Yahoo Finance Options & Volatility Intelligence 📈

Full option chains from Yahoo Finance — plus the derived signals traders actually screen on: put/call ratios, at-the-money IV, volatility skew, max pain, and unusual-activity flags. Any optionable US-listed ticker. No API key.

Most scrapers hand you a wall of contracts and leave the analysis to you. This one ships the metrics layer too, so a run answers "how is this name positioned?" — not just "what strikes exist?"

Built for options traders, quant researchers, trading-tool builders, newsletter writers and risk dashboards.

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Modes

Mode	What you get	Rows
metrics	The intelligence layer: put/call ratio (OI & volume), ATM implied volatility, IV skew, max pain, totals, most-active contract.	1 per expiration
chain	Every contract: strike, bid/ask/mid, spread %, last price, IV, open interest, volume, moneyness, ITM flag.	1 per contract
unusual	Only contracts where today's volume outruns standing open interest — the classic fresh-positioning tell.	1 per flagged contract

What the metrics mean

Field	Reading
put_call_ratio_oi / _volume	>1 = puts outweigh calls (defensive positioning). <1 = call-heavy.
atm_iv_pct	Implied volatility at the money — the market's expected move.
iv_skew_10pct	OTM put IV minus OTM call IV, in IV points. Positive = downside protection bid up (normal for equities); a spike means hedging demand.
max_pain_strike	Strike where option holders collectively collect the least at expiry. max_pain_vs_spot_pct shows how far that sits from the current price.
vol_oi_ratio	Volume ÷ open interest. Above 1 = today's trading exceeded every standing contract.

Examples

Positioning snapshot across a watchlist

{ "symbols": ["AAPL", "SPY", "NVDA"], "mode": "metrics", "maxExpirations": 3 }

Near-the-money chain for one expiration

{ "symbols": ["TSLA"], "mode": "chain", "maxExpirations": 1, "strikeRangePct": 10 }

Unusual activity sweep

{ "symbols": ["NVDA", "AMD"], "mode": "unusual", "minVolume": 500, "minVolOiRatio": 2 }

A specific expiration, puts only

{ "symbols": ["SPY"], "mode": "chain", "expirationDates": ["2026-09-18"], "optionType": "puts" }

Controlling run size

A single liquid chain can run to 1,500+ contracts. Two inputs keep it sane:

• strikeRangePct (default 25) — keep only strikes within ±X% of spot. The far wings rarely trade. Set 0 for the entire chain.
• maxExpirations (default 3) — how many of the nearest expiries to pull. Or name exact dates with expirationDates.

Notes

• No API key. Yahoo gates its options endpoint behind a per-session cookie + crumb handshake; the actor performs it automatically and re-negotiates if the crumb expires mid-run.
• Proxy is on by default and recommended. Yahoo rate-limits the handshake per IP. If you see handshake warnings, keep the proxy enabled.
• Skew is moneyness-based, not delta-based. Yahoo publishes no greeks, so iv_skew_10pct compares strikes by distance from spot rather than by 25-delta. Tune the distance with skewPct.
• Metrics mode needs both sides of the chain — leave optionType on all for it, since ratios and skew are undefined otherwise.
• Index options work using their Yahoo symbols (^SPX, ^VIX). Tickers with no listed options are reported and skipped rather than failing the run.
• Data is delayed per Yahoo's public feed and is provided for research — not investment advice.