zerokite CLI (CLI for Zerodha's Kite APIs)

zerokite is an unofficial command-line client for interacting with Zerodha's Kite API.

Goal

Provide a fast and scriptable way to use Kite APIs directly from the terminal without implying an official Zerodha CLI.

Tech Stack

• Node.js (18+ recommended)

Installation

Install from npm:

npm install -g zerokite

Verify install:

zerokite help

After install, you can enable shell completions:

zerokite completion bash
zerokite completion zsh

Local Development Setup

1. Clone this repo and install dependencies:

npm install
npm link

2. Verify linked local CLI:

zerokite help

Kite App Configuration

Create a Kite Connect app and configure:

• Create app: https://developers.kite.trade/create

• api_key

• api_secret

• Redirect URL (example): http://127.0.0.1:6583/callback

Redirect URL Scenarios

1. Everything runs on your laptop (recommended)

Use this redirect URL:

http://127.0.0.1:6583/callback

Why:

• 127.0.0.1 does not change across networks.
• No extra networking setup required.

2. zerokite auth runs on a separate server with static public IP

Use this redirect URL:

http://<static_ip>:6583/callback

Example:

http://203.0.113.10:6583/callback

3. zerokite auth runs on a separate server with dynamic IP (Tailscale)

Use Tailscale so the server gets a stable private identity inside your tailnet.

Steps:

1. Install and sign in to Tailscale on the auth server.
2. Install and sign in to Tailscale on the machine where you open the login URL (for example, your laptop browser).
3. Verify both are in the same tailnet.
4. On the auth server, get its Tailscale IP:

tailscale ip -4

5. Set Kite app redirect URL to:

http://<tailscale_ip>:6583/callback

6. Set KITE_REDIRECT_URL on the auth server to that same value.
7. Run zerokite auth on the auth server.
8. Open the printed Kite login URL from a browser that is also connected to the same tailnet.

If MagicDNS is enabled in your tailnet, you can use http://<device-name>.<tailnet>.ts.net:6583/callback instead of the IP.

Set environment variables:

export KITE_API_KEY="your_api_key"
export KITE_API_SECRET="your_api_secret"
export KITE_REDIRECT_URL="http://127.0.0.1:6583/callback"

Authentication Flow

zerokite auth starts a temporary callback server and waits for Kite to redirect back with a request_token.

Default port is 6583. Use -p or --port only when you need a different port.

zerokite auth

If you change the port, your app's configured redirect URL must use that same port.
For localhost redirect URLs, zerokite listens on 127.0.0.1. For non-localhost redirect URLs, it listens on all interfaces (0.0.0.0). zerokite login is an alias of zerokite auth.

On success, access_token is stored at:

~/.zerokite/session.json

Commands

• zerokite help
• zerokite version
• zerokite completion <bash|zsh>
• zerokite auth [-p <port>]
• zerokite login
• zerokite verify
• zerokite profile
• zerokite holdings (includes available funds from margins)
• zerokite positions [--day|--net]
• zerokite orders list
• zerokite orders place ...
• zerokite orders modify --order_id <id> ...
• zerokite orders cancel --order_id <id>
• Add --json to any command for machine-readable output

Examples

# verify current token
zerokite verify

# holdings + available funds
zerokite holdings

# positions
zerokite positions --net
zerokite positions --day

# list orders
zerokite orders list

# place a regular market order
zerokite orders place \
  --variety regular \
  --exchange NSE \
  --tradingsymbol INFY \
  --transaction_type BUY \
  --quantity 1 \
  --order_type MARKET \
  --product CNC

Documentation

Detailed docs are available in /docs:

• Docs Index

More

• Shell Completions Guide