I built an options trading system with AI. Thought it was solid. Then I realized I wasn't transparent enough… so I tore it apart and rebuilt it! FREE TO HOST YOURSELF - ENJOY! ALL FEEDBACK WELCOME :)
u/Plastic-Edge-1654 ·
Reddit — r/smallstreetbets
· March 09, 2026 at 04:40
· ⬆ 155 pts
· 💬 74 comments
| View on Reddit ↗
AI Summary
Summary
The author, u/Plastic-Edge-1654, has built and significantly rebuilt a sophisticated, AI-driven options trading system. The system scans stocks, scores them through a multi-step pipeline, and generates detailed trade ideas.
The author's primary focus was to increase the transparency of the system's decision-making process, moving from a "black box" model to one where every step and data point is visible and explainable.
Quality assessment: This is a detailed explanation of a trading methodology, not traditional Due Diligence (DD) on a specific stock. The post is high-quality in its description of the system's architecture and logic, but it does not present backtested results or live performance data, making its efficacy speculative.
Score155
Comments74
Upvote %92%
▶ Full Post Text
[New Trade Card is Done! ](https://preview.redd.it/klufwhr47yng1.png?width=999&format=png&auto=webp&s=e764bcce3bd6a9b984f691ab97bd26df55284088)
Three weeks ago I posted the first real version of my options scanning system.
It scans hundreds of stocks, runs them through a scoring engine, and generates trade cards with suggested options positions.
The responses I got from the post asked a lot of good questions and requested that I give updates.
So here they are!
**Two main questions kept coming up:**
*“Cool… but can you explain / prove the output?”* and *“Can you explain the math behind the trade?”*
I think those were good questions. Because it forced me to go back and read the code. And when I looked at the code… I realized it would be easier to explain / understand if things stopped happening under the hood.
So I tore the entire pipeline apart! and did my best to surface every step!
Two weeks later the system looks completely different.
# Here's what changed
**1. Multi-expiration evaluation**
*Before:* Scanner grabbed the expiration closest to 30 days.
*Now:* The scanner evaluates every expiration between 15–60 DTE. Strategies are built for all expirations. Each expiration is scored. The expiration with the best composite score wins.
**2. The pipeline is now more transparent**
Every scan now runs through 12 visible steps. Every number shown. Every formula visible. No black boxes. I also constructed a data observatory to prove all the data pipes are working as they should.
[Data Observatory ](https://preview.redd.it/klfa5m40zxng1.png?width=1036&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd62beede99851fdaef9e490ba7ed00758b665f4)
***Step A -*** symbols with in a selected index pulled from TastyTrade.
[Step A](https://preview.redd.it/rlzco7raxxng1.png?width=1017&format=png&auto=webp&s=508d1fd620eb0970fa56636f87121d213387d58d)
***Step B -*** Pre-scored on IV Rank + liquidity.
[Step B](https://preview.redd.it/03k8q6thxxng1.png?width=990&format=png&auto=webp&s=6474e72ab4e480b5ef6f04b5924f8d9effb411b1)
***Step C -*** Top 45 survive.
[Step C](https://preview.redd.it/xb7o3n9mxxng1.png?width=979&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ffb96177bba7450b0632092cf82a8cac8f4a561)
***Step D -*** Five hard filters:
* market cap
* borrow rate
* earnings proximity
* liquidity
* IV existence
Break one rule → ticker deleted.
[Step D](https://preview.redd.it/sog8anarxxng1.png?width=989&format=png&auto=webp&s=8df79a1f0306261fac64b37ab315fbffbb8885e8)
***Step E-*** Peer grouping via Finnhub. (AAPL is compared to MSFT / META / GOOGL, not the entire market).
[Step E](https://preview.redd.it/m7w2ydrvxxng1.png?width=989&format=png&auto=webp&s=d302a1e78555db1a9df536e398975ac31b4dae1f)
***Step F-*** Re-scoring via peer z-scores. (Top 18 advance).
[Step F](https://preview.redd.it/r1rtn7szxxng1.png?width=981&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f611fcd466ddc35e9385a83f9f561142cbbb086)
***Step G -*** Deep enrichment. 144 Finnhub API calls pulling:
* earnings history
* insider activity
* analyst ratings
* SEC filings
* institutional ownership
[Step G](https://preview.redd.it/yc9nqnr2yxng1.png?width=986&format=png&auto=webp&s=1eb86cd0c5c0599c2585e40b1f2c4f1a29402442)
***Step H -*** Four-gate scoring engine:
* Vol Edge
* Quality
* Regime
* Info Edge
Weights shift dynamically based on macro regime. Right now the system detects Stagflation, so Quality and Regime receive higher weights.
