Handle API errors and rate limits

Every Kite Connect endpoint enforces rate limits (approximate, check current docs): quote endpoints ~1 req/sec, order placement ~10 req/sec but with a 200 orders/day cap on some plans, historical data ~3 req/sec. Exceeding these gets you NetworkException or TooManyRequests errors, and repeated abuse can get your app throttled for longer periods.

Exception types (kiteconnect.exceptions)

from kiteconnect.exceptions import (
    TokenException,       # access token expired/invalid -> re-auth (ch 10)
    NetworkException,      # connectivity issue, rate-limit, or 5xx from broker
    OrderException,        # order-specific rejection (ch 57)
    InputException,        # malformed request from your own code — fix the bug
    GeneralException,       # everything else
)

Wrap every call with retry + backoff, except where retrying is unsafe

import time, logging

def call_with_retry(fn, *args, max_attempts=3, base_delay=1.0, **kwargs):
    for attempt in range(1, max_attempts + 1):
        try:
            return fn(*args, **kwargs)
        except NetworkException as e:
            if attempt == max_attempts:
                raise
            delay = base_delay * (2 ** (attempt - 1))
            logging.warning(f"NetworkException, retry {attempt}/{max_attempts} in {delay}s: {e}")
            time.sleep(delay)
        except TokenException:
            raise   # don't retry — needs re-auth, not a resend

The one call you must NEVER blindly retry

Order placement. If a place_order() call times out, you don't know if the order reached the exchange before the timeout. Blindly retrying can create a duplicate order. Chapter 58 (idempotent order placement) covers the correct pattern — check the order book for a matching already-placed order before resending, using your own client-generated tag/reference.

Practical rate-limit discipline

• Batch quote requests (kite.quote([...]) accepts a list) instead of looping one symbol at a time.
• Cache the instrument master (chapter 21) locally — don't refetch it per request, it changes at most once a day.
• Add a small fixed sleep between successive order placements in a loop (e.g. basket order legs, chapter 61) rather than firing them as fast as possible.

Next: 021 — Download the instrument master