Question 1

What is the Sahi Trade API and who can use it?

Accepted Answer

It lets you trade and track your Sahi account through your own code instead of the app. You can read live prices, candles and option chains, place and manage orders, and check your positions, holdings and funds.
Any Sahi account holder can use it. There's no application or approval process, and we don't review your strategy.

Question 2

How do I get started?

Accepted Answer

Log in to web.sahi.com and open the API dashboard from the profile section (bottom left).

Create an API key and save the secret right away. It's shown only once.

If you'll place orders, register the static IP your code runs from.

Approve your key every trading day. A new key is already approved on the day you create it.

Use the key to get an access token, and send the token with every request.

Download the scrip master (static.sahi.com/external/instruments.csv) each morning to look up instruments. It's a public file, no login needed.

Question 3

What does it cost? Is there a monthly plan?

Accepted Answer

The API is free. There's no subscription, no data fee and no extra brokerage for API orders.
Orders placed through the API are charged normal Sahi brokerage, same as the app:

Stocks and ETFs (intraday or delivery): ₹10 or 0.05% per order, whichever is lower

Futures and options: ₹10 per order

IPO: free

Statutory charges and the ₹13.50 DP charge on delivery sells apply as usual. New accounts get zero brokerage for the first 30 days, and that includes API orders. Full pricing is at sahi.com/pricing.

Question 4

Do I have to pay separately for live or historical data?

Accepted Answer

No. Market data is free, and the same access token works for both data and orders. There's no separate data plan.

Question 5

Will I get an invoice for API charges?

Accepted Answer

There are no API charges, so there's nothing to invoice. The API is free — no subscription, no data fee and no extra brokerage for API orders.
Orders placed through the API are charged the same brokerage as orders from the app, and they appear in the same place: your daily contract note and your ledger. API orders aren't shown separately from app orders.
Contract notes are emailed to you daily, and you can also download them from web.sahi.com any time. They aren't available through the API.
Brokerage and statutory charges are itemised on the contract note as usual. There's no GST on API access itself, because there's no fee to charge it on.

Question 6

How do I stop using the API?

Accepted Answer

There's nothing to cancel. Just revoke your keys from the API dashboard. Revoking works immediately and can't be undone, so you'll need a new key if you want to use the API again. You can also remove your registered IPs at any time.

Question 7

Can I manage my API keys from the Sahi mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Not at present. Keys can be managed from the API dashboard on web.sahi.com: creating a key, approving it for the day and revoking it all need you to log in there.
We're working on bringing this to mobile shortly.

Question 8

How do I create an API key?

Accepted Answer

Log in to web.sahi.com, open the API dashboard and click Create new key. Give the key a name and choose what it's allowed to do. These permissions are called scopes: orders.write, orders.read, positions.read, holdings.read, funds.read, profile.read and marketdata.read.
You'll get a key ID that starts with pk_ and a secret that starts with sahi_sk_. The secret is shown only once and can't be retrieved later, so store it somewhere safe.
Scopes can't be changed after the key is created. If you need different permissions, create a new key.

Question 9

How many API keys and access tokens can I have?

Accepted Answer

You can have up to 5 active keys. Revoked keys don't count toward the limit.
Generate one access token per key each trading day and reuse it. If your code asks for a new token on every call, it will get rate limited.
Extra keys don't give you extra capacity, because rate limits apply to your account as a whole.

Question 10

I lost my API secret. Can Sahi send it again?

Accepted Answer

No. Sahi doesn't keep your secret in a readable form, so it can't be recovered. Revoke the key and create a new one.

Question 11

What should I do if my secret has leaked?

Accepted Answer

Revoke the key from the API dashboard immediately. That blocks the key and every token created from it. Then create a new key and update your code.
Never share your secret with anyone, including Sahi support.

Question 12

How do I get an access token?

Accepted Answer

Send your key ID and secret to the token endpoint (POST /api/v1/apikeys/token). You'll get back an access token along with its expiry time. You can also ask for fewer scopes than the key has, which is safer for code that only reads data.
Send the token with every request in the header Authorization: Bearer <token>. WebSocket connections use the same header.
The base URLs and full request format are in the API documentation.

Question 13

How long is an access token valid? Why does it stop working every morning?

Accepted Answer

Tokens expire at 06:00 IST every day, and your key's daily approval ends at the same time. This is a SEBI and exchange requirement for API trading, so it can't be extended. There are no refresh tokens.
A token created late in the night won't last long. One created at 05:00 expires at 06:00 the same morning.
Each morning, log in to web.sahi.com, approve your key and generate a new token.

Question 14

Can I automate the daily login and approval?

