Zerodha Kite Connect with Sarathi: status and facts
What Sarathi does with Kite Connect credentials today, what the planned adapter will do, and the Kite Connect pricing, login and session facts that shape it.
Updated 30 Aug 2026
PlannedPlanned Zerodha is the second live broker on Sarathi's list, after Dhan. The connection exists in the product; the adapter does not. Credentials can be saved and are encrypted, but no order reaches Zerodha. Sarathi has no partnership or contract with Zerodha.
What works today
| Step | Status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Save Kite Connect credentials | Live | API key, API secret and an optional client id, entered in Settings. Needs the Starter pack or higher. |
| Encryption at rest | Live | Envelope encryption: each bundle gets its own data key, wrapped by a versioned master key held only on the server. |
| Route selection | Live | Saving credentials switches your route to Zerodha; disconnecting switches it back to paper. |
| Order placement | Planned | No orders are sent. A Confirm on a Zerodha-routed card is rejected with Broker "zerodha" is not configured, the signal is marked failed, and the rejection is journaled. |
Credentials are decrypted only when an order is placed. A Free account that tries to connect gets Connecting a live broker needs the Starter pack or higher.
What the adapter will do
The planned adapter implements the same interface as the paper broker. Nothing upstream changes: webhook, card, tap, expiry and journal stay as they are.
- One tap, one order. Confirm places one order on your Zerodha account at the quantity you chose (½, 1×, 2×). Skip places nothing. Expiry places nothing, ever.
- No autonomous mode. No toggle lets Sarathi act on an alert without you. The human decision is a required column in the data model, not a setting.
- Journal the broker's answer. The order id, fill price and quantity Kite reports, or its rejection reason, go to the same fill table paper uses, with route
zerodha. - Your account, your custody. Sarathi never holds funds or securities. The order goes to the account behind your credentials.
Not planned: order modification, GTT or basket placement, position management, or reading holdings.
Kite Connect facts
Checked 30 August 2026 on Zerodha's pages.
| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Personal plan, listed as free: order, GTT and alerts management, margin and portfolio APIs; no live or historical data | Zerodha support: Kite API charges |
| Connect plan at ₹500 per month per app: adds WebSocket live data and historical candles | Zerodha support: Kite API charges |
| Zerodha made execution APIs free for personal use, citing regulatory clarity on personal API use | Z-Connect, 24 April 2025 |
| No sandbox environment for Kite Connect | Zerodha support: Kite Connect FAQs |
Login is a browser flow on Zerodha's login page that returns a request_token to a registered redirect URL; the access_token obtained from it expires at 6 AM the next day, described as a regulatory requirement | Kite Connect docs: User |
| Deleting an app invalidates its API key, secret and all access tokens immediately | Zerodha support: Kite Connect FAQs |
Three of these shape the adapter. The free Personal plan is enough: Sarathi only places orders and never streams data, so the ₹500 data plan is not a cost the adapter imposes. The daily token expiry means no long-lived session; a live Zerodha route needs Zerodha's login flow each trading day, and a Confirm after the token lapses must show as rejected, not be retried silently. And with no sandbox, the first live test is a real order at ½ size, which is what the pre-live checklist asks for anyway.
The SEBI framework, in plain words
SEBI's February 2025 retail algo framework makes the broker the principal and any algo provider its agent, and whether a hosted bridge calling Kite Connect on your behalf counts as an algo provider is a question this page does not answer, so ask your broker. The circulars, dates and Zerodha's own overview are summarised under "The SEBI framework, in plain words" on the Dhan page.
Get started
Start on the paper route today; it is the default and never metered. The Starter pack lets you save Kite Connect credentials now; the live route turns on when the adapter ships, after Dhan.
Questions
No. You can save Kite Connect credentials, and they are stored encrypted, but no adapter sends orders yet. A Confirm on a card routed to Zerodha is rejected and journaled as failed.
The planned adapter only places orders. Zerodha's Personal plan, listed as free, covers order management. The ₹500 per month Connect plan adds live and historical data, which the adapter does not need.
Kite Connect's access token expires at 6 AM the next day, which Zerodha's documentation describes as a regulatory requirement. A live Zerodha route needs a fresh login each trading day.
Starter unlocks one live broker; Whale adds a second. Free accounts stay on the paper route.
Related
- Paper broker: how Sarathi simulates fillsWhat the paper route fills, what it skips, how the journal records a paper fill, and how to move to a live broker once an adapter ships.
- Dhan with Sarathi: status, API facts, what shipsWhat Sarathi does with Dhan credentials today, what the planned DhanHQ adapter will do, and the DhanHQ API and SEBI framework facts that shape it.
- The pre-live checklist for a Pine strategyTen checks before a TradingView strategy's alerts reach a broker: v6 compile, repainting, alert payloads, sessions, sizing, paper trades and the journal.
- How TradingView webhook alerts workWhat TradingView posts when a webhook alert fires: placeholders, JSON rules, the 3 second timeout, secrets in the URL, and the failures that break a bridge.
- Sarathi vs Tradetron: confirm tap vs auto executionSarathi and Tradetron side by side: execution model, strategy authoring, markets, brokers, dated pricing with sources, paper trading, journal, who each suits.