Question 1

Is there a free tier for developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every developer receives 10,000 free API credits upon signing in with Google OAuth — no credit card required. You can test live PNR verification, 14-day seat availability, route search, and station boards immediately. Pro top-up packs are available at ₹99 for 100,000 requests.

Question 2

How do I check live PNR status using the API?

Accepted Answer

Send an authenticated GET request to https://api.irctc.dev/api/v1/pnr/:pnr with your API key, or use client.pnr.check(pnrNumber) with the official irctc-api npm package. The response includes passenger confirmation status, coach, seat, normalized berth allocation, and charting status.

Question 3

How does the 14-day train seat availability forecast work?

Accepted Answer

The Seat Availability endpoint queries the official Indian Railways PRS reservation engine directly via CRIS protocol. It delivers a multi-class, multi-day availability forecast calendar with confirmed confirmation codes (Available, Waitlist, RAC) and zero browser RAM overhead.

Question 4

Can I check vacant seats after chart preparation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Vacant Seats After Chart Preparation endpoint (/api/v1/trains/:trainNo/chart-vacant) checks real-time vacant berths across coaches for Current Booking and TTE allocation once the reservation chart is prepared.

Question 5

What programming languages and SDKs are supported?

Accepted Answer

We provide the official zero-dependency irctc-api npm package with 100% TypeScript definitions for Node.js, alongside runnable code snippets for Python (requests/httpx) and standard cURL.

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Ready to build? Install the zero-dependency SDK