Accepted Answer

No. Approving a key needs a two-factor login on the API dashboard, and keys can't be approved through the API. Once you've approved the key for the day, your code can generate the token on its own.
We're working on a TOTP-based login.

Question 15

How do I check if my API access is working?

Accepted Answer

The API dashboard shows your keys and whether each one is approved for today. You can also check the response when you request a token:

You get a token: access is working.

403 Forbidden: the key isn't approved for today.

401 Unauthorized: the key ID or secret is wrong, or the key was revoked.

401 Locked: your account is frozen or locked. Contact Sahi support.

Question 16

Why do I need a static IP?

Accepted Answer

Under SEBI's rules for retail algo trading, in force since 1 April 2026, API orders can only come from IP addresses registered in advance. On Sahi this applies to placing, modifying and cancelling orders, however few orders you place.
Everything else works from any IP, including market data, positions, holdings, funds and both WebSocket streams. You can build and test without a static IP until you're ready to place orders.

Question 17

Do read-only and market data calls need a static IP?

Accepted Answer

No. The IP check applies only to placing, modifying and cancelling orders. Quotes, candles, option chains, holdings, positions, funds, the scrip master and both WebSocket streams work from any IP address, so you can build and test everything except order placement without one.

Question 18

How do I get a static IP and register it?

Accepted Answer

You can buy a static IP from your internet provider, or run your code on a cloud server with a fixed public IP. Then add it on the API dashboard.
There are two slots, primary and secondary. Use the secondary for a backup connection. Both IPv4 and IPv6 are supported.
Register the public IP your traffic actually goes out from. It's often different from the IP shown on your computer, so check it from the machine that runs your code.

Question 19

Can Sahi turn off the IP check or allow a dynamic IP?

Accepted Answer

No. It's a regulatory requirement for everyone placing orders through the API. A normal home broadband connection won't work for orders because the IP keeps changing. Read-only calls work from any IP.

Question 20

Can I share a static IP with family, colleagues or another account?

Accepted Answer

No. An IP can be registered to only one Sahi account, and there's no exception for family members. If your office, VPN or cloud setup shares one public IP between people, each person trading through the API needs their own static IP.

Question 21

Is the static IP linked to my API key or my account?

Accepted Answer

Your account. One registration covers all your keys.

Question 22

Can I use the same static IP with another broker?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The one-IP-per-account rule applies only within Sahi (see Q20), not across brokers.

Question 23

How often can I change my registered IP?

Accepted Answer

There are two slots, primary and secondary. Any change to a slot (adding, editing or deleting an IP) locks that slot for 7 days, so you can't put a new IP in it until the lock ends. Each slot has its own 7-day cycle, so a change in one doesn't affect the other.
You can always delete an IP, even during the lock, if you need to cut off access immediately. Deleting doesn't reset the clock, though: the slot stays locked until the original 7 days are up.

Question 24

My IP is registered but orders are still rejected. Why?

Accepted Answer

You'll see the error 403 IP_NOT_ALLOWED, which means the order came from an IP that isn't registered. This usually happens when your router gets a new IP, your connection switches to a backup line, a VPN is on, or your cloud server moves to a different gateway.
Check the public IP of the machine running your code and compare it with your registered IPs. If data calls work but orders don't, the problem is the IP and not your token.

Question 25

Which order types are supported?

Accepted Answer

Limit, market, stop loss limit and stop loss market orders, for delivery, intraday and F&O carry forward. Validity can be DAY or IOC.
You can trade NSE and BSE cash, NSE F&O and BSE F&O. After-market orders work for limit and stop loss limit orders.

Question 26

How do I place an order through the API?

Accepted Answer

Send a place order request with the exchange segment, symbol, buy or sell, quantity, order type, product, validity and price. The request has to come from your registered static IP.
A few things to watch:

Prices are in paise. ₹2,499.55 is sent as 249955.

Quantity is in units, not lots. Multiply lots by the lot_size column in the scrip master. For example, if lot_size is 75, send 75 for one lot.

Copy the symbol exactly as it appears in the scrip master.

The response gives you a list of order IDs. You can track the order in the order book or on the order updates stream.

Question 27

Are market orders allowed? Why did my market order turn into a limit order?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but every market order is converted into a limit order before it reaches the exchange, because SEBI doesn't allow unprotected market orders from retail algos. A market order is priced slightly away from the last traded price, and a stop loss market order slightly away from its trigger. That's why your order book shows a limit order.
By default the buffer is 0.5% to 2% for equity and futures, and 1% to 5% for options, depending on the price. You can set your own buffer anywhere between 0.01% and 100%.

