Advanced orders on Kite: A comprehensive guide

Trading involves much more than just buying and selling stocks. Traders today have multiple requirements, such as placing large orders without revealing their order size or intent, setting up long-standing orders that work months later, and executing complex strategies that involve taking multiple positions.

Which is why we have built advanced order on Kite to solve these problems. These features help users trade more effectively by simplifying the order placement process and managing orders efficiently.

The advanced orders on Kite include:

• Iceberg orders: Hide big orders from other traders by showing only small parts at a time
• GTT (Good Till Triggered) orders: Set up long-standing orders that stay active for up to a year
• Basket orders: Place multiple orders at the same time
• Alert Trigger Orders (ATO): Create orders that trigger based on conditions set by you
• Order slicing: Automatically split orders to overcome exchange limits
• Stock SIPs: Set up regular investments in stocks and ETFs
• Limited validity orders: Set how long you want your order to stay active during the day

Iceberg orders

Let’s say you want to buy a large quantity, maybe 100 lots (7500 quantities) of Nifty options. But here’s the problem: if you place that full order at once, it’ll show up in the order book and might push prices up before the entire order is filled.

That’s where Iceberg orders can help. Just like the real iceberg, Iceberg orders only show the tip, revealing a small slice of your full order at a time while keeping the rest hidden. Once that slice is filled, the next one appears. And so on, until your full order is executed.

With Iceberg, you can split the 100 lots into 10 slices of 10 lots each. Other traders only see 10 lots at a time, never the full size.

Why not just use the disclosed quantity?

Exchanges already allow disclosed quantity orders, but they come with limitations:

• They only work for stocks, currency, and commodity and not for equity F&O, where freeze limits are tighter and the need to slice orders is greater.
• They require you to disclose at least 10% of your order. Iceberg orders let you go lower, down to just 5% per slice.
• You get more control with Iceberg: define exactly how many slices (maximum 10) you want and how much to reveal each time.

Iceberg orders are managed on Zerodha’s side, not the exchange. That makes them algorithmic orders, so you can only place limit orders, and market orders can only be placed with market protection.

GTT (Good Till Triggered) orders

Regular orders expire at the end of the trading day. So, if you want to buy a stock only when it falls to ₹450, but it’s trading at ₹500 today, you’d have to place the same order every day until it is executed, which is cumbersome, and this is what GTT orders help you with.

GTT orders stay active for up to a year, waiting for your price conditions to be met.

Single-leg GTT orders

These are simple and perfect for long-term entries. For example, you can set a GTT to buy a stock at ₹450, and it’ll stay active until the stock falls to that price, even if it takes weeks or months, and when the trigger is hit, an order will be placed on the exchanges.

OCO GTT orders (One Cancels the Other)

OCO (One Cancels Other) order type is great for exits. It lets you set both a profit target and a stop-loss. When one condition is met, the other gets cancelled automatically.

Let’s say you bought a stock at ₹500. You can set:

• A stop-loss trigger at ₹450
• A profit target at ₹600

If the stock hits ₹600, the target order executes, and the stop-loss gets cancelled. If it falls to ₹450, your stop-loss kicks in, and the target order is cancelled.

Why GTT orders are handy

• Set up entry and exit conditions weeks or even months ahead.
• Automatically place stop-losses and targets when you’re away.
• GTT orders don’t lock your funds until they’re triggered, so you can queue up trades across multiple stocks or F&O contracts without affecting your available margin.

GTT is built for investors and traders who don’t want to track every tick but still want to stay in control.

Basket orders

Say you’re setting up a complex options strategy like an Iron Condor, which involves four different trades, two buys and two sells. If you place these orders one by one, the market can move in between, messing up your strategy. This is where basket orders come in handy.

Basket order feature lets you group up to 20 different trades across stocks, options, futures, and place them all together. You prepare your entire strategy in advance and send it to the exchange in a single click.

