Kalshi Trading

Trade on Kalshi prediction markets (CFTC-regulated prediction market exchange). Check portfolio, search markets, analyze orderbooks, place/cancel orders. Use when working with Kalshi API, trading binary contracts, checking market prices, managing positions, or researching prediction markets on politics, economics, crypto, weather, sports, technology events.

Kalshi

Trade on Kalshi prediction markets via a self-contained CLI script. Supports market search, portfolio tracking, and full order lifecycle (place/cancel/monitor).

Quick Start

All commands route through a single script. Output is JSON.

CLI

Primary script:

bash

{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs <command> [args...]

Helper script:

bash

{baseDir}/scripts/quick-analysis.mjs <ticker>

Combines market details + orderbook in a single call for fast analysis.

Commands

Command	Description
balance	Get account balance (cash + portfolio value)
portfolio	Get balance + all open positions
trending	Top markets by 24h volume
search <query>	Search markets by keyword
market <ticker>	Get details for a single market
orderbook <ticker>	Get bid/ask levels for a market
buy <ticker> <yes|no> <count> <price>	Place a buy order (price in cents 1-99)
sell <ticker> <yes|no> <count> <price>	Place a sell order (price in cents 1-99)
cancel <orderId>	Cancel a resting order
orders [resting|canceled|executed]	List orders, optionally filtered by status
fills [ticker]	List recent fills, optionally filtered by ticker

Examples

bash

# Check balance
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs balance

# See what's trending
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs trending

# Search for markets about bitcoin
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs search "bitcoin"

# Get details on a specific market
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs market KXBTCD-26FEB14-B55500

# Check orderbook
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs orderbook KXBTCD-26FEB14-B55500

# Buy 5 YES contracts at 65 cents
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs buy KXBTCD-26FEB14-B55500 yes 5 65

# Sell 5 YES contracts at 70 cents
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs sell KXBTCD-26FEB14-B55500 yes 5 70

# Check open orders
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs orders resting

# Check recent fills
{baseDir}/scripts/kalshi-cli.mjs fills

Output

All commands output JSON to stdout. Parse the result to present it to the user.

Trading Rules

Critical: ALWAYS confirm with the user before placing any buy or sell order.

Before executing a trade, show the user:

• Ticker
• Side (YES or NO)
• Count (number of contracts)
• Price (in cents)
• Total cost = count × price cents = $X.XX

Price format:

• Prices are in cents (1-99)
• 65 cents = $0.65 per contract
• Minimum: 1 cent, Maximum: 99 cents

Payouts:

• All contracts pay $1.00 (100 cents) if correct, $0 if wrong
• YES at 65¢: costs 65¢, pays $1.00 if YES wins → 35¢ profit per contract
• NO at 35¢: costs 35¢, pays $1.00 if NO wins → 65¢ profit per contract
• YES price + NO price ≈ 100¢ (spreads cause small deviations)

Before selling: Verify the user holds the position by checking portfolio first

Reference Documentation

• setup-guide.md - Getting API credentials, configuration, troubleshooting
• trading-guide.md - Market mechanics, strategy tips, risk management
• api-notes.md - Technical API details, data formats, common patterns

Environment Variables

Required:

• KALSHI_API_KEY_ID — your Kalshi API key UUID
• KALSHI_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH — absolute path to your RSA private key PEM file

See setup-guide.md for detailed configuration instructions.