Question 28

Can I place basket, GTT, cover, bracket or iceberg orders?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. The API places one order per request. You can check the combined margin for up to 10 orders with the basket margin API, but each order has to be placed on its own. GTT, order slicing, basket, cover and bracket orders are in the works.

Question 29

Can I modify an order? How many times?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can change the price, quantity, trigger price and validity of an order while it's open. There's no cap on how many times you can modify an order, but every modification counts toward the same limits as placing one (10 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day), and it has to come from your registered static IP.
Once an order is complete, cancelled or rejected it can't be modified, and you'll get INVALID_ORDER_STATE. After-market orders can be modified while they wait for the market to open.

Question 30

Can I place orders when the market is closed?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as an after-market order (AMO). Sahi holds it and sends it to the exchange when the market opens. A regular order sent while the market is closed gets rejected.
AMOs work only for limit and stop loss limit orders, and not on expired contracts. Until the market opens, the order shows as Open with no placed time. You can modify or cancel it while it waits.

Question 31

My quantity is above the freeze limit. Will Sahi split the order?

Accepted Answer

No. Each instrument has a maximum quantity per order set by the exchange, listed as freeze_quantity in the scrip master. Orders above the limit are rejected, while an order exactly at the limit goes through.
Split the quantity yourself and send each part as a separate order. Every part counts toward the 10 orders per second limit.

Question 32

Where do I see why my order was rejected?

Accepted Answer

If the request is refused straight away, the response has an error code and a message. If the exchange or Sahi's risk checks reject the order later, its status changes to Rejected and the rejection_reason field explains why. You'll see it in the order book, order details, the order updates stream and the Sahi app.

Question 33

Can I sell shares from my holdings through the API?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you may sell your shares and holdings through API.
However, you are required to provide a one-time CDSL TPIN authorization which you can do only through the Sahi app or web terminal. Once done, the approval stands for all securities for the entire trading session.

Question 34

Why is my order missing from the order book?

Accepted Answer

This can happen when the order's symbol is missing from that day's scrip master. The order still shows on the order updates stream. Please report it to support with the order ID and time.

Question 35

What are the rate limits?

Accepted Answer

Place, modify and cancel orders (combined): 10 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day

Order book, order details and trades (combined): 5 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day

Positions and holdings: 5 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day each

Order margin and basket margin (combined): 5 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day

Funds and profile: 1 per second each

LTP and quotes: 1 per second each, up to 500 instruments per call

Candles: 2 per second, 250 per minute, 100,000 per day

Option chain: 2 per second, 120 per minute, 20,000 per day

Option expiries: 5 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day

WebSocket connections: 5 per second, 250 per minute, 10,000 per day, with up to 5 open connections per stream

Limits apply to your account, not to each key.

Question 36

How many orders can I place?

Accepted Answer

Up to 10 orders per second, 250 per minute and 10,000 per day. Placing, modifying and cancelling all count toward this limit. If you need more than 10 orders per second, your algo has to be registered with the exchange, so talk to us first.

Question 37

If I exceed a rate limit, is my order queued or rejected?

Accepted Answer

Rejected, not queued. A request over the limit gets a 429 with a Retry-After header and is never executed later, so you have to send it again once that window resets. For orders, the 11th order in a second is rejected and you can place it again from the next second. Nothing is held back or replayed on your behalf.

Question 38

Why am I getting rate limit errors when I'm under the daily limit?

Accepted Answer

Each endpoint has three separate limits: per second, per minute and per day. You can hit the per-second or per-minute limit long before the daily one, for example by sending a burst of 11 orders in one second.
A 429 response tells you which window you tripped: the Retry-After header is the number of seconds until that window resets, so 1 means per second, up to 60 means per minute, and a value in the thousands means the daily limit. Wait that long before retrying; an immediate retry just earns another 429. Only accepted order requests count toward the per-minute and daily order quota, so rejected ones don't use it up.

Question 39

What do the common error codes mean?

Accepted Answer

When generating a token:

400 InvalidRequest: a field is missing or wrong, or you asked for scopes the key doesn't have

401 Unauthorized: wrong key ID or secret, or the key was revoked

401 Locked: your account is frozen or locked

403 Forbidden: the key isn't approved for today

429 TooManyRequests: too many token requests, try again after a minute

When calling the API:

401 UNAUTHORIZED: the token is missing, expired or revoked

403 IP_NOT_ALLOWED: the order came from an unregistered IP

403 FORBIDDEN: your key doesn't have permission for this call

404 NOT_FOUND: wrong URL, or your trading account isn't set up yet

400 or 422 VALIDATION_FAILED: something in the request is wrong, and the message says what

INVALID_ORDER_STATE: the order can no longer be modified or cancelled

ORDER_NOT_FOUND: the order ID doesn't belong to your account

429 RATE_LIMITED: you've hit a rate limit, so wait for the time given in the Retry-After header

Question 40

What market data is available?

