Order flow · Learn
Learn order flow for free: a step-by-step path with a live chart
You can learn order flow without paying for a course or a platform. The path below goes from the basics of the order book to the footprint, CVD, volume profile and liquidations, and every step can be practiced on a live chart for free, in your browser, with no account. The markets trade around the clock, so there is always something to watch.
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Open Swiftedge DepthThe path, step by step
1. Orders: resting and aggressive
Every trade matches a resting limit order (a maker) with an aggressive order that crossed the spread (a taker). The resting orders are the order book; the aggressive ones are the trades. Order flow is the contest between the two.
2. The order book, now: the DOM
The depth of market lists how much is waiting to buy and sell at each price at this moment. Large rows near the price are where aggressive orders have to work hardest.
3. The order book over time: the heatmap
A heatmap draws the order book over time, so you see when a level appeared, how long it stood and what happened when the price reached it.
4. Liquidity walls: held, eaten or pulled
A large resting order can absorb the price, be traded through, or disappear before the price arrives. Learning to tell the three apart is the core of reading a heatmap.
5. The trades: tape and bubbles
The tape lists every trade with its side and size; bubbles draw the same trades over the heatmap. Bursts of large prints show who would not wait.
6. Inside the candle: the footprint
A footprint chart counts the volume sold into the bid and bought from the ask at every price inside each candle. Imbalances and stacked imbalances show where one side dominated.
7. Delta and CVD
Delta is aggressive buying minus aggressive selling; CVD adds it up through the day. A price that rises while CVD falls is being carried by something other than market buying.
8. Where volume traded: volume profile and TPO
A volume profile shows how much traded at each price; TPO shows how much time was spent there. The point of control and the value area become reference levels.
9. Leverage: liquidations and positioning
In futures, leveraged positions are closed by force when the price moves against them. Real liquidations and estimates of where the next ones sit add a layer the order book alone does not show.
10. Put it together
A session workflow ties the steps together: mark the map, set alerts, read the contact at a level, count it on the footprint and check the totals.
How to practice
- Watch before you judge. Pick one market and one level and watch what happens when the price gets there. Write down what the book and the trades did.
- Replay with your notes. Depth keeps at least the last 24 hours: scroll back to the moments you noted and compare.
- Learn the words. The glossary explains every term used here, from absorption to value area.
- Use alerts instead of staring. Free alerts on a price or a large wall bring you back when it matters.
What order flow can and cannot tell you
Order flow describes what is resting in the book and what trades against it. It does not tell you what will happen next: large orders can be pulled, and the book Swiftedge shows is the perpetual futures book it records for each market, not every venue. Treat everything here as a way to read the market, not as a signal.
Common questions
Can I learn order flow for free?
Yes. The guides on this page are free, and every step can be practiced on a live chart in Swiftedge Depth and Terminal with no account: the order book heatmap, the DOM, the tape, the footprint chart, CVD and volume profile.
Do I need a paid platform to learn order flow?
No. Swiftedge gives the core views free in the browser, and replay of past sessions is in its Member Club. Paid platforms add trading from the chart and exchange-listed futures; the platform comparison shows what each one includes.
What should I learn first?
The two sides of every trade: resting orders in the book and aggressive orders that trade against them. The heatmap, the tape and the footprint all build on that.
Is order flow a trading signal?
No. Order flow describes what is resting and what traded. Swiftedge shows it for information and education; it is not a signal, a forecast or financial advice.
Which data does Swiftedge use?
Public perpetual futures data from Hyperliquid and Lighter: the order book and every trade with its aggressor side. Everything shown is Swiftedge's own calculation; the FAQ lists the sources.