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Kalshi Sandbox Setup Documentation

Date: 2026-02-02
Purpose: Document the process to obtain Kalshi sandbox API credentials for PR3DICT testing

Overview

Kalshi provides a sandbox environment for testing API integrations without real money. The PR3DICT system is configured to use this sandbox by default.

API Endpoints

  • Production: https://trading-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2
  • Sandbox: https://demo-trading-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2

Current Status: ⚠️ Access Issue

Problem Discovered

The QUICKSTART.md references https://demo.kalshi.com for sandbox signup, but this domain does not resolve.

$ curl https://demo.kalshi.com
curl: (6) Could not resolve host: demo.kalshi.com

Investigation Findings

  1. Primary Website: The main Kalshi site is https://kalshi.com
  2. API Documentation: Likely at https://trading-api.kalshi.com/docs or https://docs.kalshi.com
  3. Sandbox Access: May require:
    • Contacting Kalshi support
    • Separate application process
    • Invitation/approval system
    • Or the demo site may be temporarily down

Alternative Approaches

Option 1: Contact Kalshi Support

  • Email: support@kalshi.com (inferred)
  • Request: Sandbox API credentials for development/testing

Option 2: Check Official Documentation

# Try accessing API docs directly
curl https://trading-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2/docs
curl https://demo-trading-api.kalshi.com/trade-api/v2/docs

Option 3: Use Production with Test Account

⚠️ Not recommended - Production environment with real money

Option 4: Mock Mode Testing

For initial development, we can test the engine with:

  • Mock API responses
  • Simulated market data
  • Local validation of logic

Required Credentials Format

Based on code analysis (src/platforms/kalshi.py), the system expects:

# In config/.env
KALSHI_API_KEY=your_email@example.com
KALSHI_API_SECRET=your_password_here
KALSHI_SANDBOX=true

The Kalshi API uses email + password authentication (not API key/secret pairs like most services).

Authentication Flow

  1. POST to /login with email/password
  2. Receive JWT token (30-minute expiry)
  3. Use token in Authorization: Bearer <token> header
  4. Auto-refresh at 25 minutes

Next Steps

  1. Immediate: Test the system in paper mode without real credentials to validate engine logic
  2. Short-term: Research official Kalshi developer documentation
  3. Medium-term: Obtain legitimate sandbox credentials through proper channels

Code Integration Details

Files Modified/Reviewed

  • src/platforms/kalshi.py - Platform integration
  • config/.env - Configuration (currently has empty credentials)
  • run.sh - Startup script

Current Config State

$ cat config/.env | grep KALSHI
KALSHI_API_KEY=
KALSHI_API_SECRET=
KALSHI_SANDBOX=true

Credentials are not set - system will fail at connection phase.

Testing Without Credentials

We can still test:

  • ✅ Engine startup logic
  • ✅ Strategy initialization
  • ✅ Configuration parsing
  • ❌ Actual API connections
  • ❌ Real market data
  • ❌ Order placement

Expected behavior: The engine will start but fail at the connect() phase with authentication errors.

Recommendations

  1. Document the limitation in QUICKSTART.md (demo.kalshi.com issue)
  2. Add fallback instructions for users who can't access sandbox
  3. Implement mock mode for development without API access
  4. Research Kalshi's current developer onboarding process

Last Updated: 2026-02-02 22:13 CST
Status: Awaiting official Kalshi documentation/support response