Agent skill

Vcp Screener

by tradermonty in tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path.

MITAuto-check passedBusiness, Finance & HR

Install Vcp Screener

skills CLI
$ npx skills add tradermonty/claude-trading-skills --skill vcp-screener -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install tradermonty/claude-trading-skills vcp-screener --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tradermonty/claude-trading-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/vcp-screener .claude/skills/vcp-screener && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
vcp-screener
GitHub stars
3k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~2k tokens
SKILL.md length
681 words
Files
27 (incl. scripts, references)
Skills in repo
74
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path.

  • Works in 4 steps: Prepare and Execute Screening → Review Results → Present Analysis → …
  • User requests VCP screening
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, Prerequisites, Workflow and 3-Phase Pipeline, plus 2 more sections
  • Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python3; needs FMP_API_KEY

What it does

Vcp Screener is an agent skill from tradermonty/claude-trading-skills. Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path. Identifies Stage 2 uptrend stocks forming tight bases with contracting volatility near breakout pivot points; in historical single-ticker mode walks a multi-year history and emits every VCP that formed with forward-outcome stats (breakout / stop-hit / timeout). Use when user requests VCP screening, Minervini-style setups, tight base patterns, volatility contraction breakout…

Its SKILL.md is about 2k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 29 other files, including scripts and reference files (for example `references/fmp_api_endpoints.md`, `references/scoring_system.md` and `references/vcp_methodology.md`).

It sits in Business, Finance & HR, covering Trading and backtesting. The repository describes itself as: Claude Code skills for equity investors and traders — market analysis, technical charting, economic calendars, screeners, and trading strategy development. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • User requests VCP screening
  • Minervini-style setups
  • Tight base patterns
  • Volatility contraction breakout candidates

Example prompts

  • “/vcp-screener”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • A credential in FMP_API_KEY

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Prepare and Execute Screening
  2. Review Results
  3. Present Analysis
  4. Provide Actionable Guidance

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c8d58f0. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Ships 13 files in scripts/ (Python, from the files we listed), which the agent can run.

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • python3

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • FMP_API_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Vcp Screener loads about 2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~6k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 161 tokens; SKILL.md has 681 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~161
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~2k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from tradermonty/claude-trading-skills at commit c8d58f0, republished under its MIT licence (© tradermonty). 681 words, ~1,976 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/vcp-screener/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 26 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
vcp-screener
description
Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path. Identifies Stage 2 uptrend stocks forming tight bases with contracting volatility near breakout pivot points; in historical single-ticker mode walks a multi-year history and emits every VCP that formed with forward-outcome stats (breakout / stop-hit / timeout). Use when user requests VCP screening, Minervini-style setups, tight base patterns, volatility contraction breakout candidates, Stage 2 momentum stock scanning, or historical VCP pattern study on a specific ticker (e.g. FIX, TSLA).

VCP Screener - Minervini Volatility Contraction Pattern

Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP), identifying Stage 2 uptrend stocks with contracting volatility near breakout pivot points.

When to Use

  • User asks for VCP screening or Minervini-style setups
  • User wants to find tight base / volatility contraction patterns
  • User requests Stage 2 momentum stock scanning
  • User asks for breakout candidates with defined risk
  • User asks "find every historical VCP in <TICKER>" or wants to study one ticker's past VCP setups with forward outcomes (--history --ticker SYM)

Prerequisites

  • FMP API key (set FMP_API_KEY environment variable or pass --api-key)
  • Free tier (250 calls/day) is sufficient for default screening (top 100 candidates)
  • Paid tier recommended for full S&P 500 screening (--full-sp500)

Workflow

Step 1: Prepare and Execute Screening

Run the VCP screener script:

bash
# Default: S&P 500, top 100 candidates
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py --output-dir skills/vcp-screener/scripts

# Custom universe
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py --universe AAPL NVDA MSFT AMZN META --output-dir skills/vcp-screener/scripts

# Full S&P 500 (paid API tier)
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py --full-sp500 --output-dir skills/vcp-screener/scripts
Strict Mode (Minervini pure setup)

