Multi-Leg Options Strategies

By the end you will have a multi-leg options strategy (vertical spread or iron condor) configured in Nyria, validated, and ready to attach to a bot on a broker that actually supports the leg count you chose.

What this tutorial covers

• Vertical spreads (2 legs): bull call, bear call, bull put, bear put.
• Iron condors (4 legs): short put spread + short call spread on the same expiration.
• How to choose credit vs debit based on your directional bias and IV.
• Per-broker leg limits — important: Schwab, Tradier, and Alpaca cap at 4 legs; Tastytrade allows up to 10.

What this tutorial does not cover:

• Bracket / OCO / OTO orders, trailing stops, or attached take-profit legs. These are intentionally out of scope for Nyria today — do not build a strategy that depends on them.
• Single-leg options (covered in Equity Types → Options).
• Calendar or diagonal spreads across multiple expirations. Internal selection picks one expiration per alert; a calendar requires external selection with two explicit expirations in the alert payload.

Step 1: Confirm your broker supports the leg count

Pick your broker first. The leg count you can configure in Nyria is capped by what the broker's options order endpoint accepts.

If you need more than 4 legs (e.g. a broken-wing condor stacked with a hedge), pick Tastytrade. If you only need verticals or a standard iron condor, any of the four work.

Cross-links for setting up each broker:

• Schwab integration
• Tradier integration
• Alpaca integration
• Tastytrade integration

Step 2: Create the strategy shell

Step 3: Build a vertical spread (2 legs)

A vertical spread is two options of the same type (calls or puts) at different strikes, same expiration. It is the simplest defined-risk structure and works on every broker in the table above.

Bull call spread (debit)

You think the underlying will go up. You buy a closer-to-money call and sell a farther-out call to cheapen the trade.

In the option-selection panel:

Leg 1: Buy, Call, 0.30 delta, 7-45 DTE
Leg 2: Sell, Call, Offset +5 strikes from Leg 1

• Net effect: you pay a debit. Max loss = debit paid. Max gain = (strike width − debit).
• When to use: moderate bullish bias, IV is low-to-mid (you do not want to pay rich premium), and you want defined risk.

Bear put spread (debit)

Mirror image. Bearish bias.

Leg 1: Buy, Put, 0.30 delta, 7-45 DTE
Leg 2: Sell, Put, Offset -5 strikes from Leg 1

Bull put spread (credit)

You think the underlying will go up or stay flat. You sell a put and buy a farther-out put as protection.

Leg 1: Sell, Put, 0.30 delta, 7-45 DTE
Leg 2: Buy, Put, Offset -5 strikes from Leg 1

• Net effect: you receive a credit. Max gain = credit received. Max loss = (strike width − credit).
• When to use: neutral-to-bullish bias, IV is elevated (you want to be a premium seller), and you are comfortable with the obligation if it goes in the money.

Bear call spread (credit)

Neutral-to-bearish. Sell a call, buy a farther-out call as protection.

Leg 1: Sell, Call, 0.30 delta, 7-45 DTE
Leg 2: Buy, Call, Offset +5 strikes from Leg 1

Step 4: Build an iron condor (4 legs)

An iron condor is a short put spread plus a short call spread on the same expiration. You collect two credits and profit if the underlying stays inside the short strikes through expiration.

In the option-selection panel, configure all four legs:

Leg 1: Sell, Put,  0.20 delta,        7-45 DTE
Leg 2: Buy,  Put,  Offset -5 strikes from Leg 1
Leg 3: Sell, Call, 0.20 delta,        same DTE as Leg 1
Leg 4: Buy,  Call, Offset +5 strikes from Leg 3

• Net effect: net credit. Max gain = total credit. Max loss = (wider wing width − credit), almost always the put side or call side independently, since only one side can be breached.
• When to use: range-bound thesis, elevated IV (you want IV crush working for you), 30–45 DTE so theta decay is meaningful.

Why 0.20 delta on the shorts?

A 0.20 delta short option has roughly an 80% probability of expiring out of the money. That is a common starting point for iron condors. Move closer to 0.30 if you want more credit and accept lower probability of profit; move out to 0.15 if you want more cushion and accept less credit.

Step 5: Choose the order type for entry and exit

For multi-leg spreads, the bid/ask/mid picker refers to the spread's combined bid/ask, not any individual leg.

For exits, mirror the entry logic: exit a credit spread by buying back at the ask (closing the short legs) or use mid for a slower better-priced exit. Exit a debit spread by selling at the bid or mid.

Step 6: Validate the strategy

Nyria will not let you attach a bot until the strategy passes validation.

For the exact JSON shape of alerts the validator and live parser accept, see Webhook Payload Reference. The reference covers single-leg and multi-leg payloads, and is the source of truth for field names.

Step 7: Attach a bot

Credit vs debit — quick decision table

Rules of thumb, not rules of law. Backtest before risking real capital.

Common mistakes

• Picking a 4-leg structure on a broker capped at 4 legs and then adding a hedge. The 5th leg silently breaks the strategy at deploy time. Use Tastytrade if you need 5+.
• Setting DTE range too narrow. 7-7 DTE on a Friday means only one Monday expiration is eligible; if it's not listed (e.g. a non-weekly underlying), the alert is rejected. Use ranges like 7-14 or 30-45.
• Forgetting that "Offset" is in strikes, not dollars. A 5-strike offset on SPX ($5 increments) is a $25-wide wing — that's a $2,500 max-loss per contract before credit.
• Not configuring an exit. Iron condors do not auto-close at expiration. Without an exit alert your bot will hold through expiration and let the broker assign anything in the money.

Related

• Equity Types → Options — full strike-selection reference.
• Trading Behavior — entry/exit alert wiring.
• Webhook Payload Reference — every field Nyria accepts on the wire.
• Schwab · Tradier · Alpaca · Tastytrade — broker setup.