3. Symbols & Ticker Formats

A symbol identifies the instrument a chart shows. This page explains how to type symbols, how they resolve to a provider, and how the URL is normalized.

Typing a symbol

Symbols are case-insensitive and are normalized to uppercase. You can enter them in the toolbar's symbol input, in the URL (/chart/<symbol>), or pick them from a watchlist.

AAPL          # an equity (resolves to Massive)
BTCUSDT       # a crypto pair (resolves to Binance)

Pinning a provider

Two ways force a specific provider when a symbol could be ambiguous:

• A query parameter: ?provider=massive or ?provider=binance.

  /chart/AAPL?provider=massive
  /chart/BTCUSDT?provider=binance

• A prefix on the symbol using the two-letter provider code, separated by a colon:

  Prefix	Provider	Example
  MA:	Massive	MA:AAPL
  BI:	Binance	BI:BTCUSDT

If you do not specify a provider, the symbol resolves automatically (crypto pairs to Binance, equities to Massive), with Massive as the default.

URL normalization

After a symbol resolves, the workspace rewrites the URL to a canonical form: the ticker is uppercased, and the provider parameter is added only when it is needed (an explicit or non-default provider). A panel parameter is preserved so you can deep-link straight into the Indicators, Backtesting, or AI panels. If a lookup fails upstream, the workspace still loads the chart from your input and surfaces a load error rather than failing the page.

Next steps

See how live data flows in.

Next: Realtime vs Delayed Data