Only return stocks with valid_vcp=True AND execution_state in (Pre-breakout, Breakout):

bash
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py --strict --output-dir reports/
Historical single-ticker mode

Walk one ticker's multi-year history, detect every VCP that ever formed, and attach forward-outcome stats (breakout / stop-hit / timeout, days-to-outcome, max gain, max loss) per detection. Useful for pattern study and backtesting context — not a real-time screener.

bash
# Default: scan ~5 years (1260 trading days), 5-day stride, 60-day outcome window
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py \
  --history --ticker FIX --output-dir reports/

# Custom scan length: 750 trading days (~3 years), 90-day outcome window
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py \
  --history 750 --ticker TSLA \
  --stride-days 5 --outcome-days 90 \
  --output-dir reports/

# Long scan: 10 years (2520 trading days)
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py \
  --history 2520 --ticker NVDA --output-dir reports/

Outputs (timestamped):

  • vcp_history_<SYM>_<YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS>.json — timeline of detections with full analyzer payload + forward_outcome per detection + summary stats.
  • vcp_history_<SYM>_<YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS>.md — human-readable timeline.

Mode-specific flags:

ParameterDefaultRangeEffect
--history [DAYS](off) / 1260 if bare100-5040Enable historical mode; optionally specify trading-day scan window (requires --ticker)
--ticker SYM——Ticker to scan
--stride-days51-60Trading-day step between as-of cursor positions
--outcome-days605-252Forward window evaluated per detection

Notes:

  • Two FMP API calls per scan (ticker + SPY history), not 100+ like the cross-sectional pipeline.
  • marketCap and absolute RS percentile reflect the ticker in isolation, not against the live screening universe — use this report for pattern study, not portfolio sizing.
  • Detections are deduplicated by (T1_high_date, last_low_date, pivot) so the same VCP isn't reported repeatedly as the cursor ages.
Advanced Tuning (for backtesting)

Adjust VCP detection parameters for research and backtesting:

bash
python3 skills/vcp-screener/scripts/screen_vcp.py \
  --min-contractions 3 \
  --t1-depth-min 12.0 \
  --breakout-volume-ratio 2.0 \
  --trend-min-score 90 \
  --atr-multiplier 1.5 \
  --output-dir reports/
ParameterDefaultRangeEffect
--min-contractions22-4Higher = fewer but higher-quality patterns
--t1-depth-min10.0%1-50Higher = excludes shallow first corrections
--breakout-volume-ratio1.5x0.5-10Higher = stricter volume confirmation
--trend-min-score850-100Higher = stricter Stage 2 filter
--atr-multiplier1.50.5-5Lower = more sensitive swing detection
--contraction-ratio0.700.1-1Lower = requires tighter contractions
--min-contraction-days51-30Higher = longer minimum contraction
--lookback-days12030-365Longer = finds older patterns
--max-sma200-extension50.0%—SMA200 distance threshold for Overextended state and penalty
--wide-and-loose-threshold15.0%—Final contraction depth above which wide-and-loose flag triggers
--strictoff—Minervini strict mode: only Pre-breakout or Breakout with valid VCP
Show full SKILL.md (266 more words)Show less
Step 2: Review Results
  1. Read the generated JSON and Markdown reports
  2. Load references/vcp_methodology.md for pattern interpretation context
  3. Load references/scoring_system.md for score threshold guidance
Step 3: Present Analysis

For each top candidate, present:

  • Quality (composite_score / rating) — how well-formed is the VCP pattern?
  • Execution State (execution_state) — is it buyable now? (Pre-breakout / Breakout = actionable)
  • Pattern Type (pattern_type) — Textbook VCP / VCP-adjacent / Post-breakout / Extended Leader / Damaged
  • ★ marker if a State Cap was applied (raw score was downgraded)
  • Contraction details (T1/T2/T3 depths and ratios)
  • Trade setup: pivot price, stop-loss, risk percentage
  • Volume dry-up ratio and breakout_volume_score
  • Relative strength rank
Step 4: Provide Actionable Guidance

