This is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation for Alpaca's Trading API. It enables large langu 8000 age models (LLMs) on Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VScode to interact with Alpaca's trading infrastructure using natural language (English). This server supports stock trading, options trading, portfolio management, watchlist handling, and real-time market data access.
- Market Data
- Real-time quotes, trades, and price bars for stocks
- Historical price data and trading history
- Option contract quotes and Greeks (via snapshots)
- Account Management
- View balances, buying power, and account status
- Inspect all open and closed positions
- Position Management
- Get detailed info on individual holdings
- Liquidate all or partial positions by share count or percentage
- Order Management
- Place stock and option orders (market or limit)
- Cancel orders individually or in bulk
- Retrieve full order history
- Options Trading
- Search and view option contracts by expiration or strike price
- Place multi-leg options strategies
- Get latest quotes and Greeks for contracts
- Market Status & Corporate Actions
- Check if markets are open
- Fetch market calendar and trading sessions
- View upcoming corporate announcements (earnings, splits, dividends)
- Watchlist Management
- Create, update, and view personal watchlists
- Manage multiple watchlists for tracking assets
- Asset Search
- Query details for stocks and other Alpaca-supported assets
- Python 3.10+
- Github account
- Alpaca API keys (with paper or live trading access)
- Claude for Desktop or another compatible MCP client
-
Clone the repository and move to the repository:
git clone https://github.com/alpacahq/alpaca-mcp-server.git cd alpaca-mcp-server -
Create and activate a virtual environment:
python3 -m venv venv source venv/bin/activateNote: The virtual environment will use the Python version that was used to create it. If you run the command with Python 3.10 or newer, your virtual environment will also use Python 3.10+. If you want to confirm the version, you can run
python3 --versionafter activating the virtual environment. -
Install the required packages:
pip install -r requirements.txt
ALPACA_API_KEY = "your_alpaca_api_key_for_paper_account"
ALPACA_SECRET_KEY = "your_alpaca_secret_key_for_paper_account"
PAPER = True
TRADE_API_URL = None
TRDE_API_WSS = None
DATA_API_URL = None
STREAM_DATA_WSS = None
Open a terminal and run the command below from the project directory:
python alpaca_mcp_server.pyOr use a module invocation:
python -m alpaca_mcp_server- Open Claude Desktop
- Navigate to:
Settings → Developer → Edit Config - Update your
claude_desktop_config.json:
Note:
Replace <project_root> with the path to your cloned alpaca-mcp-server directory. This should point to the Python executable inside the virtual environment you created with python3 -m venv venv on terminal.
{
"mcpServers": {
"alpaca": {
"command": "<project_root>/venv/bin/python",
"args": [
"/path/to/alpaca-mcp-server/alpaca_mcp_server.py"
],
"env": {
"ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key_for_paper_account",
"ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key_for_paper_account"
}
}
}
}This MCP server connects to Alpaca's paper trading API by default for safe testing. To enable live trading with real funds, update the following configuration files:
-
Claude for Desktop Configuration
In
claude_desktop_config.json, provide your keys for your live account as environment variables:{ "mcpServers": { "alpaca": { "command": "<project_root>/venv/bin/python", "args": [ "/path/to/alpaca_mcp_server.py" ], "env": { "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key_for_live_account", "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key_for_live_account" } } } } -
.envin the project directoryALPACA_API_KEY = "your_alpaca_api_key_for_live_account" ALPACA_SECRET_KEY = "your_alpaca_secret_key_for_live_account" PAPER = False TRADE_API_URL = None TRDE_API_WSS = None DATA_API_URL = None STREAM_DATA_WSS = None
Prerequisite:
You must have Docker installed on your system.
docker run -it --rm \
-e ALPACA_API_KEY=your_alpaca_api_key \
-e ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key \
ghcr.io/chand1012/alpaca-mcp-server:latestThis pulls and runs the latest published version of the server. Replace your_alpaca_api_key and your_alpaca_secret_key with your actual keys. If the server exposes a port (e.g., 8080), add -p 8080:8080 to the command.
docker build -t alpaca-mcp-server .
docker run -it --rm \
-e ALPACA_API_KEY=your_alpaca_api_key \
-e ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key \
alpaca-mcp-serverUse this if you want to run a modified or development version of the server.
{
"mcpServers": {
"alpaca": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"-e", "ALPACA_API_KEY",
"-e", "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY",
"ghcr.io/chand1012/alpaca-mcp-server:latest"
],
"env": {
"ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
"ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
}
}
}
}Environment variables can be set either with -e flags or in the "env" object, but not both. For Claude Desktop, use the "env" object.
Security Note:
Never share your API keys or commit them to public repositories. Be cautious when passing secrets as environment variables, especially in shared or production environments.
For more advanced Docker usage:
See the official Docker documentation.
