API Reference

Look up options contracts in bulk or fetch a single contract by its options ticker. Results include contract type, exercise style, expiration, strike, and related reference fields.

Quick definition: options contracts are the point-in-time reference records that tell your application which OCC tickers existed, what they represented, and how they should be joined to chains, quotes, trades, and aggregates.

New to the contract fields? Start with How Options Work, Strike Price Explained, and Option Expiration Explained.

Related guides: OCC Option Symbol Format Explained and Option Expiration Date Filters

Why contracts matter

Contracts are the universe boundary for options workflows. A chain snapshot tells you what the market looks like now, but the contracts endpoint tells you which instruments match a ticker, expiration, strike, contract type, and historical as_of date. That difference matters when a backtest or scanner must avoid choosing contracts that were not listed yet.

Use contracts before you request quote or trade history when the workflow starts from an underlying symbol rather than a known OCC ticker. Store the returned contract ticker with every downstream quote, trade, aggregate, snapshot, and fill decision. That makes the research artifact debuggable because every price series can be traced back to the exact listed instrument.

Failure modes

The most common error is treating today's contract list as if it existed on a prior research date. For backtests, pass as_of and record it. The second common error is assuming every valid stock ticker has the expiration or strike your strategy wants. Fetch contracts or expirations first, then reject empty universes explicitly instead of silently selecting the nearest current contract.

For current snapshots, a contract can return 404 after it expires or leaves the current snapshot feed. That does not mean historical reference data is gone. Use the contract detail endpoint with as_of for reference, then historical quotes, trades, or aggregates for the market state you need.

Endpoints

GET /v1/options/contracts
GET /v1/options/contracts/{options_ticker}

List contracts

Returns a reference index of options contracts. You can scan the full universe or narrow results with filters (underlying, expiration, strike, contract type, and more). By default, expired contracts are excluded. A single contract is loaded with GET /v1/options/contracts/{options_ticker}/. The list URL does not accept a ticker query parameter (requests that include it receive 400).

Query parameters

Pagination

Use limit (up to 1000) together with sort, order, and filters such as expiration or strike ranges to narrow results. When more rows exist, the response includes next_url: a complete URL for the next page. Request it with the same API key and repeat until next_url is absent.

Response (list)

Each element of results may include:

Example request (list)

curl \
  "https://api.cutemarkets.com/v1/options/contracts/?underlying_ticker=NFLX&limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Sample response (list)

{
  "results": [
    {
      "cfi": "OCASPS",
      "contract_type": "call",
      "exercise_style": "american",
      "expiration_date": "2026-04-02",
      "primary_exchange": "BATO",
      "shares_per_contract": 100,
      "strike_price": 40,
      "ticker": "O:NFLX260402C00040000",
      "underlying_ticker": "NFLX"
    },
    {
      "cfi": "OCASPS",
      "contract_type": "call",
      "exercise_style": "american",
      "expiration_date": "2026-04-02",
      "primary_exchange": "BATO",
      "shares_per_contract": 100,
      "strike_price": 45,
      "ticker": "O:NFLX260402C00045000",
      "underlying_ticker": "NFLX"
    }
  ],
  "status": "OK",
  "request_id": "cm_6e2beadb22f8498885af015fde6bfab2"
}

Contract detail

Returns reference data for one options contract: type (call/put), exercise style, expiration, strike, shares per contract, underlying symbol, primary exchange, and related metadata. Use it to confirm contract specifications, align chain or strategy logic, or integrate contract definitions into tooling.

Endpoint

GET /v1/options/contracts/{options_ticker}

Path parameters

Query parameters

Historical reference behavior

as_of is for contract reference data: expiration, strike, contract type, deliverables, and related metadata as of a date. It does not return a quote, mark, trade, IV, or Greeks. For expired or same-week contracts, use as_of to confirm the contract definition, then use quotes/trades with timestamp filters to reconstruct prior market state. Current snapshot endpoints may return 404 after a contract expires or leaves the current snapshot feed.

Response (detail)

Fields on results:

Example request (detail)

curl \
  "https://api.cutemarkets.com/v1/options/contracts/O:NFLX260402C00075000/" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Optional historical as-of:

curl \
  "https://api.cutemarkets.com/v1/options/contracts/O:NFLX260402C00075000/?as_of=2026-01-15" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Sample response (detail)

{
  "results": {
    "cfi": "OCASPS",
    "contract_type": "call",
    "exercise_style": "american",
    "expiration_date": "2026-04-02",
    "primary_exchange": "BATO",
    "shares_per_contract": 100,
    "strike_price": 75,
    "ticker": "O:NFLX260402C00075000",
    "underlying_ticker": "NFLX"
  },
  "status": "OK",
  "request_id": "cm_dae7973c238245a5bf0525814f03e3aa"
}

Some contracts include additional_underlyings when deliverables are not a single equity only, for example after mergers or spinoffs:

{
  "results": {
    "additional_underlyings": [
      { "amount": 44, "type": "equity", "underlying": "VMW" },
      { "amount": 6.53, "type": "currency", "underlying": "USD" }
    ],
    "cfi": "OCASPS",
    "contract_type": "call",
    "exercise_style": "american",
    "expiration_date": "2021-11-19",
    "primary_exchange": "BATO",
    "shares_per_contract": 100,
    "strike_price": 85,
    "ticker": "O:AAPL211119C00085000",
    "underlying_ticker": "AAPL"
  },
  "status": "OK",
  "request_id": "cm_9f3e2d1c0b4a5e6d7c8b9a0f1e2d3c4b"
}