How to use Sentinel for cloud-based alerts on Zerodha

From WebNotes, a public knowledge base. Last updated 12 May 2026. Reading time ~8 min. Level: Intermediate.

Key facts

Platform	sentinel.zerodha.com (web) or accessible via Kite
Alert types	Price, percentage change, volume, technical indicators (MA, RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, etc.)
Conditions per alert	Multiple conditions combined with AND/OR logic
Persistence	Alerts remain active until triggered or manually deleted; no session limit
Notification channels	Email, browser notification, Kite app push notification

Zerodha Sentinel is a cloud-based alert platform that extends the basic price alerting available in Kite to support technical indicator conditions, multiple conditions combined with AND/OR logic, and persistent monitoring that continues even when you are not logged in to Kite. Sentinel alerts are evaluated on Zerodha’s servers using real-time market data, which means they fire reliably regardless of your internet connection or whether the Kite platform is open. This guide covers the step-by-step procedure for creating and managing alerts on Sentinel.

Sentinel vs Kite basic alerts

Feature	Kite basic alert	Sentinel
Price threshold	Yes	Yes
Percentage change	Yes	Yes
Technical indicators	No	Yes (MA, RSI, MACD, etc.)
Multiple conditions	No	Yes (AND/OR)
Volume conditions	No	Yes
Alert persistence	Until triggered or deleted	Until triggered or deleted
Cloud monitoring	Yes	Yes
Recurring alerts	No	Yes (re-set after trigger)

Sentinel is the appropriate choice when you want to alert on technical conditions, for example, “alert me when the 14-day RSI crosses above 60 AND the stock price is above the 200-day moving average.”

Step-by-step procedure

Open Sentinel

Navigate to sentinel.zerodha.com in a browser. Sign in with your Zerodha client ID and password. Two-factor authentication is required (TOTP). After signing in, the Sentinel dashboard shows all your existing alerts categorised as Active, Triggered and Expired.

You can also access Sentinel from within Kite web by clicking the Sentinel link in the top navigation or via the More tools menu, depending on your Kite version.

Create a new alert

On the Sentinel dashboard, click New alert or the + button at the top right. The alert creation interface opens with three sections: instrument selection, conditions and alert name.

Search for the instrument

In the Search instrument field, type the company name or exchange symbol. Sentinel supports NSE equity, NSE F&O, BSE equity, MCX commodities and currency derivatives, the same segments available on Kite. Select the instrument from the search dropdown. The current LTP and basic data for the instrument appear as a reference.

Configure alert conditions

Sentinel uses a condition builder. Each condition consists of three parts: a data field, an operator and a value.

Available data fields include:

Last price (LTP)
Day change (%)
Volume
Open, High, Low, Close
Moving average (SMA/EMA), with configurable period
RSI, with configurable period
MACD, with configurable parameters
Bollinger Bands, with configurable parameters
ATR (Average True Range)

Available operators:

Greater than / Less than, fires if the field’s current value is above/below the threshold at any point.
Crosses above / Crosses below, fires when the field value transitions from below to above (or above to below) the threshold. This is typically more useful than a static comparison for technical conditions.

Setting a condition: Click Add condition. Select the data field from the dropdown, then select the operator, then enter the value. For indicator-based conditions, also configure the indicator parameters (for example, for SMA, enter the period: 20, 50, 200).

Example, RSI-based alert:

Data field: RSI (period 14)
Operator: Crosses above
Value: 70

This alert fires when the 14-period RSI crosses from below 70 to above 70, which is a classic overbought signal.

Example, price and MA combined alert:

Condition 1: LTP Crosses above 520
Condition 2: LTP Greater than SMA(200)
Logic: AND

This alert fires only when the stock crosses Rs 520 and is simultaneously above its 200-day simple moving average, reducing the chance of a false breakout signal.

Set condition logic (AND/OR)

If you add multiple conditions, Sentinel shows a logic selector between each pair of conditions:

AND: All conditions must be true simultaneously for the alert to fire.
OR: Any one condition being true fires the alert.

Choose AND for more specific alerts (requiring multiple criteria to be met) and OR for broader alerts (any one of several conditions).

Name and save the alert

In the Alert name field, enter a descriptive name for your reference. Good names include the scrip, the condition type and the target (for example, “INFY RSI 70 crossover” or “HDFCBANK above 200 DMA and 1650”). A clear name helps you manage a large number of alerts.

Click Create alert or Save. Sentinel confirms the alert is now active. It appears in the Active section of your dashboard.

Monitor triggered alerts

When an alert condition is met during market hours:

Email notification: An email is sent to your registered Zerodha email address with the alert name, scrip, condition and the LTP at the time of trigger.
Browser notification: If you have Sentinel open in a browser with notifications enabled, a browser notification appears.
Kite app push notification: A push notification is sent to the Kite mobile app on your registered device.

The triggered alert moves to the Triggered section of the Sentinel dashboard. By default, most alert types trigger once and then become inactive. If you want the alert to recur (fire again the next time the condition is met), look for a Re-arm or Recurring option in the alert settings, which is available in some Sentinel versions.

Editing and deleting alerts

From the Sentinel dashboard, click any active alert to edit its conditions, name or parameters. Changes take effect immediately. To delete an alert, click the delete icon (trash can) on the alert card. Triggered alerts in the history section can be cleared for housekeeping.

What can go wrong

Alert conditions are correct but alert does not fire. For crossing conditions (Crosses above/Crosses below), the alert fires on the transition, not on a static state. If the instrument is already above your threshold when you create the alert, a Crosses above alert will not fire until the price falls below and then rises back above the threshold. Use Greater than for static-state alerts.
Indicator values differ from charting tools. Sentinel calculates indicators using the official OHLCV data from the exchange. Some charting tools may use different data sources, calculation methods or bar types (daily vs intraday). Minor differences are expected.
Alert not firing for illiquid scrips. If the scrip does not trade in real time (no LTP updates), Sentinel may not evaluate the condition until a trade occurs. This is an exchange data limitation, not a Sentinel issue.
Notifications not received. Check email spam folders, browser notification permissions and Kite app notification settings.

References

Zerodha Support, Sentinel, how to create cloud-based alerts, support.zerodha.com.
Zerodha Blog, Introducing Sentinel, better market alerts, zerodha.com/z-connect.
NSE India, Real-time data feed standards for third-party platforms, nseindia.com.

Reviewed and published by

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.

Last reviewed: 12 May 2026
Conflicts of interest: WebNotes is independent. No relationship with any broker, registrar or bank named in this article.