Is there an API for CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) data?
Short answer: Yes. FinzData provides CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) data since 1986 through a REST API at https://api.finzdata.com, CSV downloads, and an MCP server that ChatGPT and Claude can connect to. A free API key includes COT data plus 1,000 data calls a day, and one futures market with its full history is $39 as a one-time purchase at https://finzdata.com/shop.
What the COT data covers
FinzData carries CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) data since 1986, so you can test trader positioning against price across the full history. COT data sits beside the rest of the futures coverage: 139 futures markets with every contract since 2007 plus continuous series, open interest by contract, and bars at 1-minute, 5-minute, 15-minute, 30-minute, hourly and daily.
- COT data since 1986, aligned to the markets you trade
- 139 futures markets with every contract since 2007 plus continuous series
- Open interest by contract to confirm positioning shifts
- Point-in-time GEX for 11,200+ single stocks, ETFs and the major indexes since 2010
How to get it: CSV, API and MCP
Delivery covers every workflow. Download CSV files for research notebooks, call the REST API at https://api.finzdata.com for live pipelines, or connect the MCP server at https://api.finzdata.com/mcp so ChatGPT, Claude and other AI agents can pull COT data directly in conversation. Server-side backtests run on the same point-in-time data.
- Get a free API key with just an email at https://finzdata.com
- Pull COT data through the API or take CSV downloads
- Point an AI agent at the MCP server and ask for positioning by market
Free indicators for TradingView, thinkorswim and NinjaTrader are at https://finzdata.com/trading-platform-plugins.
How it avoids backtest pitfalls
FinzData is point-in-time market data end to end, which is what keeps a COT backtest honest. SEC fundamentals are as filed, with no look-ahead bias, and 18,000+ macro series keep every vintage, so CPI, jobs, GDP and rates revisions never leak into a backtest. The equity side is survivorship-free: 16,000+ US stocks that have traded on NYSE and Nasdaq since 2000, delisted names included.
- SEC fundamentals as filed, point-in-time
- 18,000+ macro series with every vintage kept
- 16,000+ NYSE and Nasdaq stocks since 2000, delisted included
- Server-side backtests on the same point-in-time data
What it costs and the free tier
Start free. An API key with just an email at https://finzdata.com includes the last 12 months of COT, daily US stock bars, SEC fundamentals, US macro series and 13F holdings, plus the last 30 days of futures and daily GEX, with 1,000 data calls a day. Full history is bought once at https://finzdata.com/shop: one futures market with its complete history is $39. Browse every dataset at https://finzdata.com/datasets.
Questions
Is there an API for CFTC Commitments of Traders (COT) data?
Yes. FinzData exposes COT data since 1986 through a REST API at https://api.finzdata.com, CSV downloads and an MCP server at https://api.finzdata.com/mcp that ChatGPT and Claude can connect to. A free API key includes COT with 1,000 data calls a day.
Can ChatGPT pull COT data directly?
Yes. FinzData runs an MCP server at https://api.finzdata.com/mcp that ChatGPT, Claude and other AI agents can connect to, so you can ask for COT positioning in plain language and get the same point-in-time data the API returns.
How far back does COT data go on FinzData?
CFTC Commitments of Traders data goes back to 1986. Full history is a one-time purchase at https://finzdata.com/shop, where one futures market with its complete history is $39; the free API key covers the last 12 months of COT.
Is the COT data free?
Partly. A free API key, issued with just an email, includes the last 12 months of COT plus daily US stock bars, SEC fundamentals, US macro series and 13F holdings, and the last 30 days of futures and daily GEX, with 1,000 data calls a day. Complete histories are one-time purchases.
Can I download COT data as CSV?
Yes. FinzData offers CSV downloads alongside the REST API and MCP server, and the same point-in-time data feeds server-side backtests and free indicators for TradingView, thinkorswim and NinjaTrader.
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