- Snapshot by snapshotSteps through
- Closed stay queryableMarkets
- Book ·
spread · depthWatch - 0 or 1Converges to
A price chart of a resolved market tells you where it ended. It does not tell you how the book got there, which level cracked first, when the makers stepped back, how the spread blew out as resolution closed in. The Replay Terminal steps through a closed market one captured snapshot at a time, so you watch the order book evolve instead of reading its summary.
Replay works because closed markets stay queryable. When a Polymarket event resolves, its snapshots do not disappear, the full bid / ask history remains, so any past event can be reloaded and stepped through. The terminal walks the snapshots in order and renders the book as it stood at each one.
What you watch evolve
The book reshaping
Each step redraws the full ladder, so you see levels build and vanish rather than a single line of best bid and ask.
- Full ladder per step
- Levels build / pull
- Not just the touch
The spread widening
As resolution nears and makers grow wary, the spread tends to blow out, replay shows the exact snapshot where it starts.
- Quote width over time
- Maker caution
- Pinpoint the turn
Probability converging
The mid drifts toward 0 or 1 as the outcome becomes certain, you watch conviction arrive, snapshot by snapshot.
- Mid → 0 or 1
- Conviction forming
- Resolution in motion
Depth thinning is the through-line. The same snapshots that show the spread widening show resting size draining out of the book, fewer orders waiting, smaller size at each level, a more fragile top of book the closer the market gets to settling.
Stepping through an event
- 1Find the resolved market, list historical markets, or resolve a known slug to its 0x conditionId.
- 2Load it into the Replay Terminal, which pulls the captured snapshots in order across the market’s life.
- 3Step forward snapshot by snapshot, or scrub to the window around resolution where the action concentrates.
- 4Watch best bid and ask, the full ladder, the spread, and the mid move together, each frame is the book exactly as it stood.
The fields each frame is built from
- bids[] ·
asks[]The full ladder rendered at each step mid_priceConverges toward 0 or 1 into resolution- spreadWidens as makers grow cautious
event_timestampThe order the frames play back in
Frames play back in event_timestamp order, Polymarket’s own emit time, so the sequence you watch is the order the market actually moved in, not the order our pipeline happened to process it. That is what makes the replay a faithful reconstruction rather than an approximation.
What replay teaches that a chart can’t
- A chart shows the price path; replay shows the cause, which side of the book gave way and when, not just that the mid moved.
- You see liquidity leave before the price does, depth thinning is often the early tell a static line never captures.
- The spread blow-out has a first snapshot, and replay lets you find it, which is where an event study would start its window.
- Resolution is not a single jump but a convergence you can watch arrive, conviction building level by level toward 0 or 1.
Any past event, still there to replay
Because resolved markets stay queryable, the replay archive is not limited to what is live now. You can step through events that ended days or weeks ago exactly as they unfolded, which also means your study set includes the markets that resolved, not just the ones still trading.
A chart is the market’s obituary; replay is the footage. One tells you it ended at 1, the other shows you the snapshot where the book gave up.
Step through a resolved market
Open the Replay Terminal from the dashboard, or read how snapshots are queried by market and time range.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Replay Terminal?
It is a viewer that steps through a market’s captured order-book snapshots one at a time, redrawing the full book as it stood at each one. Instead of a static price chart, you watch the ladder reshape, the spread widen, depth thin, and the mid converge toward resolution, the market unfolding rather than its summary.
Can I replay a market that has already resolved?
Yes, that is the point. Closed markets stay queryable, so their full snapshot history remains available after they settle. You can load any past event into the terminal and step through it exactly as it happened, which also keeps resolved markets in your study set rather than dropping them.
What order do the snapshots play back in?
In event_timestamp order, Polymarket’s own emit time, so the sequence you watch matches the order the market actually moved in, not the order our pipeline processed the updates. That makes the replay a faithful reconstruction of the book’s evolution.
What does replay show that a price chart doesn’t?
Cause and timing. A chart shows the price path; replay shows which side of the book gave way and when, lets you see liquidity drain before the price moves, and pinpoints the exact snapshot where the spread blew out. It turns resolution from a single jump into a convergence you can watch arrive level by level.