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AK FlowBook for TradingViewGetting startedAK FlowBook for TradingView: overviewGet access to AK FlowBook Lite and FullQuick start: your first chart with AK FlowBookAK FlowBook Lite: complete guideChart componentsVWAP map: daily, weekly and monthly VWAPVolume profiles: POC, VAH and VAL (D/W/M)Naked levels: nPOC, nVAH, nVAL and nVWAPIntrabar flow estimates: delta, absorption, CVDFootprint panel (developing bar)Liquidity: pools, sweeps and 15-minute levelsLiquidity sequences: LQ-B*, LQ-S* and the chainStructure zones: FVG, order blocks, breakersSessions and killzonesHigher-timeframe context: HTF, MTF, IchimokuSetup context: AK score labels, long and shortFlowBook X confluence markerDashboard: every row explainedSettingsMarket presetsDisplay mode, Marker mode and event switchesAlerts: setup, context and liquidity messagesSettings reference (AK FlowBook Full)GuidesGuide: your first session with AK FlowBookGuide: futures levels on an XAUUSD CFD chartGuide: reading absorption (A~) at a levelHelpTroubleshootingFAQ
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Guide: your first session with AK FlowBook

On this page
Before the session: build the map (10 minutes)During the session: watch reactions (the session itself)After the session: review (10 minutes)What you practiced

This guide walks you through one gold session, from preparation to review. The goal is to read the chart with a plan, not to react to every marker. It takes about 15 minutes before the session and 10 minutes after.

You need: AK FlowBook Full on OANDA:XAUUSD or COMEX:GC1!, 5-minute chart, default settings (see Quick start). A notebook or a spreadsheet for your notes.

Before the session: build the map (10 minutes)

1. Check the data

Look at the dashboard header. It should read XAU/GC Intraday • IB 1. If it says PROXY, the flow estimates are working without intrabars; see Troubleshooting.

2. Write down the big references

From the right-side labels, note:

  • W VWAP, W VAH, W VAL and M VWAP: the larger picture.
  • PDH, PDL and PRE D VWAP: where yesterday ended.
  • The developing D VAH, D VAL and D POC.

Ask one question: is price inside or outside the weekly value area? Inside usually means the market is still balancing. Outside means it is testing new prices.

3. Mark the untested levels

Read the Naked ↑ / ↓ row and look for nPOC, nVAH, nVAL and nVWAP lines near price. These are references the market has not revisited.

4. Mark the liquidity

Note the session lines (the London high and low before New York), any EQH or EQL lines, and MAJ and L2 15-minute levels near price. Many stops tend to sit beyond these prices.

5. Read the context

  • HTF / Regime: the 15-minute trend and whether the market is trending or balancing.
  • MTF arrows: do 15 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours and daily agree?
  • PD zone: is price in the premium or discount half of its last swing range?

Write one sentence, for example: "Price is below weekly value, at the prior day low, 15-minute trend short bias, MTF mixed." That sentence is your frame for the session.

6. Pick two or three levels to watch

Choose the levels where several references sit together, for example a naked POC next to the prior day low. Those are your places to pay attention. Everything between them is less interesting.

During the session: watch reactions (the session itself)

7. Wait for price to reach a level

The dashboard Location row switches from Mid-air / no edge to Bull edge or Bear edge when price touches a level. • FIRST means it is the first return after price traveled away.

8. Watch what volume does at the level

If you turned on the flow markers (see Display and marker modes), look for:

  • A~ absorption: heavy volume that did not move price,
  • D~: strong one-sided pressure,
  • a SWP mark or LQ sweep: a level taken and closed back,
  • the footprint panel: where inside the bar volume concentrated.

Ask: did the push through the level hold, or did it fail? Is volume building here (acceptance) or is price leaving quickly (rejection)?

9. Read the setup context, do not follow it

If an AK score label or a FLOWBOOK X label appears, read the dashboard on that bar: Setup context, Score bull / bear, Layers bull / bear and Flow. It tells you which conditions lined up. It does not tell you what to do. See Setup context.

10. Note what happened

For each level you watched, write: what price did on arrival, what the flow estimates showed, and what happened over the next few bars.

After the session: review (10 minutes)

  1. Scroll back through the session. Find each level you planned to watch.
  2. Compare your notes with what happened. Did the reaction match the flow picture?
  3. Note which levels were taken (the lines disappear) and which held.
  4. Write one lesson for tomorrow.
Tip: Review closed bars only. Some flow markers (D~, BV~, A~) can change on the live bar, and swing-based markers (CVD~, Δ÷, 3D PRZ) are drawn back on the swing bar a few bars later. On a replay of history they all look as if they were there in real time.

What you practiced

  • Location first: every reading starts with where price is relative to value, VWAP and untested levels.
  • Reaction over prediction: you watched what happened at levels instead of guessing in advance.
  • Context, not instructions: you used markers as prompts to look closer.

Next: Reading absorption at a level and Futures levels on a CFD chart.

PreviousSettings reference (AK FlowBook Full)NextGuide: futures levels on an XAUUSD CFD chart

Education only. Not financial advice. Trading futures and CFDs carries a high risk of loss.