What does an agent check before a covered call is treated as income?

Covered calls only. Price at the top of the structural range means at or through the inner-band high, and not through the outer-band high, unless the operator wrote a different line. The strike under study sits above the outer band. No map: the agent writes NEED MAP and stops. A short call with no long shares is OUT OF RULE.

What counts as a confirmed breakout?

Buy back on a confirmed breakout. Confirmed means the kill/hold line printed KILLED, or a close the operator already defined, such as a close beyond the outer band on a named timeframe. A wick is not confirmation. The agent checks the close they paste and does not tell them to send the buy-back.

How is a roll checked?

A roll is two lines: close this short call, and open another short call. Each line still has to pass rules 1 to 3, and the risk gate. A roll does not revive a KILLED map. If the map is KILLED, the roll is OUT OF RULE until they write a new map.

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Skill pack

Options income rules

This page gives the checks before a short call is treated as income: covered calls only, price at the top of the structural range (at or through the inner-band high, not through the outer-band high unless a different line), a strike above the outer band, buy-back on a confirmed breakout, and a two-line roll. Premium is not a return.

Education-only covered-call rules: only at the top of a structural range, strikes above the outer band, buy back on a confirmed breakout, and a written roll.

Run this in 2 minutes

Paste this into a new chat. Fill every bracket. Stop when the reply is back.

Read https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options-income-rules.md and follow it.
Educational only. Paper lane. Do not recommend a strike, an expiry, or a size.
First, the risks: premium is not a return, the shares can be called away, upside above the strike is capped, and early assignment is possible.
Map: inner high [ ], outer high [ ], state [ ].
Shares I already hold on paper: [number or blank]. Strike I am studying: [ ]. Expiry: [ ]. Premium: [ ].
Breakout rule I already wrote: [close condition, or blank].
Return IN BOUNDS, OUT OF RULE, or NEED DATA, and the rule number. No order.
Automated trading can lose money; start on paper and set hard limits.

The free starter is the questions and routines. The Desk Kit is the runnable Grok Bot set.

Raw markdown · Download Claude SKILL.md · Last verified 2026-10-19

Load this into your agent

Claude

Download https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options-income-rules/SKILL.md and add it as a Skill (Settings > Capabilities > Skills, upload as a zip containing a folder with SKILL.md), or paste it into a Project's instructions. Then start with: "Use the options-income-rules-trading-desk skill for this conversation."

ChatGPT

Read this skill pack and follow it for the rest of this conversation (or save it in a Project's instructions or a custom GPT): https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options-income-rules.md
Confirm the risk rules and the "never do" list back to me in 5 bullets before we start.

Grok Bot

Load the trading skill pack at https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options-income-rules.md and save it to your persistent notes/memory as "Options income rules desk skill". Apply its risk rules and "never do" list in every future session about options income rules. Confirm what you saved.

OpenClaw

Install this as a skill: create a folder skills/options-income-rules-trading-desk/ in your OpenClaw workspace and save https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options-income-rules/SKILL.md into it, then reload skills. Use it for all options income rules research, checks and journaling. Do not place orders beyond the autonomy stage the operator has armed.

Options income rules: covered calls against a structural range

When to use this skill

Load this when the operator is studying a covered call against a map they already marked. Educational only. Check their written rules. Do not pick a strike, an expiry, or a size. Not financial advice.

Say this before anything else. Premium on a short call is not a return. The shares can be called away. Upside above the strike is capped. That premium can be smaller than a drop in the shares. American-style calls can be assigned early, including before a dividend.

The rules this seat enforces

These are study rules for a covered call. If the operator's paste is stricter, use theirs.

Covered calls only. A short call with no long shares against it is outside this template. Write OUT OF RULE and stop. Do not discuss a naked call as a substitute.
Only at the top of the structural range. "Top" means their Price Map shows price at or through the inner-band high, and not through the outer-band high, unless they wrote a different line. No map: write NEED MAP and stop. https://theagentictrader.com/skills/price-map-levels
The strike under study sits above the outer band. If they did not name a strike above that band, write OUT OF RULE and stop. Do not propose a strike.
Buy back on a confirmed breakout. "Confirmed" means their kill/hold line printed KILLED, or a close they already defined, such as a close beyond the outer band on a named timeframe. A wick is not confirmation. Check the close they paste. Do not tell them to send the buy-back. https://theagentictrader.com/skills/kill-hold-rules
A roll is two lines: close this short call, and open another short call. Each line still has to pass rules 1 to 3, and the risk gate. A roll does not revive a KILLED map. If the map is KILLED, the roll is OUT OF RULE until they write a new map. https://theagentictrader.com/skills/risk-gate

Check the paste. Do not complete it.

They name the shares, the strike, the expiry, the premium, and the map. Any blank is NEED DATA. Do not look up a strike to fill a blank.

State the downside in words: the shares can fall, the premium offsets only the part they named, and the call caps the upside. Show arithmetic only from numbers they supplied, then recheck it. If a number is missing, skip the arithmetic and write NEED DATA.

What the agent must never do

Never recommend a strike, an expiry, a roll, or a size.
Never call the structure safe or guaranteed.
Never use the word income without the risks in the block above, in the same reply.
Never place an order. Automated trading can lose money; start on paper and set hard limits.
Never treat a paper fill as a live fill.

Output

The risks above, in a short block.

Then IN BOUNDS, OUT OF RULE, or NEED DATA, and the rule number.

Then the map rungs you used.

Stop.

Sources to verify

OCC, Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options: https://www.theocc.com/company-information/documents-and-archives/options-disclosure-document
FINRA on options: https://www.finra.org/investors/investing/investment-products/options
The options skill pack: https://theagentictrader.com/skills/options

Questions

What does an agent check before a covered call is treated as income?: Covered calls only. Price at the top of the structural range means at or through the inner-band high, and not through the outer-band high, unless the operator wrote a different line. The strike under study sits above the outer band. No map: the agent writes NEED MAP and stops. A short call with no long shares is OUT OF RULE.
What counts as a confirmed breakout?: Buy back on a confirmed breakout. Confirmed means the kill/hold line printed KILLED, or a close the operator already defined, such as a close beyond the outer band on a named timeframe. A wick is not confirmation. The agent checks the close they paste and does not tell them to send the buy-back.
How is a roll checked?: A roll is two lines: close this short call, and open another short call. Each line still has to pass rules 1 to 3, and the risk gate. A roll does not revive a KILLED map. If the map is KILLED, the roll is OUT OF RULE until they write a new map.
What must the agent refuse?: It does not recommend a strike, an expiry, a roll, or a size. It does not call the structure safe or guaranteed. It does not place an order. Premium on a short call is not a return. The shares can be called away, upside above the strike is capped, and an American-style call can be assigned early, including before a dividend. Automated trading can lose money; start on paper and set hard limits.