By Execution State (primary filter):

  • Pre-breakout / Breakout: Pattern is in the active entry window — apply rating-based sizing
  • Early-post-breakout: Breakout underway but above ideal entry — reduced size or wait for pullback
  • Extended / Overextended: Trade missed — add to watchlist for next base
  • Damaged / Invalid: Setup invalidated — do not enter

By Rating (secondary, after state confirms actionability):

  • Textbook VCP (90+): Buy at pivot with aggressive sizing (1.5-2x)
  • Strong VCP (80-89): Buy at pivot with standard sizing (1x)
  • Good VCP (70-79): Buy on volume confirmation above pivot (0.75x)
  • Developing (60-69): Add to watchlist, wait for tighter contraction
  • Weak/No VCP (<60): Monitor only or skip

3-Phase Pipeline

  1. Pre-Filter - Quote-based screening (price, volume, 52w position) ~101 API calls
  2. Trend Template - 7-point Stage 2 filter with 260-day histories ~100 API calls
  3. VCP Detection - Pattern analysis, scoring, report generation (no additional API calls)

Output

  • vcp_screener_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json - Structured results
  • vcp_screener_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.md - Human-readable report

Resources

  • references/vcp_methodology.md - VCP theory and Trend Template explanation
  • references/scoring_system.md - Scoring thresholds and component weights
  • references/fmp_api_endpoints.md - API endpoints and rate limits

© tradermonty, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 26 other files (scripts, references) in skills/vcp-screener of tradermonty/claude-trading-skills.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/fmp_api_endpoints.md
  • references/scoring_system.md
  • references/vcp_methodology.md
  • requirements.txt
  • scripts/_fmp_compat.py
  • scripts/calculators/__init__.py
  • scripts/calculators/execution_state.py
  • scripts/calculators/forward_outcome.py
  • scripts/calculators/pattern_classifier.py
  • scripts/calculators/pivot_proximity_calculator.py
  • scripts/calculators/relative_strength_calculator.py
  • scripts/calculators/trend_template_calculator.py
  • scripts/calculators/vcp_pattern_calculator.py
  • scripts/calculators/volume_pattern_calculator.py
  • scripts/fmp_client.py
  • scripts/historical_report.py
  • scripts/historical_scanner.py
  • … and 9 more

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c8d58f0

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in tradermonty/claude-trading-skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Vcp Screener next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Vcp Screener compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Vcp Screener this skilltradermonty/claude-trading-skills3k1 repos~2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Tushare Datazillionare/zillionare3222 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Tradingview MCPatilaahmettaner/tradingview-mcp5k—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Digital Oraclekomako-workshop/digital-oracle878—~5.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Polyclawchainstacklabs/polyclaw3591 repos~2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Markdownfacioquo/stock-indicators-dotnet1.2k—~812Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0

Similar skills

  • Tushare Data

    zillionare/zillionare

    面向中文自然语言的 Tushare 数据研究技能。用于把“看看这只股票最近怎么样”“帮我查财报趋势”“最近哪个板块最强”“北向资金在买什么”“给我导出一份行情数据”这类请求,转成可执行的数据获取、清洗、对比、筛选、导出与简要分析流程。适用于 A 股、指数、ETF/基金、财务、估值、资金流、公告新闻、板块概念与宏观数据等研究场景。

    322 GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~2.3k tokens
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
  • Tradingview MCP

    atilaahmettaner/tradingview-mcp

    AI Trading Intelligence — live prices, 30+ technical indicators, backtesting (6 strategies), walk-forward overfitting detection, trade logs, equity curves, licensed news sentiment (Marketaux), and…

    5k GitHub stars~1.3k tokensUpdated yesterday
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
  • Digital Oracle

    komako-workshop/digital-oracle

    Answer prediction questions using market trading data, not opinions.

