calesthio

calesthio / OptionsCanvas

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Stop getting your stops hunted. SL/TP never touch your broker - only fires when the underlying actually breaches your level. And skip the options chain: drag your levels on the chart, we auto-pick the strike + DTE + contracts. The first open-source platform that does both.

github.comcalesthioOptionsCanvas 0dte algorithmic-trading alpaca charting day-trading
16
4
85% credibility
Found May 26, 2026 at 16 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Python
AI Summary

OptionsCanvas is an open-source options trading platform that runs entirely on your local computer. Instead of navigating confusing options chains and typing in strike prices, you drag your entry, stop loss, and take profit directly on a chart of the underlying stock (like SPY). The platform automatically picks the right contract, calculates your position size, and shows your potential profit and loss in real time as you drag. A key innovation is that your stop losses live on your machine and only become real orders when the price actually breaches your level — meaning high-frequency traders can never see or 'hunt' your stops. It connects to free paper-trading accounts from Alpaca or Tradier, supports hotkeys for two-keystroke execution, and keeps a complete trading journal in a local database. Everything is private — no logins, no cloud, no one watching your trades.

How It Works

1
🔍 You discover the project

You find OptionsCanvas while searching for a better way to trade options, drawn in by the promise of never getting your stops hunted again.

2
📦 You download and launch it

You download the ZIP file and double-click to run it. Everything sets itself up automatically, and your browser opens to a friendly setup screen.

3
🔗 You connect your broker account

The setup wizard asks you to paste your free paper-trading API keys from Alpaca or Tradier. You click 'Test connection' and everything lights up green.

4
📈 You see your chart come alive

The chart loads with real-time prices. You can drag indicators, draw lines, and see everything update as the market moves.

5
🎯 You place your first trade with two keystrokes

You press 'B' to buy a call. The platform picks the right contract, sizes it for your account, and shows your potential profit and loss right on the chart.

6
🛡️ You drag your stop loss onto the chart

Instead of typing numbers in a form, you drag the red 'SL' pill to where you actually want to exit. It stays hidden on your computer until the price actually hits that level.

✅ Everything works exactly as promised

Your trade is on, your stop is protected locally, and every fill is automatically recorded in your personal trading journal. You're trading smarter, faster, and safer.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is OptionsCanvas?

OptionsCanvas is a local trading platform that lets you trade options directly off the underlying stock chart. Instead of navigating the options chain, you drag Buy/SL/TP pills onto your SPY or QQQ chart and the platform auto-selects the strike, expiration, and contract count. The killer feature: your stops live on your machine, not in your broker's order book, so market makers cannot sweep them with wicks. When the underlying actually breaches your level, the platform fires a market order. Built in Python with a Flask backend and vanilla JavaScript frontend, it connects to Alpaca or Tradier and journals every trade to a local SQLite database.

Why is it gaining traction?

The value proposition is concrete: stop getting your stops hunted. By keeping SL/TP levels local and polling the underlying quote, the platform ensures your stops only fire after a real breach, not on a liquidity sweep. The other half of the pitch is speed: two keystrokes to enter a position, bracket orders drawn in one gesture, hotkeys for everything. This is a workflow tool for active traders who are tired of modal dialogs and want to think in the underlying price they actually read on the chart.

Who should use this?

Active options traders who scalp or swing short-dated options (0 DTE through monthlies) and want to execute from the underlying chart. If you are running a discretionary strategy and have been burned by stop hunting or slow ticket-based order entry, this addresses both. It is not a backtesting engine or automated strategy runner; it is a execution frontend for discretionary traders. Paper trading is the default, which is the right call for a project with this level of access to your brokerage.

Verdict

OptionsCanvas solves a real pain point with a thoughtful UX, and the open-source model means you can audit the stop logic before trusting it with your account. However, at 16 stars and a 0.85% credibility score, this is an early-stage solo project. The documentation is thorough and the test suite exists, but production validation against live capital is limited to Alpaca paper trading. Tradier support is marked experimental. Approachable for traders comfortable with Docker or a Python venv, but not yet a turnkey product for non-technical users. Worth watching if the stop-hunting problem resonates with your workflow.

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