Accepted Answer

You get last traded price, full quotes with market depth, historical candles, option chains with greeks, and a live price feed over WebSocket. Quotes include volume, open interest, circuit limits and 5 or 20 levels of depth, depending on the instrument.
All of it is free, and none of it needs a static IP.

Question 41

Which exchanges and segments are covered?

Accepted Answer

Four segments across two exchanges:

NSE — cash equities, ETFs and indices

NFO — NSE futures and options, on both indices and stocks

BSE — cash equities, ETFs and indices

BFO — BSE futures and options

That's what you send as exchange_segment on an order. Indices are included for market data but can't be traded — they're marked tradable = 0 in the scrip master.

Question 42

How do I get the last traded price?

Accepted Answer

Call the LTP API with instrument IDs from the scrip master. You can ask for up to 500 instruments in one call, once per second. If you need prices through the day, use the live feed instead of calling again and again.

Question 43

Can I get candles for one fixed option strike for the whole day?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Request candles using that option's instrument ID, for example at 1 minute, and turn on open interest if you need it. There's no rolling series that follows the ATM strike.

Question 44

Does the option chain include greeks? Why are some of them blank?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each strike shows price, open interest, volume, best bid and ask, implied volatility and greeks for both calls and puts. These are the same numbers you see in the Sahi app. IV and greeks are blank for chains our analytics service doesn't cover.
Get valid expiry dates from the option expiries API first. If you don't send an expiry, you get the nearest one.

Question 45

Can I use Sahi market data on other platforms or share it?

Accepted Answer

The data is for your own trading and analysis. Use it freely in your own scripts, tools, dashboards and spreadsheets.
You can't redistribute it, resell it, publish it, or feed it into a product that other people use. Exchange data is licensed to you as a Sahi customer, and passing it on to anyone else needs a licence from the exchange.
If you're building something that shows Sahi data to other people, talk to us and we could provide special access and extended limits.

Question 46

What's the difference between day and net figures in positions?

Accepted Answer

Day figures cover only today's buys and sells. Carry forward (cf) figures cover the position brought in from earlier days, total adds the two together, and open shows your current net position. net_qty is positive when you're long and negative when you're short. All amounts and prices are in paise.

Question 47

Why do my funds show different balances?

Accepted Answer

Each type of order is funded differently, so the funds API shows a separate available balance for delivery, for intraday and F&O selling, and for option buying.
Pledged collateral can be used for intraday and F&O selling but not for delivery buys. Option buying is split by segment, because premium received in one segment can't be used to buy options in another. Check the balance that matches the order you're placing. It can be negative if your account is in debit.

Question 48

Can I check margin before placing an order?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The order margin API takes the same details as a place order request and tells you the margin required and the balance available. The basket margin API does the same for up to 10 orders together, including any hedge benefit. Neither of them places an order or needs a static IP.
The result is a snapshot, so an order can still be rejected if prices or your balance change before you place it.

Question 49

Can I get statements, ledger or contract notes through the API?

Accepted Answer

No. The API covers orders, trades, positions, holdings, funds, margin and profile.

Question 50

How do holdings show shares bought today or yesterday?

Accepted Answer

t1_qty shows shares bought but not yet settled, dp_qty shows shares settled in your demat account, and holding_qty is the two combined. Shares bought today appear in net_qty with zero settled quantity.

Question 51

How many instruments can I stream at once?

Accepted Answer

Each user can create up to 5 connections each with 3000 instruments streaming through it. 
Therefore, you will be able to stream up to 15000 instruments concurrently.

Question 52

Why does my WebSocket keep disconnecting?

Accepted Answer

Check the close code:

4401: your token expired at 06:00 IST or the key was revoked. Get a new token and reconnect.

4408: your code didn't reply to the server's ping within 15 seconds. The server pings every 30 seconds.

4409 (order updates only): your code was reading messages too slowly.

4429: you opened more than 5 connections.

4403: your token doesn't have permission for this stream.

After reconnecting, subscribe to your instruments again. Anything that happened while you were disconnected isn't replayed.

Question 53

The order stream missed an update or sent the same one twice. Why?

Accepted Answer

Both can happen. An update can arrive more than once, and nothing is replayed for the time you were disconnected. Every time you connect, open the stream first, then fetch the order book, and keep the latest version of each order using last_modified_at.

