Concept
Change in State of Delivery
Change in State of Delivery, also known as CISD, is a Smart Money Concepts / ICT concept. The Library holds 3 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
Top Change in State of Delivery indicators
3 total
What is a Change in State of Delivery?
A change in the state of delivery (CISD) is ICT's body-close test for the moment price flips from being delivered in one direction to the other. While a leg sells off, down-closing candles are doing the delivering; when (typically after a liquidity sweep of a low) a candle body closes back above the opening price of the final consecutive series of those down-closing candles, the state of delivery is said to have changed from sell-side to buy-side. The mirror applies at highs. The defining detail is bodies and opens: a wick through the level does not count, only a close through it.
Usage is not perfectly standardized across the community. The common operational reading marks the CISD level at the opening price of the first candle in the last unbroken run of down-closing (or up-closing) candles into the extreme, with confirmation on a full body close through that level. Because the trigger lives in candle anatomy rather than at a prior swing point, a CISD usually confirms earlier than a structure break — earlier, but less filtered, which is why most models also demand convincing displacement and higher-timeframe context rather than trading every flip.
How traders use it
- As the confirmation step in sweep-and-reverse models: liquidity is run first, the CISD close prints second, and the entry is usually taken on the retracement back to the CISD level or into a gap left by the reversal leg.
- As an anchor for targets: the leg that produced the CISD can be projected in standard-deviation multiples to frame how far the new delivery direction might carry.
- As a wick filter: because the rule demands body closes, CISD-based triggers ignore the sweep wicks and momentary pokes through the level that would trip a simple level-break alert.
CISD vs. structure breaks
Change of Character: A change of character keys off a prior swing point breaking against the prevailing structure; whether a wick through the swing counts or a body close is required is itself contested. A CISD needs no swing break: it closes through the opening price of the final delivery candles, so it typically fires earlier and closer to the extreme, at the cost of less confirmation.
Break of Structure: A break of structure is a with-trend event: the previous swing taken out in the direction already travelling. A CISD is counter-trend evidence that the current delivery has failed, and it is measured on candle bodies and opens rather than swing extremes.
Related concepts · Displacement & delivery
Concept family
Smart Money Concepts / ICT
54 concepts mapped · 50 in the Library
Change in State of Delivery FAQ
What is the difference between a CISD and a market structure shift?
A market structure shift, or change of character, requires price to break a prior swing point. A CISD only requires a body close through the opening price of the final consecutive up- or down-closing candles into the extreme, so it typically fires earlier and closer to the turn. It is also the less standardized signal, which is why many traders treat the CISD as the alert and the structure break as the confirmation.
Where exactly is the CISD level drawn?
The common reading: find the last unbroken series of down-closing candles running into the low (up-closing into a high) and mark the opening price of the first candle in that series. A body close beyond that level confirms the change. Variants exist (some write-ups use the nearest candle's open instead), so applying one definition consistently matters more than which one you pick.
Build Change in State of Delivery your way.
Quant writes, tests, and refines it with you — then it runs on LuxAlgo charting or ports to TradingView.