Build your own Rank columns with governed formulas
TradingFlow Rank now lets paid users create row-level numeric columns for Contracts and Symbols, validate them against approved fields, and keep the definitions inside saved views.
Every trader eventually develops a calculation they want beside the standard metrics: premium per unit of open interest, a volatility spread, or a simple liquidity screen. Rank custom formula columns let you build that calculation directly in the table without turning Rank into a spreadsheet or weakening its data rules.
Contracts and Symbols each have their own formula catalog. Your definition saves with the active Rank Saved View, while every displayed value is recalculated from the selected session's canonical rows.
Captured from the hosted 0.15.0 test build after the Rank session settled. 1: review existing user-defined columns. 2: start a new column. 3: write or ask AI about the draft. 4: the user still owns the final Create action. Market values are illustrative, not forecasts.
A formula belongs to one Rank leaf
You can create up to five custom numeric columns for Contracts and five separately for Symbols. The field lists stay independent because the two Rank leaves answer different questions:
- Contracts formulas work with row-level fields such as Premium, OI, Daily Volume, Flow DEX, Net DEI, Delta, IV, and Vol/OI.
- Symbols formulas work with full-chain and symbol fields such as IV30, RV20, RV30, Net DEX, premium totals, IV Rank, skew, market cap, and average stock volume.
- A Contracts formula cannot silently borrow a Symbols-only field, and neither catalog exposes categorical values or drawer-only structure.
That separation preserves the same canonical universes described in the Rank workbench guide: Contracts ranks traded contracts, while Symbols ranks the complete symbol catalog.
Open the custom-column editor
The editor is inside the active Rank table—not in Saved Views. With paid access:
- Open Rank Contracts or Rank Symbols.
- In the table toolbar, select Columns. The control is at the upper right of the active table.
- In the Columns popover, choose Custom columns (0). The number changes as you create columns.
- When the Custom formula columns modal opens, choose New column to open the editor. Existing columns appear in the same modal with edit and delete actions.
The Columns control follows the active Rank tab: Contracts opens the Contracts field catalog, while Symbols opens the Symbols catalog. If Custom columns is not available, check that you are signed in with paid access.
The entry point in the test app: 1. click Columns in the active table toolbar; 2. select Custom columns (count) at the bottom of the popover to open the modal.
Write a bounded expression, not code
The editor supports familiar arithmetic, comparisons, parentheses, and a compact set of numeric functions including ABS, IF, AND, OR, NOT, ROUND, MIN, MAX, LOG10, SQRT, and NA.
For example, this draft calculates Premium per unit of OI and explicitly returns N/A when OI is unavailable or zero:
IF([OI] > 0, [Premium] / [OI], NA())
1: the expression uses named fields. 2: the editor exposes only approved fields and functions. 3: a live row preview makes the result inspectable before save. 4: Create column is an explicit user action.
The editor checks syntax, field availability, function arguments, output type, and units before enabling creation. You can choose number, percent, or currency formatting and render the result as a value or a mini-bar. A visible custom header is always marked User-defined, so it cannot masquerade as a canonical TradingFlow metric.
What the boundary protects
A Rank formula is deterministic and row-local. It cannot execute JavaScript or SQL, call the network, read another row, reach historical sessions, or rebuild the table cohort. Cross-row aggregation, multi-session research, and full-chain joins remain work for a governed Cookbook recipe rather than a table formula.
Missing inputs, division by zero, invalid function domains, and non-finite results render N/A and sort after finite values. They never become a misleading zero. The same definition runs over the complete filtered cohort for sorting, and CSV export receives the calculated values—not an executable spreadsheet formula.
Only the normalized definition is saved: stable column ID, expression, format, display choice, dependencies, and revision. Calculated market values are never persisted. Reopening a historical session therefore evaluates the same definition against that session's own retained rows.
Ask AI, then keep the decision
The formula editor includes Ask AI for help drafting or repairing an expression. The assistant receives the selected Rank leaf's approved catalog and the current draft. Ordinary formula help sends no Rank rows; when you explicitly annotate a formula cell, only that result and its dependency inputs are attached.
AI can return a validated proposal, but it cannot create, save, or delete the column. You choose Use draft, inspect the editor and live preview, and then decide whether to save. Paid access, AI consent, credits, and the normal assistant rollout still apply.
Try the workflow
- Open Rank Contracts or Rank Symbols with paid access.
- In the active table, choose Columns, then Custom columns (count), and New column.
- Name the column, insert approved fields, and write the expression.
- Review validation, unit information, and the live row preview.
- Choose a format and display, then create the column when the result matches your intent.
- Sort, show or hide, and export it like another table column. Its definition remains part of the active Saved View.
Custom formulas help you express a repeatable research lens; they do not turn a calculation into a prediction or recommendation. Start from TradingFlow App Home, open Rank, and build the column that matches the question you are actually researching.
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