hold-until-stop-out failure mode. Walked in Chapter 18.
- Disqualifier
- A condition that, if present, prevents an entry from being valid even when the three required entry signals align. The framework’s disqualifiers are enumerated in Chapter 16, Section 9, and include trader-state conditions (fatigue, ego, revenge, boredom) routed to Chapter 19, time-of-day disqualifiers, and macro-calendar disqualifiers routed to Chapter 21.
E
- EM (Expected Move)
- The implied range the options chain has priced for the session. The framework derives EM from the ATM straddle priced at the open. EM is fixed at the open and does not update during the session. Established in Chapter 7.
- EM+ (Expected Move Upper)
- The upper boundary of the day’s expected move. Computed as current SPX price plus the EM value at the open. Used by the framework as a structural range check on level placements and as a minimum boundary for short call placement. Established in Chapter 7.
- EM− (Expected Move Lower)
- The lower boundary of the day’s expected move. Computed as current SPX price minus the EM value at the open. Subject to skew asymmetry: EM− is structurally wider than EM+ in normal sessions because put-side implied volatility is elevated. Established in Chapter 7.
- EM consumption
- The portion of the day’s expected move that has been used by the time of evaluation. EM consumption is the third of three required entry signals. The framework rule: a meaningful share of the morning EM should already have been consumed before an iron condor or credit spread is opened, because an entry into an unconsumed EM is an entry against an unspent range. Established in Chapter 16.
- EOD Post-Mortem
- Prompt 5 in the framework’s six-prompt canon. Run at the close of the trading session, the EOD Post-Mortem prompt produces a structured write-up of the session against the framework’s own rules — what the entries were, whether they cleared the three signals, what was held, what was exited, and what the journal entry should record. Established in Chapter 11.
- ES futures
- E-mini S&P 500 futures. The framework uses the ES five-minute overnight chart to establish the overnight high, low, and VWAP before the open, which are submitted to the Premarket Setup prompt as part of the day’s starting context. ES also serves as a live intraday reference. Established in Chapter 4 and Appendix D.
F
- Fade entry
- An entry expression in which the short strike of a credit spread is placed at a structural resistance or support level on the second test of that level, with the position depending on the level holding. The framework’s fade entry rules require: bear call at RT, RB, or CW, or bull put at ST, SB, or PW; entry on second test only, never first; new GEX print between tests must confirm the node is holding; minimum credit and minimum wing width thresholds; no entries after 1:00 PM. Established in Chapter 17.
- Failure mode
- A specific way in which a discipline breaks. The framework names failure modes explicitly because naming them is the first step in guarding against them. Chapter 19 enumerates five failure modes the framework’s discipline is designed to prevent. Chapter 25 names four failure modes specific to framework evolution itself.
- Five failure modes (Chapter 19)
- The five named failure modes the framework’s discipline guards against: mid-session rule modification, structure-selection-by-bias, trader-state failures at entry, iteration-as-rationalization, and held-through-expiration as a category. Walked in Chapter 19.
- Framework
- Inside this book, the framework is the systematic SPX 0DTE practice the book documents — the discipline of running a regime-aware, level-aware, signal-confirmed trade selection process with AI as the operational tax absorber and the journal as the evidence record. The framework is not a strategy; strategies live inside the framework as expressive structures (iron condor, bull put, etc.) governed by the framework’s rules.
- Framework iteration
- The discipline by which the framework changes over time. Iteration happens out of session, against accumulated journal evidence, through the canon-evaluation discipline. Mid-session rule modification is a named failure mode and is not iteration. Walked in Chapter 13 and Chapter 25.
G
- Gamma
- The rate of change of an option’s delta with respect to the underlying price. Gamma exposure measures how much an option’s directional sensitivity will shift as the underlying moves. The framework’s GEX-based reading of the market is built on the aggregate gamma exposure of dealer positions, not on individual option gamma. Established in Chapter 2.
- Gamma Bottom (GB)
- The lower boundary of the gamma flip zone. Plotted alongside GT. Together GT and GB define the band within which dealer gamma transitions between regimes. Derived from the panel-stated value; it is the soft lower boundary of the zone, used for visualization, not for mechanical rules. Established in Chapter 7.
- Gamma exposure (GEX)
- The aggregate gamma position of options market makers across all SPX strikes. GEX is the framework’s primary structural input. Positive GEX indicates dealers are net long gamma (stabilizing); negative GEX indicates dealers are net short gamma (destabilizing). The framework reads GEX through panel screenshots and through the strike-by-strike CSV. Established in Chapter 2.
- Gamma flip
- The price level at which aggregate dealer gamma exposure transitions from net long to net short, read as the operative crossing nearest spot within the expected-move band rather than any incidental sign change far from price. The framework treats the gamma flip as a zone bounded by GT (upper) and GB (lower) rather than a single strike. Established in Chapter 7.
- Gamma Top (GT)
- The upper boundary of the gamma flip zone. The defining anchor of the framework. GT is the operative CSV zero-crossing nearest spot, the sign change within the expected-move band, and that CSV-derived crossing is GT’s hard mechanical anchor; a provider’s smoothed panel Gamma Flip value is read as corroboration, not as a figure that overrides it. The framework rule for GT is absolute: GT must hold before any iron condor or credit spread entry is valid. Established in Chapter 7.
- GEX-based framework
- A framework whose primary structural input is gamma exposure data rather than price action, technical indicators, or fundamental analysis. The book’s framework is GEX-based; the levels that organize every entry decision are derived from the GEX data, and the regime that governs which structures express the day’s setup is read from the GEX panel.
H
- Hard cutoff (3:00 PM)
- The framework rule that no new SPX 0DTE entries are taken after 3:00 PM Eastern. The rule is mechanical, not discretionary. Established in Chapter 18.
- hline
- The single confirmed-working function in WebullScript that the framework uses. Every line in the framework’s three indicators is an hline call. Established in Chapter 12 and detailed in Appendix B.
- HOD / LOD
- High of day and low of day. Two horizontal lines plotted on the chart by the Intraday HOD/LOD indicator that update live as price prints new session extremes. Used by the framework’s prompts and by the trader as a fixed reference for what range the session has actually traveled. Established in Chapter 12.
I
- IC
- Iron condor. See iron condor.
- Intraday Update
- Prompt 2 in the framework’s six-prompt canon. Run hourly through the session and any time price approaches a level the trader is watching. Refreshes the structural read against the most recent CSV. Established in Chapter 11.
- Iron condor
- A defined-risk credit structure consisting of a bear call spread and a bull put spread at the same expiration, with the short strikes positioned to bracket an expected price range. The framework’s default expressive structure in Dealer Gamma Long. Walked in Chapter 15.
J
- Journal (the trading journal)
- The evidence record the framework keeps for every trade taken. The journal records the structure, the credit or debit, the structural inputs, whether the entry cleared the three signals, the exit, the realized P&L, and the trader-state observations. The journal is what the framework iterates against. Walked in Chapter 20.