Chartbook

What it is

A chartbook is Sierra Chart's native saved-workspace file. Conventionally named with a .cht extension, a chartbook contains everything that defines a configured trading screen: the charts themselves, the symbols loaded into each chart, the studies applied, the study input settings, the chart layout (which chart is where on the screen, how big each one is), the color theme, the timeframes, the drawing tools the user has placed, and any other per-chart configuration.

When you re-open a chartbook, Sierra Chart reconstructs the screen exactly as you left it. The same charts appear in the same positions, with the same studies loaded, the same colors, the same drawings — even the chart's exact horizontal scroll position is preserved. This makes the chartbook the natural unit for "a trader's setup".

Most professional Sierra Chart users have several chartbooks: one per market they trade (an ES chartbook, an NQ chartbook, a CL chartbook), one per workflow (an order-flow chartbook with footprint charts and CVD, a swing chartbook with daily and weekly views), or one per session (an RTH chartbook, an ETH chartbook). Switching between chartbooks is the equivalent of switching virtual desktops.

Why it matters

The chartbook is the persistence unit that makes Sierra Chart's deep configurability survive across sessions. Every study has dozens of inputs, every chart has its own settings, and the platform has thousands of color-and-layout knobs — without a chartbook, configuring this every morning would take an hour.

It also makes setups portable. A chartbook file is a single artifact you can back up, version, share with a colleague, or send to a service like SCS when troubleshooting. Many SCS support interactions start with the user sharing their chartbook so we can see the exact setup that triggered the issue.

For traders building tooling — including SCS — the chartbook is the contract. A study that ships in a chartbook must keep its SCDLLName, scsf_ function names, subgraph indices, and input indices stable across updates, because the chartbook references them by ID. Breaking any of those silently breaks the user's saved screen.

How it appears on Sierra Chart

Chartbooks are saved via File → Save Chartbook or Save Chartbook As, and re-opened via File → Open Chartbook. The platform keeps a list of recent chartbooks for fast switching. Multiple chartbooks can be open simultaneously — Sierra Chart tabs them inside the main window — though the typical workflow uses one chartbook at a time.

The .cht file itself is a structured binary format containing serialized state for every chart, every study, every drawing, and the screen layout. It is self-contained: open the same chartbook on a different machine (assuming the same Sierra Chart installation and licensed studies) and you get the same setup.

Common patterns / pitfalls

• Auto-save is configurable — Sierra Chart can periodically auto-save the active chartbook. Worth enabling so a platform crash doesn't lose configuration work.
• DLL availability matters — if a chartbook references a custom study DLL that isn't installed, the chart loads with a missing-study warning. The chartbook itself remains valid; the missing study just doesn't render.
• Version drift — a chartbook saved on a newer Sierra Chart version may not load cleanly on an older version. Backup before upgrading the platform.
• Color theme is part of the chartbook — switching between dark and light themes is most cleanly done by maintaining two chartbooks rather than reconfiguring on the fly.
• Don't put credentials in chartbooks — chartbooks don't store credentials in the modern Sierra Chart, but historically there have been edge cases. Treat them as configuration, not secret material.

Related SCS studies

Every SCS study lives inside a user's chartbook once configured. The Sierra Chart setup guides SCS publishes for clients include chartbook templates pre-configured with the relevant studies — this is the fastest way to onboard a trader who has just purchased a study.