Placidus, Koch, and 7 Other House Systems — Now on VedIntel™ AstroAPI
Until now, every chart returned by this API used Whole Sign houses — the standard in Vedic practice, but not what most Western astrology software defaults to. If you were building on top of this API and needed Placidus, you had no way to get it. Now you do.
What changed
house_system is a new optional parameter on planet-details, divisional-charts, and ascendant-report. Nine systems are supported:
| Parameter value | System | Note |
|---|---|---|
| whole | Whole Sign | Default — unchanged for every existing integration |
| placidus | Placidus | The Western-astrology standard |
| koch | Koch | Popular in German-speaking Western practice |
| equal | Equal | Equal 30° houses from the Ascendant |
| campanus | Campanus | Prime-vertical based |
| regiomontanus | Regiomontanus | Medieval European standard |
| porphyrius | Porphyrius | Trisects the quadrants |
| alcabitius | Alcabitius | Medieval Arabic astrology |
| morinus | Morinus | Right-ascension based |
Nothing existing changes
house_system defaults to whole. If you don't pass it, your response is byte-identical to what it was before this shipped — planet positions, house numbers, everything. This was verified directly: the same request with and without an explicit house_system=whole returns identical output.
// Same call as always — nothing changes GET /api/v1/horoscope/planet-details?dob=01/10/1990&tob=08:30&lat=28.61&lon=77.20&tz=5.5&api_key=... // house_system omitted → Whole Sign, exactly like before this feature shipped
// Opt in to Placidus on the same endpoint GET /api/v1/horoscope/planet-details?dob=01/10/1990&tob=08:30&lat=28.61&lon=77.20&tz=5.5&house_system=placidus&api_key=... // Real quadrant house cusps from Swiss Ephemeris — planet positions unchanged, // only which house each planet falls in shifts to match Placidus boundaries.
Real cusps, not sign offsets
This isn't a cosmetic label change. Whole Sign houses are exactly 30° each, aligned to sign boundaries — house math is a simple sign-index offset. Placidus, Koch, Campanus, and the other quadrant systems divide the sky unequally based on the exact birth time and location, using the prime vertical and celestial equator.
The engine computes real cusp boundaries from Swiss Ephemeris and places each planet by comparing its degree against those actual boundaries — not by approximating with sign offsets. A planet near a house cusp can land in a different house under Placidus than it does under Whole Sign, exactly as it should.
Who this is for
Western astrology apps and sites where Placidus is the expected default — previously, building on this API meant computing house cusps yourself. KP practitioners who want a house system other than Whole Sign for specific chart work also have the full set available. Available on Starter plan and above.
house_system is available on Starter plan and above.
See plans →