Smart timing with built-in delays

We have built in tiny delays of a few milliseconds between each order in the basket. This matters because in most option strategies, you need to place buy orders first to get margin benefits, which reduces the margin requirement for sell orders. Without this delay, margin calculations might not keep up, and orders could get rejected.

Popular uses for basket orders

• For strategies like Iron Condors, Spreads, or Butterflies, baskets help you execute all legs together, so you’re not exposed to sudden price moves between orders.
• Long-term investors use baskets to build diversified portfolios systematically. Many create baskets with equity funds, gold ETFs, and debt funds, then execute everything as their monthly investment.
• If you’re adjusting several positions at once, baskets ensure everything happens together.

Alert Trigger Orders (ATO)

Most traders set alerts on indices like Nifty or Bank Nifty and then manually place orders when those alerts are triggered. With ATO (Alert Triggers Order) on Kite, you can now skip the manual steps.

ATO lets you link a basket of up to 20 orders to any alert, based on price, volume, open interest, or other parameters. The moment your alert condition is met, an order for the entire basket gets placed automatically.

ATO use cases

Investing in stocks or ETFs based on index levels: Let’s say you want to invest in stocks or ETFs when the Nifty 50 drops to 23,000. Instead of checking the index every day and placing orders manually, you can set an ATO. The moment Nifty hits 23,000, your buy orders for those stocks and ETFs will be placed automatically.

Taking positions in F&O contracts: Suppose you’re trading options and want to enter a short straddle when Nifty touches 25,000. You can create an alert for Nifty at 25,000 and link it to a basket that sells both a call and a put option. As soon as the index reaches that level, both orders are placed instantly.

Using ATO for risk management: If you’re holding multiple positions and want to exit when the index or a particular stock crosses a certain level to either lock in profits or limit losses, you can set up an ATO for that too. For example, if Nifty falls below 22,500 and you want to close open trades, you can link all your exit orders to that alert.

Order slicing

When you place an order that’s larger than the exchange’s freeze limit, Zerodha automatically splits it into smaller orders within the allowed limits. These sliced orders are sent to the exchange together, so there’s no delay.

You’ll see a warning when this happens, not to block the order, but just to double-check that it wasn’t a typo. Freeze limits exist mainly to prevent accidental fat-finger trades that could disrupt the market.

For example, if you’re placing an order to buy 100 lots of a contract with a 50-lot freeze limit, our system will automatically break it into two 50-lot orders and send them simultaneously.

Stock SIPs

Stock SIPs automate regular investments in stocks and ETFs. Instead of remembering to invest every month, set up a stock SIP to do it automatically. Choose daily, weekly, or monthly intervals, and even pick the execution time.

This works particularly well for building long-term positions in individual stocks and ETFs with the same discipline as mutual fund SIPs.

Limited validity orders

Regular orders stay active all day, while IOC (Immediate or Cancel) orders get cancelled immediately if they aren’t filled. If you want more control over how long an order stays open, limited validity orders are ideal for that. You can choose exactly how long the order remains active, anywhere from 1 minute to 2 hours.

This is especially handy for option traders on expiry days, when markets can move in seconds and stale orders become risky.

When to use limited validity orders

Volatile markets: In fast-moving conditions, prices can change dramatically in minutes. A limit order that made sense half an hour ago might no longer be relevant.

Expiry day trading: On expiry days, strategies often need quick execution. Limited validity ensures your orders don’t sit around and get filled at the wrong time or price.

Precise timing: Say you want to give the market 10 minutes to fill your order, but not keep it open all day. With limited validity, you can set it to cancel automatically after that time—no need to manually track and cancel it yourself.

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What’s coming next

We’re building more tools based on your feedback to help manage risk and stay disciplined:

Trailing stop-loss orders: Combined with GTT for risk management that adjusts as positions become profitable.

P&L-based exits: Exit trades automatically when you hit a defined profit or loss threshold.

Overtrading alerts: Notifications and limits based on P&L and order frequency to prevent emotional trading.

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If you have questions about any of these advanced order types, please post them in the comments below.