Select futures products and dated contracts

Distinguish a product from a dated instrument

A futures product root, such as ES or MNQ, identifies a family and asks the application to resolve an actual listed contract. A dated symbol identifies a particular expiry. These are related selections, not interchangeable storage identities. A contract roll changes which instrument is current, and a micro contract remains separate from the larger contract even when both use a similar price scale. Begin by deciding whether you want the currently resolved contract or a specific expiry for a historical investigation. That choice affects which observations, drawings and profiles can legitimately be reused.

Choose through the supported catalog

Use the current application catalog rather than constructing an unfamiliar symbol from a remembered month code. Availability depends on supported references and the provider's permissions.

1. Open Order Flow and use the watchlist management controls to search for a supported futures product or dated contract.
2. Add the desired entry to your watchlist and select its row.
3. If you selected a root, inspect the resolved dated contract when the tool exposes it.
4. Verify the exchange and contract in quote, chart or source details before comparing another widget.
5. For a historical review, check that the selected expiry matches the period you intend to study rather than automatically using today's current root resolution.

Keep micros and larger contracts distinct

MES and ES, or MNQ and NQ, can move closely together, but they represent separate instruments with separate executions and books. Do not treat the volume on one as the volume on the other or use a matching-looking price as proof of shared capture. A drawing or session profile requires its own exact contract. Some display-coordinate features intentionally use related futures references, but they preserve that mapping's source and target identity. That is different from relabeling one native order book as another contract.

Verify identity across dashboard widgets

Map's Futures layout can place Depth Map, Footprint, DOM, Order Flow and OHLC tools together. Confirm the effective instrument in each widget rather than relying on the layout name. Native futures dashboard tools share one leased symbol at a time; a different requested symbol can show a queued state with Take over. Use Take over when you intend to move the active dashboard stream to that selection. Adding another widget does not create unlimited independent upstream feeds, and a queued state is not equivalent to the provider reporting an empty book.

Understand which saved evidence depends on the expiry

Retained executions, depth continuity, BBO, captured session profiles and instrument-specific drawings are associated with actual contracts. A current contract's synchronized book cannot repair missing depth from an earlier expiry. An OHLC indicator that maps options levels onto futures also needs a matching dated reference for its target. If you change contract and an overlay becomes unavailable, inspect that requirement before copying levels manually. A saved template can carry appearance and mode preferences across selections, but it does not carry one contract's market evidence into another.

Read provider availability without guessing

A supported catalog entry does not guarantee that the connected provider account has the exchange permission required to supply it. A root may also need actual provider resolution before a dated selection is ready. Read the source or availability message and give the current selection time to settle. If quotes work but native depth does not, investigate the depth-specific state rather than assuming the product name is wrong. Missing historical data can have a different cause from missing current market permission, so compare the exact requested date and layer.

Troubleshoot a wrong or missing contract

Record the searched entry, selected watchlist row, resolved symbol, exchange and date. Compare those details across the working quote and the affected chart. If the discrepancy appeared near a roll, explain whether you chose the root or an explicit expiry. Try the intended exact listed contract when the catalog provides it, rather than repeatedly toggling similar roots. Include the source message and instrument details in a support ticket. This lets support distinguish a catalog-resolution issue, a legitimate identity change, an unsupported historical expiry or a provider-permission limit.