> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.centaur.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Positioning vs Performance

> The difference between current open-position skew and historical time-based performance.

Positioning and performance answer different questions.

## Positioning

Positioning asks: **what is currently open?**

Use open-position reads and product positioning bars for:

* current long/short exposure
* open-position skew by asset
* open positions by trader
* whether visible traders are currently leaning long, short, or neutral

Positioning is based on open positions. It is not a price prediction and not a performance metric.

## Performance

Performance asks: **how have positions performed in a selected sample?**

Use trader stats, asset stats, and position history for:

* `1D`, `7D`, and `30D` time-based returns
* win rate
* average and median return
* Sharpe Ratio
* asset focus
* historical direction bias

Performance depends on the selected Trade Sample Window and Time-Based Performance Window.

## Generated summaries

Generated narrative summaries answer a third question: **what themes and narratives were present in a source or aggregate window?**

They are useful for market narrative, but they are not evidence for exact trade counts, public activity rankings, or current open-position skew.

## Practical rule

| User question | Best source |
| - | - |
| "How are traders positioned on BTC right now?" | Open-position reads and Asset Profile positioning. |
| "Who has performed best over the last 30 days?" | Trader rankings (`GET /v2/traders/rankings` or `rank_traders`) with an explicit metric and time window; hydrate detail metrics with trader stats. |
| "What themes came up today?" | Generated aggregate or channel narrative summaries. |
| "What did this event come from?" | Event row plus source-message hydration. |