[Step H](https://preview.redd.it/2tslvmn6yxng1.png?width=982&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f680fb4f3ad0f7b5fd291017988f2f830c0610d)
***Step I -*** Final 9 tickers selected. Rules:
* max two per sector
* convergence gate (3 of 4 scores >50)
* quality floor (>40)
[Step I](https://preview.redd.it/suh1pzm9yxng1.png?width=987&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf72b7f02ff4ff0a11a9adaf7cbfe1eac76ef661)
***Step J -*** Options chain fetch. Every expiration 15–60 DTE evaluated (or whatever I filterd for, concerning DTE).
[Step J](https://preview.redd.it/nogx73ocyxng1.png?width=986&format=png&auto=webp&s=18528fc710f521c567dd7fce3e908f534109ca8a)
***Step K -*** Strategy scoring.
* Gate A — positive EV
* Gate B — PoP floor
* Gate C — minimum credit
Final score:
EV/Risk (50%)
Theta efficiency (30%)
Edge ratio (20%)
[Step K](https://preview.redd.it/9ivo4mqfyxng1.png?width=990&format=png&auto=webp&s=797791cec2a915f196faebe17aa75fc48a815554)
***Step L -*** Trade card generated
[Step L](https://preview.redd.it/ymcjxktmzxng1.png?width=1027&format=png&auto=webp&s=c6097ece166fba02422671498dbffcce3688dd1e)
**3. Trade cards now show the entire thesis**
***Old card:*** “Here’s an iron condor.” Good luck!
***New card includes:*** FOR THE TRADE and AGAINST THE TRADE. Both sourced from actual data. ***Each card includes:***
* volatility mispricing signals
* company fundamentals
* macro regime breakdown
* insider activity
* analyst consensus
* FinBERT news sentiment
* Social sentiment
The system pulls live X posts via Grok. Not just a sentiment score.
Actual posts are shown and labeled:
* bullish bearish neutral
* Themes extracted.
* Timestamp included.
**4. Trade cards now link to real positions**
When I click **Enter Trade**, the entire card saves. All **44 data fields**.
* When the trade opens → linked to the card.
* When it closes → thesis graded.
* Did the signals hold?
* Did the gates work?
That’s the feedback loop.
https://preview.redd.it/3eitz28b6yng1.png?width=1064&format=png&auto=webp&s=29b7c2c0cfa96dac8ff0868397aacbacbfb6ff2b
**5. I also finished the accounting layer**
Because if you don’t track real P&L properly, none of this matters.
The system now includes:
• Plaid transaction sync
• merchant mapping
• idempotent API request IDs
• single source of truth ledger table
Every number on the P&L traces back to **one database record.**
https://preview.redd.it/hezoq8pk6yng1.png?width=1043&format=png&auto=webp&s=93871d5af910dd7d497001685e034f85a7c9964a
# The full loop
Scanner finds trade
→ card stores thesis
→ trade executed
→ ledger records it
→ trade closes
→ thesis graded
Scanner + bookkeeping + trade tracking in one system.
# Live testing starts Monday (tomorrow AM)
I ran the previous version last week but stopped immediately.
The data quality wasn’t good enough. So I rebuilt it.
Starting Tomorrow:
Real money (small amount). Real positions. Daily updates
The system either works or it doesn’t. The numbers don’t care about my feelings.
Scanner is opn source (AGPL v3): [https://github.com/Temple-Stuart/temple-stuart-accounting](https://github.com/Temple-Stuart/temple-stuart-accounting)
Not financial advice. Just a normal guy working with AI trying to build something institutional traders might recognize.
Still breaking it. Still fixing it. Still sharing!
All feedback welcome!