Absorption Key Levels

Mark footprint areas where heavy participation occurs with comparatively limited directional delta and track later reactions.

CATEGORY

Orderflow

DIFFICULTY

Intermediate

REQUIREMENT

TradingView Footprint data access

Absorption Key Levels scans footprint rows for areas where participation is unusually meaningful while directional delta remains comparatively contained. Qualifying areas can become horizontal reference levels that remain active until price interacts with them.

Think of the tool as a way to retain potentially important orderflow locations from prior candles, then observe how price behaves when those locations are revisited.

At a glance

What this indicator answers

  • Where did the footprint show unusually important participation?

  • Was the row directionally leaning or relatively neutral?

  • Is the level still untested?

  • How does price react when it returns to the level?

  • Does the revisit produce a clean wick rejection or simple acceptance through it?

Quick start

  1. Confirm Footprint data is available.

  2. Keep Confirmed Only enabled while learning the indicator.

  3. Start with the relative-volume filter rather than aggressively lowering thresholds.

  4. Observe active absorption levels and wait for price to revisit them.

  5. Use wick-rejection markers as reaction evidence, not as a guarantee.

How to read it

Absorption row

A footprint row that passes the active participation and delta-balance filters.

Buy-leaning / sell-leaning color

Directional lean of the qualifying row. Lean is context; absorption itself is about participation versus directional progress.

Extended level

Carries the absorption price forward until it is touched.

Glow

Visual emphasis around an active absorption level.

Wick rejection triangle

Shows a revisit that touches the level and closes back on the same side according to the rejection rule.

ABS label

Optional label at the detected row.

Footprint requirement

TradingView Footprint data access is required. No footprint means the indicator cannot inspect the underlying price rows.

Reading absorption

The useful idea is not simply “high volume”. Absorption context appears when participation is meaningful but directional imbalance is limited enough to suggest that aggressive activity may be meeting opposing liquidity.

A detected level can later behave as support, resistance or simply get accepted through. The revisit is where the level becomes most useful.

First revisit

A wick rejection is stronger contextual evidence than a touch alone because price tested the level and returned to the original side by candle close. It is still not a guaranteed reversal.

Troubleshooting

Why is there a “No footprint data” warning?

The symbol/timeframe/account is not returning Footprint data to the script.

Why do I see very few absorption rows?

The relative/absolute participation and delta filters may be selective. Change one filter at a time.

Why did a level stop extending?

Active levels freeze when price touches them according to the indicator’s interaction handling.

Why did a touch not print a rejection triangle?

A touch is not enough; the candle also has to satisfy the configured wick-rejection behavior and confirmation setting.

Works well with

  • Orderflow Bubble Engine

  • Node Breach Engine

  • Session Auction Map

Documentation boundary

This page describes what the indicator exposes to the user and how to interpret it. It intentionally does not publish source code, proprietary formulas, hidden preset resolution, optimization search logic or enough internal logic to recreate the engine.

Settings reference

Footprint Ticks

int

Sets footprint row aggregation used by the absorption scan.

Increase for smoother/larger rows; reduce for more granular rows where practical.

Row size materially changes which footprint areas are compared.

Confirmed Only

bool

Waits for candle close before creating the relevant event/level.

Keep enabled when you want stable confirmed-candle behavior.

Disabling can make information appear intrabar before the candle is finalized.

Toggle Absolute Min Value

bool

Controls value-area boundaries or their visualization.

Change mainly for analytical focus or chart clarity.

Visual settings do not change the underlying profile unless the setting explicitly changes Value Area itself.

Absolute Min Threshold (inline)

float

Sets the absolute row-volume floor used when the absolute-minimum filter is enabled.

Raise it to require heavier participation or lower it when the market normally trades smaller row volumes.

Symbol/timeframe dependent; avoid copying one threshold blindly across markets.

Toggle Relative Volume

bool

Controls the participation/relative-activity requirement used by this feature.

Adjust when the symbol’s normal activity is materially different from the current setting.

Lowering filters usually increases noise; raising them usually makes events more selective.

Relative Volume Lookback (inline)

int

Sets the lookback used to establish normal row participation for the relative-volume filter.

Use a longer lookback for slower context or a shorter one for faster adaptation.

Changing the lookback changes what counts as unusually large activity.

Relative Volume Multiplier (inline)

float

Sets how far above the recent participation baseline a row must be to qualify.

Raise it for fewer, more selective absorption areas; lower it for more candidates.

Lower values usually increase noise.

Max Delta

float

Sets the maximum absolute directional delta share allowed for an absorption row.

Lower it to focus on more balanced high-participation rows; raise it to allow more directional rows.

This changes the type of activity classified as absorption-like.

Max Absorption Rows

int

Limits how many qualifying absorption areas can be created from one candle.

Reduce to keep only the most important rows or increase when you want more detail.

Higher values can add chart clutter.

Show Wick Rejection

bool

Enables or disables Wick Rejection.

Toggle this when wick rejection is or is not part of your workflow.

Turning a filter off can materially increase the number of eligible events; turning a visual off only hides it.

Confirmed Only

bool

Waits for candle close before creating the relevant event/level.

Keep enabled when you want stable confirmed-candle behavior.

Disabling can make information appear intrabar before the candle is finalized.

Absorption (buy-leaning) Color

color

Controls the color used for this visual element.

Change only for chart readability or personal theme preference.

Visual-only; it does not affect calculations.

Absorption (sell-leaning) Color

color

Controls the color used for this visual element.

Change only for chart readability or personal theme preference.

Visual-only; it does not affect calculations.

Absorption (neutral) Color

color

Controls the color used for this visual element.

Change only for chart readability or personal theme preference.

Visual-only; it does not affect calculations.

Row Box Transparency

int

Controls how strongly this visual element is drawn.

Adjust for readability when the chart becomes too busy.

Visual-only; higher transparency makes the element less visible.

Level Width

int

Controls the visual width or thickness of the related element.

Adjust for readability.

Visual-only unless the setting name explicitly describes a calculation window.

Show 'ABS' Label

bool

Shows or hides the show 'abs' label visual layer.

Toggle it to simplify or expand the chart.

Visual-only; it does not change the underlying calculation.

Max Absorption Tracked

int

Controls how much historical visual state is retained.

Reduce it when charts become crowded or resource limits are reached.

Primarily a display/performance setting.