Question 54

Where do I get the scrip master, and how often should I download it?

Accepted Answer

It's a public CSV at https://assets.sahi.com/external/instruments.csvNo login, token or headers are needed.
The file is refreshed every day before 07:00 IST with new listings, new contracts and that day's expiries. Download it once each morning before you start trading, and don't reuse yesterday's copy.

Question 55

Which identifier do I use for an instrument?

Accepted Answer

Market data calls (LTP, quotes, candles, option chain and the live feed) use instrument_id, which is the id column in the scrip master. Order calls use exchange_segment and symbol instead. exchange_segment isn't a column in the scrip master; derive it from the exchange and instrument_type columns. STK, ETF and IDX rows are NSE or BSE, and FUTSTK, FUTIDX, OPTSTK and OPTIDX rows are NFO or BFO. For example, the NIFTY 30-Mar-26 26550 CE row has exchange NSE, instrument_type OPTIDX and symbol NIFTY30MAR26C26550: market data calls use its id, and an order sends exchange_segment NFO with that symbol.
Always copy the symbol from the scrip master, because formats differ between exchanges. For example, NIFTY30MAR26C26550 on NSE and SENSEX2691767800CE on BSE.

Question 56

Does the scrip master cover everything I can trade? Which columns should I check?

Accepted Answer

It covers every instrument that's tradable or quotable on NSE and BSE: cash equities and ETFs, index and stock futures, index and stock options, plus the indices themselves.
Before you send an order, check three columns. tradable = 0 means the instrument can't be ordered: that's the case for indices (you can still subscribe to them for market data) and for instruments the exchange has frozen. sqr_off_only = 1 means only closing orders are accepted. trade_to_trade = 1 means no intraday product, delivery only.

Question 57

Do I need to register my algo or get an algo ID?

Accepted Answer

No, as long as you stay within 10 orders per second, which the API enforces. You don't need an algo ID. Exchange registration only comes in above 10 orders per second, so talk to us before you build for that.

Question 58

Do the algo rules apply if I only place a few orders?

Accepted Answer

Yes. SEBI's retail algo rules apply to everyone placing orders through the API, so you still need a registered static IP and daily key approval, and the 10 orders per second cap still applies. Staying under the cap only means you don't have to register with the exchange.

Question 59

Does my computer need to stay on while my strategy runs?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Your code runs on your machine, not on ours — Sahi doesn't host or run strategies. If your computer sleeps, restarts or loses its connection, your strategy stops.
What doesn't stop is anything already at the exchange. Orders you've placed stay live and open positions stay open — nothing is cancelled because your machine went away. A strategy that relies on placing an exit later will leave that position unmanaged.

Question 60

Is there a sandbox or paper trading?

Accepted Answer

Not yet. There's no paper trading or sandbox environment — orders placed through the API are real and go to the exchange.
You can still build and test most of your system without risking anything. Market data, the scrip master, funds, positions, holdings and both WebSocket feeds all work without a static IP and without placing a single order. The order margin API also tells you what an order would require without sending it.
When you're ready to test order flow itself, use a small quantity in a liquid instrument, or place a limit order far from the market so it rests without filling and cancel it afterwards.

Question 61

Which programming languages can I use? Is there an SDK?

Accepted Answer

Any language that can make HTTPS requests. We also support a python SDK as displayed in the documentation. You can check the steps for setup here: https://docs.uat.sahi.com/sdk/python/

Question 62

Can I connect Excel, Amibroker, MetaTrader or TradingView?

Accepted Answer

Not directly. Sahi doesn't publish plugins or connectors for Excel, Amibroker, MetaTrader or TradingView, and we don't support third-party bridges. Anything that can make HTTPS requests can use the API, so you can connect these tools through your own code, for example a small Python or Node service that your platform calls and that places orders through the API from your registered static IP. The usual rules still apply: daily key approval, a static IP for orders, and no redistribution of market data (see Q49).

Question 63

Will Sahi help me write or fix my code?

Accepted Answer

We'll help with anything on our side — how an endpoint behaves, why an order was rejected, an error you can't explain, or anything that doesn't match the docs. Write to developers@sahi.com with the request you sent, the response you got and the time it happened, and we'll look into it.
We can't write, review or debug your strategy code, and we can't advise on what or when to trade.
If you think you've found a bug, or the docs are wrong, tell us at the same address.

Question 64

How do I contact Sahi about the API?

Accepted Answer

For technical questions, base URLs, higher limits or anything that doesn't match the docs, write to developers@sahi.com. For account issues, or an urgent IP change during the 7-day lock, contact Sahi customer support.