    878 GitHub stars~5.9k tokensUpdated 2 mo ago
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
  • Polyclaw

    chainstacklabs/polyclaw

    Trade on Polymarket via split + CLOB execution. An agent skill from chainstacklabs/polyclaw.

    359 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2k tokens
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
  • Markdown

    facioquo/stock-indicators-dotnet

    Format and lint Markdown in this repository against GitHub Flavored Markdown and its markdownlint-cli2 configuration — headers, lists, code fences, callouts (VitePress containers on docs-site pages…

    1.2k GitHub stars~812 tokensUpdated yesterday
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed
  • Openmobius Skill

    MobiusQuant/OpenMobius-skill

    Provides multi-school trading Q&A, chart/OHLCV analysis, annotation, and fresh-market workflows covering ICT/SMC, ChanLun, Wyckoff, Price Action, Order Flow, VSA, and Elliott Wave.

    697 GitHub stars~7.2k tokensUpdated 1 mo ago
    Business, Finance & HRAuto-check passed

More from tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

All 74 skills in this repo
  • Technical Analyst

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    This skill should be used when analyzing weekly price charts for stocks, stock indices, cryptocurrencies, or forex pairs.

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 4 repos~4.6k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Theme Detector

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    Detect and analyze trending market themes across sectors. An agent skill from tradermonty/claude-trading-skills.

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~4.9k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Trader Memory Core

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    Track investment theses across their lifecycle — from screening idea to closed position with postmortem.

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~4.3k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Edge Strategy Reviewer

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    Critically review strategy drafts from edge-strategy-designer for edge plausibility, overfitting risk, sample size adequacy, and execution realism.

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~988 tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Sector Analyst

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    This skill should be used when analyzing sector rotation patterns and market cycle positioning.

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2.3k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Stanley Druckenmiller Investment

    tradermonty/claude-trading-skills

    Druckenmiller Strategy Synthesizer - Integrates 8 upstream skill outputs (Market Breadth, Uptrend Analysis, Market Top, Macro Regime, FTD Detector, VCP Screener, Theme Detector, CANSLIM Screener)…

    3k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2k tokens
    Auto-check passed

Questions about Vcp Screener

What does Vcp Screener do?

Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path. Vcp Screener is an agent skill from tradermonty/claude-trading-skills. Screen S&P 500 stocks for Mark Minervini's Volatility Contraction Pattern (VCP) and detect historical VCPs in a single ticker's price path.

When should I use Vcp Screener?

Vcp Screener fits situations like: user requests VCP screening; minervini-style setups; tight base patterns; volatility contraction breakout candidates.

How do I install Vcp Screener in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add tradermonty/claude-trading-skills --skill vcp-screener -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/vcp-screener in tradermonty/claude-trading-skills) into .claude/skills/vcp-screener in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Vcp Screener in Codex?

Run `npx skills add tradermonty/claude-trading-skills --skill vcp-screener -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/vcp-screener in tradermonty/claude-trading-skills) into .agents/skills/vcp-screener in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Vcp Screener in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add tradermonty/claude-trading-skills --skill vcp-screener -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/vcp-screener, .gemini/skills/vcp-screener, .github/skills/vcp-screener and .opencode/skills/vcp-screener in your project.

What does Vcp Screener need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Vcp Screener needs Python for the scripts in its folder, the command-line tools its instructions call (python3) and credentials named FMP_API_KEY. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in FMP_API_KEY.

Does Vcp Screener access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Vcp Screener safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Vcp Screener use?

Vcp Screener is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Vcp Screener use?

About 2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 4k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Vcp Screener?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Vcp Screener: Tushare Data (zillionare/zillionare, 322 stars), Tradingview MCP (atilaahmettaner/tradingview-mcp, 5k stars), Digital Oracle (komako-workshop/digital-oracle, 878 stars) and Polyclaw (chainstacklabs/polyclaw, 359 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Vcp Screener?

tradermonty (a GitHub user) maintains it in tradermonty/claude-trading-skills, which has 2,982 GitHub stars. The repository holds 74 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 11, 2026.

Source: tradermonty/claude-trading-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.