Working with Options Contracts Using the Polygon API

Accessing reliable market data is a critical first step for any modern trader or developer, but navigating complex options chains can be overwhelming. This text-based course guides you through the fundamental concepts of options contracts and teaches you how to programmatically retrieve this data. You will learn how to connect to the Polygon API, query options endpoints, and filter results by strike price, expiration date, and contract type. By applying modern Python coding standards, you will transform raw API responses into clean, structured datasets ready for analysis. What you'll learn: Understand core options concepts including calls, puts, strike prices, and expiration dates; Configure API connections securely to retrieve market data; Filter options contracts efficiently based on specific financial criteria; Parse complex JSON payloads using modern Python type hints; Handle API rate limits and implement clean error-handling workflows. The course starts with basic terminology and options theory before moving into hands-on API requests. You will study practical code examples and read detailed explanations of how to structure financial data queries step-by-step. This course is designed for beginners in financial programming; basic familiarity with Python is helpful but no prior options trading experience is required. Start reading today to unlock programmatic access to options market data.