What an options trading bot actually does
Strip away the marketing and a bot is a loop that runs on every tick of the market: read the data, score the setup, size the position, place the order, manage the exit. HT Bot runs that loop for Nifty 50, Bank Nifty and Sensex index options and nothing else. It does not touch equities, futures or commodity contracts.
- Read. Live index level, movement, option premiums and the shape of the strikes around spot.
- Score. Decide whether the session favours a call (CE) or put (PE) position, and how confident that read is.
- Size. Pick a strike and a quantity that fits your daily budget, per-script budget, lot and order limits.
- Execute and exit. Place the order through your broker's API, then close the position on target, stop-loss or holding-time limits.
Every step is rule-based and logged. That is the actual product: not a prediction, but a process that happens identically on a calm Tuesday and on a gap-down morning when you would rather not click.
How the bot decides between a call and a put
The engine scores each market on directional bias using the same information a discretionary index trader reads off a screen: where the index sits relative to its recent range, how the current session opened, and how option premiums are behaving around the money. The output is a bias (CE or PE) with a confidence percentage per index.
Confidence is used as a filter, not a promise. A low-confidence session produces fewer trades or none at all. That matters more than it sounds: a bot that sits out a muddy session is doing its job, because the alternative is paying brokerage and STT to discover that the setup was noise.
The bias and confidence for each index are published daily on the market analysis pages and inside the dashboard before the open.
The risk controls matter more than the strategy
A strategy determines whether you make money in a good month. Risk controls determine whether you are still trading after a bad one. Every bot you create carries its own limits, and the engine cannot exceed them:
- Daily budget — the maximum capital the bot may deploy across the day.
- Per-script budget — a cap per instrument so one strike cannot absorb the whole allocation.
- Lot and order limits — a hard ceiling on size and on how many orders can be open at once.
- Holding time — a maximum time in a position, so a stalled trade is closed rather than carried.
- Safe Mode — pauses new entries once your profit or loss target for the day is hit.
Positions are intraday only. The bot closes them the same session, so nothing is carried through the overnight gap or across an expiry you did not plan for.
Which brokers you can connect
Each connection uses your own broker account, and orders are routed through a dedicated order manager bound to a static IP, which is the arrangement SEBI's retail algo framework expects. The session and the order path are separate: a token that has expired shows up as a validation warning rather than a silent failed order.
| Broker | How you connect | Session lifetime | Static IP for orders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstox | OAuth login, then validate the token | About a day | Not required |
| Zerodha | Kite login redirect with your API key and secret | Expires daily before market open | Required |
| Angel One | Client code, PIN and TOTP | Until midnight | Required |
| Dhan | Access token, or client ID with PIN and TOTP | 24 hours | Required |
| Kotak | Consumer key, UCC, mobile, MPIN and TOTP | Day-scoped session | Required, including the session itself |
If your broker is not on that list, the honest answer is that connecting it is not a five-minute job. Each broker needs an auth flow, an instrument mapping and an order adapter that behaves under its own rate limits. The partners page tracks what is connected today.
Validate on paper before you send a live order
- Create a free account. Email, Google or Telegram all work; no card is needed.
- Build a bot on paper. Pick a market, set a simulated budget, and let it run for at least a week of sessions. You are checking behaviour, not profit.
- Read the trade log. Every entry and exit carries a reason. If you cannot explain why a trade happened from the log, the configuration is wrong for you.
- Connect your broker and validate the session. Do this before you flip a bot to live, not after.
- Start live small. The first live week should use a budget you would be annoyed, not hurt, to lose.
What it costs
Two costs stack. The platform subscription covers the bot; the broker covers brokerage, STT, exchange charges, GST and stamp duty on every order. On a weekly options position those statutory charges are a meaningful share of a small move, which is why the P&L calculator works out net profit rather than gross.
Plans start with free paper trading. Live trading is available on paid plans, and every plan change is self-service.
What this bot does not do
It does not guarantee returns, it does not predict the market, and it does not trade overnight. Any options bot claiming otherwise is selling you a story. The statistics page publishes real trade counts, win rate and net P&L day by day — read that before you read any testimonial.
Frequently asked questions
What is an options trading bot?
An options trading bot is software that watches live market data, decides whether a call (CE) or put (PE) position fits the current setup, and places the order in your broker account without you clicking. HT Bot runs this loop for Nifty 50, Bank Nifty and Sensex index options, and closes every position the same day.
Which brokers can I connect?
Upstox connects with an OAuth login. Zerodha, Angel One, Dhan and Kotak connect with their own API credentials and a TOTP code from your authenticator app. Each live connection is validated before it can place a trade.
Do I need to code or build strategies?
No. You pick a market, set a daily budget and a per-script budget, choose lot and order limits, and start the bot. Strategy logic, strike selection and exits are handled by the engine.
Can I test it before risking money?
Yes. Paper trading is free and runs on live market data with a simulated budget, so you can watch the bot take and exit positions before switching a bot to live mode.
What happens if I hit my profit or loss target?
Safe Mode pauses new entries when your configured profit or loss threshold is reached. Existing positions are still managed to exit, but the bot stops opening fresh trades for the day.
Does the bot guarantee profits?
No. Options trading carries a substantial risk of loss and no strategy can promise returns. Past performance on the statistics page is historical data, not a forecast.
HT Bot is a technology platform, not a SEBI-registered investment adviser or research analyst. Nothing on this page is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Options trading carries a substantial risk of loss; past performance does not predict future returns. Read the full risk disclosure.