Data denied until exchange agreements are completed in Sierra Chart

What is causing it

Real-time exchange data requires you to complete the exchange's own agreements and subscribe, in your account with the data provider. This is paperwork and billing, not a software setting.

Why this happens

Exchanges require every recipient of real-time data to be identified and to accept their terms, and they charge accordingly. Your data provider registers you, so until the agreements and subscription are in place there is nothing the platform can display.

Being reclassified as a professional user changes the fee and can suspend access until the new terms are accepted, which is why this can break for someone who had it working for months.

The fix, step by step

1. Sign in to your account with whoever provides your data and look for the market data or exchange subscription section.
2. Complete the required agreements for each exchange whose data you want, including the professional or non-professional declaration.
3. Subscribe to the specific exchange data you need, and check whether depth of market is a separate item from top-of-book.
4. Wait for the entitlement to be applied, which is not always instant, then disconnect and reconnect the platform.
5. If your declaration status is later questioned or changed, expect access to be interrupted until it is resolved, and deal with the provider directly.
6. Check the message log after reconnecting to confirm the permission problem has gone rather than assuming it has.

How to confirm it is fixed

Live prices arrive for that specific exchange's products, and depth populates if you subscribed to depth.

Stopping it happening again

Keep your subscriptions and declarations current, and remember exchange data is billed monthly so a failed payment removes access.