get_account_info()– View balance, margin, and account statusget_positions()– List all held assetsget_open_position(symbol)– Detailed info on a specific positionclose_position(symbol, qty|percentage)– Close part or all of a positionclose_all_positions(cancel_orders)– Liquidate entire portfolio
get_stock_quote(symbol)– Real-time bid/ask quoteget_stock_bars(symbol, start_date, end_date)– OHLCV historical barsget_stock_latest_trade(symbol)– Latest market trade priceget_stock_latest_bar(symbol)– Most recent OHLC barget_stock_trades(symbol, start_time, end_time)– Trade-level history
get_orders(status, limit)– Retrieve all or filtered ordersplace_stock_order(symbol, side, quantity, order_type="market", limit_price=None, stop_price=None, trail_price=None, trail_percent=None, time_in_force="day", extended_hours=False, client_order_id=None)– Place a stock order of any type (market, limit, stop, stop_limit, trailing_stop)cancel_order_by_id(order_id)– Cancel a specific ordercancel_all_orders()– Cancel all open orders
get_option_contracts(underlying_symbol, expiration_date)– Fetch contractsget_option_latest_quote(option_symbol)– Latest bid/ask on contractget_option_snapshot(symbol_or_symbols)– Get Greeks and underlyingplace_option_market_order(legs, order_class, quantity)– Execute option strategy
get_market_clock()– Market open/close scheduleget_market_calendar(start, end)– Holidays and trading daysget_corporate_announcements(...)– Earnings, dividends, splits
create_watchlist(name, symbols)– Create a new listupdate_watchlist(id, name, symbols)– Modify an existing listget_watchlists()– Retrieve all saved watchlists
get_asset_info(symbol)– Search asset metadataget_all_assets(status)– List all tradable instruments
See the "Example Queries" section below for 50 real examples covering everything from trading to corporate data to option strategies.
- What's my current account balance and buying power?
- Show me my current positions.
- Buy 10 shares of AAPL at market price.
- Sell 5 shares of TSLA with a limit price of $300.
- Cancel all open stock orders.
- Cancel the order with ID abc123.
- Liquidate my entire position in GOOGL.
- Close 10% of my position in NVDA.
- How many shares of AMZN do I currently hold?
- Place a limit order to buy 100 shares of MSFT at $450.
- Place a market order to sell 25 shares of META.
- Show me available option contracts for AAPL expiring next month.
- Get the latest quote for AAPL250613C00200000.
- Retrieve the option snapshot for SPY250627P00400000.
- Liquidate my position in 2 contracts of QQQ calls expiring next week.
- Place a market order to buy 1 call option on AAPL expiring next Friday.
- What are the option Greeks for TSLA250620P00500000?
- Find all TSLA option contracts with strike prices within 5% of the current market price.
- Get all contracts for SPY expiring in June that are call options.
- Place a bull call spread using AAPL June 6th options: one with a 190.00 strike and the other with a 200.00 strike.
- Is the US stock market currently open?
- What are the market open and close times today?
- Show me the market calendar for next week.
- Are there any corporate announcements for major tech stocks this month?
- What are the next dividend announcements for SPY?
- List earnings announcements coming tomorrow.
- Show me AAPL's daily price history for the last 5 trading days.
- What was the closing price of TSLA yesterday?
- Get the latest bar for GOOG.
- What was the latest trade price for NVDA?
- Show me the most recent quote for MSFT.
- Retrieve the last 100 trades for AMD.
- Show me intraday bars for AMZN from last Tuesday through last Friday.
- Show me all my open and filled orders from this week.
- What orders do I have for AAPL?
- List all limit orders I placed in the past 3 days.
- Filter all orders by status: filled.
- Get me the order history for yesterday.
- Create a new watchlist called "Tech Stocks" with AAPL, MSFT, and NVDA.
- Update my "Tech Stocks" watchlist to include TSLA and AMZN.
- What stocks are in my "Dividend Picks" watchlist?
- Remove META from my "Growth Portfolio" watchlist.
- List all my existing watchlists.
- Search for details about the asset 'AAPL'.
- List all tradeable US Large-cap stocks.
- Show me the top 5 tradable crypto assets by trading volume.
- Filter all assets with status 'active'.
- Show me details for the stock with symbol 'GOOGL'.
- Get today's market clock and show me my buying power before placing a limit buy order for TSLA at $340.
- Place a bull call spread with SPY July 3rd options: buy one 5% above and sell one 3% below the current SPY price.
The MCP server provides detailed, well-formatted responses for various trading queries. Here are some examples:
Query: "What are the option Greeks for TSLA250620P00500000?"
Response: Option Details:
- Current Bid/Ask: $142.62 / $143.89
- Last Trade: $138.85
- Implied Volatility: 92.54%
Greeks:
- Delta: -0.8968 (Very Bearish)
- Gamma: 0.0021 (Low Rate of Change)
- Theta: -0.2658 (Time Decay: $26.58/day)
- Vega: 0.1654 (Volatility Sensitivity)
- Rho: -0.3060 (Interest Rate Sensitivity)
Key Insights:
- High Implied Volatility (92.54%)
- Deep In-the-Money (Delta: -0.90)
- Significant Time Decay ($27/day)
Query: "Place a bull call spread using AAPL June 6th options: one with a 190.00 strike and the other with a 200.00 strike."
Response: Order Details:
- Order ID: fc1c04b1-8afa-4b2d-aab1-49613bbed7cb
- Order Class: Multi-Leg (MLEG)
- Status: Pending New
- Quantity: 1 spread
Spread Legs:
-
Long Leg (BUY):
- AAPL250606C00190000 ($190.00 strike)
- Status: Pending New
-
Short Leg (SELL):
- AAPL250606C00200000 ($200.00 strike)
- Status: Pending New
Strategy Summary:
- Max Profit: $10.00 per spread
- Max Loss: Net debit paid
- Breakeven: $190 + net debit paid
These examples demonstrate the server's ability to provide:
- Detailed market data analysis
- Comprehensive order execution details
- Clear strategy explanations
- Well-formatted, easy-to-read responses
The server maintains this level of detail and formatting across all supported queries, making it easy to understand and act on the information provided.
This server can place real trades and access your portfolio. Treat your API keys as sensitive credentials. Review all actions proposed by the LLM carefully, especially for complex options strategies or multi-leg trades.
MIT