Introduction to Trading APIs and How to start using Breeze API

Trading APIs have transformed how individuals and institutions interact with financial markets. These APIs provide a direct and efficient way to execute trades, manage portfolios, and access real-time market data by allowing developers and traders to customize their trading strategies. Trading APIs facilitate a more personalized and dynamic approach to trading. This article provides a comprehensive understanding of trading API, how it works, its benefits, and why traders use it.

What is Trading API?

Trading API is a set of APIs that enable users to get live market data and execute real time trades. Build strategically for trading purpose, clients can manage their live positions, call orderbook, checking the account balance, managing the portfolio, and much more.

API, in general, is a set of protocols that that facilitates seamless communication two different systems. Trading API allows communication between client’s systems with brokers servers that in turn communicate to exchange servers.

API based trading has several benefits, such as eliminating emotions and human errors from trading decisions.

It also allows for faster trading execution as there are no manual interventions. Additionally, trading API is flexible, allowing traders to tailor their trading systems to meet their unique needs. This enables them to create their own algorithms, execute sophisticated trading strategies, and integrate risk management practices. Such extensive customization empowers traders to adjust their systems in response to fluctuating market conditions, thereby enhancing their trading efficiency

How Does Trading API Works?

Built especially for market participants with technical knowledge looking for personalised trading experience using innovative logic, Trading APIs can help one build a complete investment and trading platform in no time.

Step 1: Generating API Keys:

Traders can acquire API keys through an initiation process. An API given by a broker can only be used for communication between the client’s system and the broker’s server. The broker and the respective exchange communicate with each other separately. These keys act as essential credentials, enabling the trader's automated system to interface seamlessly with the exchange's API for optimal operations.

Step 2: Establishing a Connection with the Exchange:

Traders need to create a link between their trading software or an algorithmic trading platform and the exchange's API. This vital connection allows for seamless communication, enabling efficient data retrieval and trade execution.

Step 3: Retrieving and Analysing Data:

Traders can access real-time market insights, including price feeds, order book details, and historical data, via the API. This information undergoes several technical and fundamental analysis that help uncover trading opportunities and guide decision-making processes.

Step 4: Implementing Trading Strategies:

Trader’s craft and execute their trading strategies utilizing their chosen programming language or an algorithmic trading platform. The API facilitates the automated execution of trades according to predefined criteria and rules, such as indicators, signals, or sophisticated mathematical models, ensuring precision and efficiency in trade execution.

Step 5: Executing Trades:

Upon finalizing the trading strategy, the trader with the use of the API dispatches a buy or sell order to the exchange, adhering to the established rules. The exchange’s trading engine then evaluates and executes these orders when the specified conditions align, ensuring timely and accurate trade execution.

For What Purposes is the API Used in Trading?

In today's interconnected technology landscape, platforms rely on each other's services for optimal performance. To facilitate this collaboration, APIs are developed, serving as essential bridges that enable seamless interactions and efficiency. Below are a few ways API trading is used:

To Expand Functionality:

A trading API acts as a versatile tool that enhances efficiency by integrating various systems and services. It allows trading platforms to expand their capabilities through connections with third-party services for trading analytics, market analysis, and sentiment tracking. Additionally, APIs facilitate the integration of diverse solutions, streamlining the trading process by adding practical functionalities from other systems

To Link Systems:

The core of any API is the integration of diverse systems, a concept that gains even greater significance as it opens up expansive possibilities in electronic trading. APIs facilitate seamless connections between large-scale trading systems and smaller components like widgets and plug-ins for financial asset analysis. Moreover, they enable the linking of various trading platforms via an API key. This is particularly useful for integrating multiple exchanges with automated trading tools, offering a comprehensive view of fund movements across all linked exchange accounts.

To Ensure Data Security:

Data security plays a pivotal role in ensuring safe online transactions within financial markets. These API systems offer traders enhanced encryption for both incoming and outgoing data among the various servers involved in the trading process, ensuring a more secure trading environment.

To Have Wider Customization Possibilities:

The trading API stands out for its customizable user interface, tailored to fit traders' unique needs, allowing for a flexible and efficient trading environment. It enables a secured direct connection and provides compact data packets designed to carry only specified information, minimizing the risk of incorrect requests. This feature enhances both usability and security, making the trading process more streamlined and reliable.

Benefits Of Trading APIs

Before we delve into the diverse range of individuals who utilize trading APIs, let's explore the various advantages that accompany trading API:

• Trading APIs provide users with live streaming or real-time market data, a fundamental necessity for every trader. Quick access to this data is crucial for trading success.
• Trading APIs are preferred for their ability to facilitate accurate trading and eliminate unnecessary emotional factors. Trading bots execute orders instantly once trading criteria are met, ensuring efficiency. Additionally, automated trading helps in

Start using Breeze API 

Following are the steps you can follow to start using Breeze API:

1. Click on the link https://api.icicidirect.com/apiuser/home which will direct you to the login page of Breeze API.

2. Login using your ICICIdirect account credentials.

Note: while www.icicidirect.com allows you to enter case-insensitive username (i.e. “Ramesh” can also be spelled “RAMESH” or “ramesh"), on this login you must use case sensitive username (i.e. “RAMESH” and “ramesh" will give an “Invalid username or password” error.)

3. After you have successfully logged in, click on the tab ‘Register an App’. You should see the following page:

4. Write the name you want to give your App (for example: my_breeze) and create a Redirect URL (for most clients https://127.0.0.1 will be enough). Then click “Submit”.

Note : Redirect URL should be in the format https://. You can put any number here. Also referred to as URL Forwarding, Redirect URL is a technique which is used to redirect your domain's visitors to a different URL. 

5. Your App is created now. You can view the list of Apps, along with their App Key and Secret Key, in the view apps section on the homepage. Note: Registering an App is a one-time activity. An App can contain multiple strategies and can be used daily to modify strategies without the need to create afresh. Consider creating a new App when you need to create a new strategy / project.

6. Make sure you activate the app before you create/edit your trading strategies. In the below image you can see that the App Status of 1st app (Tradetron) is inactive while the other two are active.

7. Finally generate a session key and use the key in your Python code to start trading. Please note that the session key needs to be generated every day for using Breeze API. This is a SEBI mandated requirement.

Please check our article on “What is a Session key and how to generate it for using Breeze API”, to know the steps of session key creation.

Please Note:

To start creating your trading strategies with Breeze API, you only need a platform / environment (IDE) to write your code on. There are many development environments out there you can use. Some of the most popular ones are: Jupyter, Anaconda, Spyder, Microsoft Visual Studio, PyCharm and others. You can download Anaconda - a popular data science application which provides python IDE like Jupyter and Spyder by clicking on the following link : https://www.anaconda.com.

Disclaimer: ICICI Securities Ltd.( I-Sec). Registered office of I-Sec is at ICICI Securities Ltd. - ICICI Venture House, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 400025, India, Tel No:- 022 - 2288 2460, 022 - 2288 2470. I-Sec is a Member of National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (Member Code:-07730) and BSE Ltd (Member Code :103) and having SEBI registration no. INZ000183631. Name of the Compliance officer (broking): Mr. Anoop Goyal, Contact number: 022-40701000, E-mail address: complianceofficer@icicisecurities.com. Investment in securities market are subject to market risks, read all the related documents carefully before investing. The contents herein above shall not be considered as an invitation or persuasion to trade or invest.  I-Sec and affiliates accept no liabilities for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of any actions taken in reliance thereon.