Subscribe to instruments and set tick modes

Once your KiteTicker connection is open, you use subscribe() and setMode() to tell the server which instruments to stream and at what granularity. Each instrument is identified by its numeric token, and you can mix modes across tokens — for example, streaming full depth on a handful of liquid contracts while tracking the rest in LTP mode.

Instrument tokens are available from KiteConnect.getInstruments(). The token for a symbol is the instrument_token field in the response.

Send an array of instrument tokens to start receiving ticks for those instruments. New subscriptions default to ltp mode unless you call setMode() afterward.

ticker.subscribe([738561]);

// Subscribe to multiple tokens at once
ticker.subscribe([738561, 779521, 408065]);

The method returns the tokens array unchanged.

unsubscribe(tokens)

Stop receiving ticks for the given tokens. The server immediately stops sending updates for unsubscribed tokens.

ticker.unsubscribe([738561]);

// Unsubscribe multiple tokens
ticker.unsubscribe([738561, 779521]);

setMode(mode, tokens)

Assign a tick mode to an array of tokens. You can call this at any time to upgrade or downgrade the data for a set of subscribed instruments.

ticker.setMode(ticker.modeLTP, [738561]);    // minimal — last price only
ticker.setMode(ticker.modeQuote, [738561]);  // OHLC + volume + buy/sell quantities
ticker.setMode(ticker.modeFull, [738561]);   // quote + 5-level market depth + OI

Tick structures by mode

ltp
quote
full

The smallest packet — 8 bytes. Delivered for all instrument types.

interface TickLtp {
  tradable: boolean;       // false for index instruments
  mode: 'ltp';
  instrument_token: number;
  last_price: number;
}

Example tick:

{
  tradable: true,
  mode: 'ltp',
  instrument_token: 738561,
  last_price: 1234.50,
}

44 bytes for tradable instruments, 28 bytes for indices. Includes OHLC and volume data.

// Tradable instruments (TickQuote)
interface TickQuote {
  tradable: boolean;
  mode: 'quote';
  instrument_token: number;
  last_price: number;
  last_traded_quantity: number;
  average_traded_price: number;
  volume_traded: number;
  total_buy_quantity: number;
  total_sell_quantity: number;
  ohlc: {
    open: number;
    high: number;
    low: number;
    close: number;
  };
  change: number;  // % change from previous close
}

// Index instruments (TickIndexQuote)
interface TickIndexQuote {
  tradable: boolean;  // always false for indices
  mode: 'quote';
  instrument_token: number;
  last_price: number;
  ohlc: {
    high: number;
    low: number;
    open: number;
    close: number;
  };
  change: number;
}

Example tick (tradable):

{
  tradable: true,
  mode: 'quote',
  instrument_token: 738561,
  last_price: 1234.50,
  last_traded_quantity: 10,
  average_traded_price: 1230.25,
  volume_traded: 85000,
  total_buy_quantity: 4200,
  total_sell_quantity: 3800,
  ohlc: { open: 1220.00, high: 1240.00, low: 1215.00, close: 1210.00 },
  change: 2.02,
}

184 bytes for tradable instruments, 32 bytes for indices. Includes everything from quote mode plus 5-level bid/ask depth and open interest.

// Tradable instruments (TickFull)
interface TickFull {
  tradable: boolean;
  mode: 'full';
  instrument_token: number;
  last_price: number;
  last_traded_quantity: number;
  average_traded_price: number;
  volume_traded: number;
  total_buy_quantity: number;
  total_sell_quantity: number;
  ohlc: {
    open: number;
    high: number;
    low: number;
    close: number;
  };
  change: number;
  last_trade_time: Date;
  exchange_timestamp: Date;
  oi: number;
  oi_day_high: number;
  oi_day_low: number;
  depth: {
    buy: Array<{ quantity: number; price: number; orders: number }>;
    sell: Array<{ quantity: number; price: number; orders: number }>;
  };
}

Example tick:

{
  tradable: true,
  mode: 'full',
  instrument_token: 208947,
  last_price: 3939,
  last_traded_quantity: 1,
  average_traded_price: 3944.77,
  volume_traded: 28940,
  total_buy_quantity: 4492,
  total_sell_quantity: 4704,
  ohlc: { open: 3927, high: 3955, low: 3927, close: 3906 },
  change: 0.8448540706605223,
  last_trade_time: new Date(1515491369000),
  exchange_timestamp: new Date(1515491373000),
  oi: 24355,
  oi_day_high: 0,
  oi_day_low: 0,
  depth: {
    buy: [
      { quantity: 59,  price: 3223, orders: 5  },
      { quantity: 164, price: 3222, orders: 15 },
      { quantity: 123, price: 3221, orders: 7  },
      { quantity: 48,  price: 3220, orders: 7  },
      { quantity: 33,  price: 3219, orders: 5  },
    ],
    sell: [
      { quantity: 115, price: 3224, orders: 15 },
      { quantity: 50,  price: 3225, orders: 5  },
      { quantity: 175, price: 3226, orders: 14 },
      { quantity: 49,  price: 3227, orders: 10 },
      { quantity: 106, price: 3228, orders: 13 },
    ],
  },
}

autoReconnect(t, max_retry, max_delay)

Configure or toggle auto-reconnect at any time. This method is also called internally during construction using the params you pass to the constructor.

// Enable with custom limits
ticker.autoReconnect(true, 10, 5);

// Disable reconnection entirely
ticker.autoReconnect(false);

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`t`	`boolean`	—	`true` to enable, `false` to disable
`max_retry`	`number`	`50`	Maximum reconnection attempts (up to 300)
`max_delay`	`number`	`60`	Maximum interval in seconds between retries (minimum 5)

disconnect()

Close the WebSocket connection immediately. The close event fires when the connection shuts down cleanly.

ticker.disconnect();

connected()

Check whether the WebSocket is currently open and ready to send or receive messages.

if (ticker.connected()) {
  ticker.subscribe([738561]);
} else {
  console.log("Not connected yet");
}

Returns true when the underlying socket is in the OPEN state, false otherwise.

Get Started

KiteConnect

KiteTicker

Guides

Subscribe to instruments and set tick modes

unsubscribe(tokens)

setMode(mode, tokens)

Tick structures by mode

autoReconnect(t, max_retry, max_delay)

disconnect()

connected()

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

KiteConnect

KiteTicker

Guides

Documentation Index

​subscribe(tokens)

​unsubscribe(tokens)

​setMode(mode, tokens)

​Tick structures by mode

​autoReconnect(t, max_retry, max_delay)

​disconnect()

​connected()

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

subscribe(tokens)

unsubscribe(tokens)

setMode(mode, tokens)

Tick structures by mode

autoReconnect(t, max_retry, max_delay)

disconnect()

connected()