How to deploy a Streak strategy on Zerodha

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Streak is a no-code algorithmic trading platform that integrates with Zerodha’s Kite Connect API to execute live trading strategies based on technical conditions defined in its visual strategy builder. Deploying a Streak strategy on Zerodha moves a strategy from paper simulation or backtest mode to live market execution, where the platform automatically places buy and sell orders in your Zerodha account when entry and exit conditions are met. This guide covers the deployment flow, the required Kite Connect authorisation, parameter configuration, and live monitoring.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes. WebNotes has no commercial relationship with Streak Tech Private Limited or Zerodha. No affiliate commission is earned from strategy deployments or Streak subscriptions.

Market-risk and regulatory disclosure. Algorithmic and automated trading carries substantial financial risk. Strategies that perform well in backtests may not perform comparably in live markets due to slippage, execution latency, overfitting to historical data, and changing market conditions. Losses can occur rapidly in automated trading. SEBI’s algo-trading regulatory framework (including SEBI’s 2022 circular and subsequent guidance) governs retail algorithmic trading through registered brokers. All orders placed through Streak are routed via Zerodha’s Kite Connect API, which is a SEBI-registered broker channel. Streak Tech Private Limited operates as a technology service provider; it is not a SEBI-registered portfolio manager or investment adviser. Retail traders using Streak are responsible for all trading decisions and outcomes. Use position sizing and daily loss limits to control risk.

Prerequisites

Before following this guide, confirm that:

  • You have a Zerodha trading account with an active Zerodha F&O segment activation (if the strategy trades derivatives) or an active equity segment (for equity strategies).
  • You have built and backtested a strategy on Streak with acceptable backtest results. If you have not yet built a strategy, see the Streak strategy builder documentation or the Streak scan guide.
  • You have paper-traded the strategy and reviewed the paper-trading results. See How to paper-trade a Streak strategy.
  • Your Zerodha account has sufficient margin to cover the position sizes defined in the deployment parameters. For F&O strategies, verify the required SPAN + exposure margin through How to calculate SPAN margin on Zerodha.
  • You have a Streak subscription plan that supports live trading deployment (the free tier has limits on the number of live strategies; check your plan at streak.tech/pricing).

Step-by-step procedure

Step 1: Open Streak and select the strategy to deploy

Navigate to streak.tech and log in. Alternatively, access Streak from within Kite web by clicking Apps or the Streak link in the partner platforms section.

Go to My Strategies (or the Strategies tab). Your saved strategies are listed with their last backtest date, instrument, and performance summary. Open the strategy you intend to deploy.

Review the backtest summary before proceeding:

  • Net P&L over the backtest period
  • Maximum drawdown (the largest peak-to-trough loss)
  • Win rate (percentage of winning trades)
  • Number of trades (a strategy with fewer than 30 trades in the backtest period may be statistically unreliable)
  • Sharpe ratio or return-to-drawdown ratio

A backtest that shows a high win rate with a very small number of trades, or an extremely high return with a very low maximum drawdown, should be treated sceptically as it may reflect curve-fitting to historical data.

Step 2: Connect your Zerodha account via Kite Connect

In Streak, navigate to Settings or the broker connection section (the exact navigation may vary with Streak platform updates). Select Zerodha as your broker.

Click Connect. Streak redirects you to the Kite Connect OAuth screen:

  1. Enter your Zerodha client ID and password.
  2. Complete the TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) two-factor authentication step.
  3. On the permissions screen, review the access requested by Streak: the key permissions are Orders (place and modify orders) and Holdings/Positions (read current positions to avoid duplicate entries). Grant the requested permissions.
  4. You are redirected back to Streak with the broker connection active.

The Kite Connect authorisation token expires at midnight IST daily. Streak typically re-requests the token automatically at the start of each trading day. If the token has expired and Streak cannot auto-renew, you may receive a notification to re-authorise. Re-authorise before the market opens to ensure the strategy can execute morning signals.

Step 3: Configure deployment parameters

Before going live, configure the following deployment parameters:

Quantity / lots. Set the number of shares (for equity strategies) or lots (for F&O strategies) to trade per signal. Start with the minimum lot size (typically 1 lot for F&O) for initial live testing regardless of your intended final position size. Scale up only after verifying that the strategy behaves as expected in live conditions.

Maximum open positions. Set the maximum number of simultaneous open positions the strategy is allowed to hold. Limiting this to 1 or 2 for initial live deployment constrains the maximum capital at risk.

Product type.

  • MIS (Margin Intraday Square-off): For intraday strategies; positions are auto-squared off at the platform’s cut-off time (typically 3:20 PM IST for NSE equity and F&O). Zerodha applies intraday leverage on MIS orders.
  • NRML (Normal): For overnight F&O positions. Margin requirements are higher than MIS.
  • CNC (Cash and Carry): For equity delivery strategies where the position is intended to be held beyond the trading day.

Square-off time. For intraday strategies, set an explicit square-off time before 3:20 PM (for example, 3:10 PM) to ensure the strategy closes positions before Zerodha’s auto-square-off, which executes at market price with a possible penalty if triggered by the broker rather than the strategy.

Maximum daily loss limit. If Streak’s plan supports a daily loss limit, set it. This parameter causes the strategy to stop generating new entry signals if cumulative losses for the day exceed the specified amount, functioning as a circuit breaker.

Trading time window. Restrict the strategy’s entry signals to a time window within market hours. Common practice is to exclude the first 15 minutes (9:15 AM to 9:30 AM) when opening price volatility is highest and indicators based on historical data may produce unreliable signals.

Step 4: Review the strategy settings before going live

On the deployment confirmation screen, review:

  • Instrument(s) traded (NSE equity ticker, index F&O contract, or stock F&O contract)
  • Entry condition logic (indicator values, comparison operators, and thresholds)
  • Exit condition logic (profit target, stop loss, trailing stop, or indicator-based exit)
  • Position sizing (quantity or lots per signal)
  • Product type (MIS/NRML/CNC)
  • Trading hours

Verify that these settings match the backtest configuration. Discrepancies between the backtested settings and the deployed settings (for example, a different stop-loss percentage) will cause the live strategy to behave differently from the backtest.

Step 5: Deploy in live mode

Click Deploy or Go live. The strategy’s status changes to Active or Running in the My Strategies view. Streak begins monitoring real-time market data for signals matching the strategy’s entry conditions.

When an entry condition is met, Streak places a buy order (or sell order for short-entry strategies) through Kite Connect in your Zerodha account. The order appears in the Kite order book as an order placed by the Streak API application.

When an exit condition is met (profit target, stop loss, trailing stop, or indicator-based exit signal), Streak places the corresponding closing order. For intraday MIS strategies that have not exited by the square-off time, the position is closed at the strategy’s configured square-off time or by Zerodha’s auto-square-off mechanism at 3:20 PM, whichever comes first.

Step 6: Monitor live positions and P&L

In Streak. The Live tab or the deployed strategy’s detail page shows:

  • Current strategy status (active, entry triggered, in position, exited)
  • Entry and exit prices
  • Current P&L for the day and for the strategy’s lifetime
  • Number of trades executed since deployment

In Kite. Check the Orders and Positions sections. Streak-placed orders are identifiable in the order book. The Positions section shows open positions for MIS and NRML strategies.

Compare the live execution prices with the expected prices (based on the indicator values at signal time) to assess execution quality (slippage). A consistent gap between expected and actual execution prices indicates execution latency or market impact.

Pausing and stopping a strategy

To pause a strategy (stop new entries but allow open positions to exit): click Pause in the My Strategies view. The strategy stops generating new entry signals; any open positions continue to follow the configured exit rules.

To stop a strategy entirely: click Stop or Deactivate. If there are open positions, Streak may prompt you to decide whether to close them immediately or let them close via the strategy’s exit rules.

What can go wrong

Kite Connect token expired. If Streak cannot connect to Zerodha when a signal fires, orders are not placed. Check the broker connection status in Streak’s Settings section each morning before market open. Re-authorise if the connection is shown as expired.

Insufficient margin. If a strategy’s entry signal fires but your Zerodha account lacks sufficient margin for the order quantity, the order is rejected. This can occur if you have other open positions consuming margin, or if SEBI’s or Zerodha’s margin requirements have changed. Monitor available margin in the Kite funds section.

Order rejection due to circuit or freeze quantity. F&O contracts have freeze quantity limits imposed by the exchange. If the strategy’s configured lot size exceeds the freeze quantity, orders are rejected. Reduce lot size or split into multiple orders within Streak’s advanced settings.

Strategy fires but no execution visible in Kite. If the Kite Connect API returns an error (for example, order-value limit exceeded, market not open, or contract expired), the order is rejected at the broker level. Streak logs API errors in the strategy’s execution log; review this log to diagnose rejections.

References

  1. Streak Tech. “Deploying a strategy on Streak”. support.streak.tech. Accessed May 2026.
  2. Zerodha Support. “Streak integration with Kite”. support.zerodha.com. Accessed May 2026.
  3. SEBI. “Consultation paper on algorithmic trading by retail investors”. sebi.gov.in. August 2022.
  4. SEBI. “Circular on algorithmic trading framework for registered brokers”. sebi.gov.in. 2024.
  5. Zerodha Z-Connect Blog. “Streak, no-code algo trading for Kite clients”. z-connect.zerodha.com. Accessed May 2026.
  6. NSE India. “Freeze quantity limits for F&O contracts”. nseindia.com. Accessed May 2026.

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WebNotes Editorial Team

The WebNotes Editorial Team covers Indian capital markets, payments infrastructure and retail investor procedures. Every article is fact-checked against primary sources, principally SEBI circulars and master directions, NPCI specifications and the official support documentation published by the intermediary in question. Drafts go through a second-pair-of-eyes review and a separate compliance read before publication, and revisions are tracked against the SEBI and NPCI rule changes referenced in the methodology section.

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