Alpaca Trading

1. What's my current account balance and buying power on Alpaca?
2. Show me my current positions in my Alpaca account.
3. Buy 5 shares of AAPL at market price.
4. Sell 5 shares of TSLA with a limit price of $300.
5. Cancel all open stock orders.
6. Cancel the order with ID abc123.
7. Liquidate my entire position in GOOGL.
8. Close 10% of my position in NVDA.
9. Place a limit order to buy 100 shares of MSFT at $450.
10. Place a market order to sell 25 shares of META.

1. Place a market order to buy 0.01 ETH/USD.
2. Place a limit order to sell 0.01 BTC/USD at $110,000.

1. Show me available option contracts for AAPL expiring next month.
2. Get the latest quote for the AAPL250613C00200000 option.
3. Retrieve the option snapshot for the SPY250627P00400000 option.
4. Liquidate my position in 2 contracts of QQQ calls expiring next week.
5. Place a market order to buy 1 call option on AAPL expiring next Friday.
6. What are the option Greeks for the TSLA250620P00500000 option?
7. Find TSLA option contracts with strike prices within 5% of the current market price.
8. Get SPY call options expiring the week of June 16th, 2025, within 10% of market price.
9. Place a bull call spread using AAPL June 6th options: one with a 190.00 strike and the other with a 200.00 strike.
10. Exercise my NVDA call option contract NVDA250919C001680.

To access the latest 15-minute data, you need to subscribe to the Algo Trader Plus Plan.

1. What are the market open and close times today?
2. Show me the market calendar for next week.
3. Show me recent cash dividends and stock splits for AAPL, MSFT, and GOOGL in the last 3 months.
4. Get all corporate actions for SPY including dividends, splits, and any mergers in the past year.
5. What are the upcoming corporate actions scheduled for SPY in the next 6 months?

1. Show me AAPL's daily price history for the last 5 trading days.
2. What was the closing price of TSLA yesterday?
3. Get the latest bar for GOOGL.
4. What was the latest trade price for NVDA?
5. Show me the most recent quote for MSFT.
6. Retrieve the last 100 trades for AMD.
7. Show me 1-minute bars for AMZN from the last 2 hours.
8. Get 5-minute intraday bars for TSLA from last Tuesday through last Friday.
9. Get a comprehensive stock snapshot for AAPL showing latest quote, trade, minute bar, daily bar, and previous daily bar all in one view.
10. Compare market snapshots for TSLA, NVDA, and MSFT to analyze their current bid/ask spreads, latest trade prices, and daily performance.

1. Show me all my open and filled orders from this week.
2. What orders do I have for AAPL?
3. List all limit orders I placed in the past 3 days.
4. Filter all orders by status: filled.
5. Get me the order history for yesterday.

At this moment, you can only view and update trading watchlists created via Alpaca’s Trading API through the API itself

1. Create a new watchlist called "Tech Stocks" with AAPL, MSFT, and NVDA.
2. Update my "Tech Stocks" watchlist to include TSLA and AMZN.
3. What stocks are in my "Dividend Picks" watchlist?
4. Remove META from my "Growth Portfolio" watchlist.
5. List all my existing watchlists.

1. Search for details about the asset 'AAPL'.
2. Show me the top 5 tradable crypto assets by trading volume.
3. Get all NASDAQ active US equity assets and filter the results to show only tradable securities

1. Get today's market clock and show me my buying power before placing a limit buy order for TSLA at $340.
2. Place a bull call spread with SPY July 3rd options: sell one 5% above and buy one 3% below the current SPY price.

The MCP server provides detailed, well-formatted responses for various trading queries. Here are some examples:

Option Greeks Analysis

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)

Multi-Leg Option Order

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:

1. Long Leg (BUY):

   • AAPL250606C00190000 ($190.00 strike)
   • Status: Pending New

2. 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

Claude Desktop Configuration

Method 1: uvx (Recommended)

Simple and modern approach:

1. Install and configure the server:

   uvx alpaca-mcp-server init

2. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config

3. Add this configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "alpaca": {
         "type": "stdio",
         "command": "uvx",
         "args": ["alpaca-mcp-server", "serve"],
         "env": {
           "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
           "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
         }
       }
     }
   }

4. Restart Claude Desktop and start trading!

Method 2: install.py (Alternative local setup)

git clone https://github.com/alpacahq/alpaca-mcp-server
cd alpaca-mcp-server
python3 install.py

Choose claude when prompted. The installer sets up .venv, writes .env, and updates claude_desktop_config.json. Restart Claude Desktop.

Claude Code Configuration

Use this local setup to register the server with Claude Code.

Prerequisites:

• Claude Code CLI installed and authenticated (see Anthropic docs below)
• Alpaca API keys (paper or live)

Option 1: Using uvx (Recommended)

Requires uv installed: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/

1. Initialize the server (creates a local .env):

uvx alpaca-mcp-server init

1. Register the MCP server via Claude Code:

claude mcp add alpaca --scope user --transport stdio uvx alpaca-mcp-server serve \
  --env ALPACA_API_KEY=your_alpaca_api_key \
  --env ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key

• --scope user adds the server globally (available in all projects)
• Omit --scope user to add it only to the current project

Option 2: Using Docker

Requires Docker installed and the image built locally (see Docker Configuration).

claude mcp add alpaca-docker --scope user --transport stdio \
  --env ALPACA_API_KEY=your_alpaca_api_key \
  --env ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key \
  --env ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE=True \
  -- docker run -i --rm \
  -e ALPACA_API_KEY \
  -e ALPACA_SECRET_KEY \
  -e ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE \
  mcp/alpaca:latest

• --scope user adds the server globally (available in all projects)
• Omit --scope user to add it only to the current project

Verify

• Launch the Claude Code CLI: claude
• Run /mcp and confirm the alpaca server and tools are listed
• If the server doesn't appear, try claude mcp list to review registered servers

Cursor Configuration

To use Alpaca MCP Server with Cursor, please follow the steps below. The official Cursor MCP setup document is available here: https://docs.cursor.com/context/mcp

Prerequisites

• Cursor IDE installed with Claude AI enabled
• Python and virtual environment set up (follow Installation steps above)

Local setup via install.py (recommended for local)

git clone https://github.com/alpacahq/alpaca-mcp-server
cd alpaca-mcp-server
python3 install.py

During the prompts, choose cursor and enter your API keys. The installer creates a .venv, writes a .env, and auto-updates ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Restart Cursor to load the config.

Note: If uv is not installed, the installer can help you install it. You may need to restart your terminal after installing uv so uv/uvx are recognized. Reference: https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/

Configure the MCP Server

Method 1: Using Cursor Directory UI For Cursor users, you can quickly install Alpaca from the Cursor Directory in just a few clicks.

1. Find Alpaca in the Cursor Directory
2. Click "Add to Cursor" to launch Cursor on your computer
3. Enter your API Key and Secret Key
4. You’re all set to start using it

Method 2: Using JSON Configuration

Create or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json (macOS/Linux) or %USERPROFILE%\.cursor\mcp.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["alpaca-mcp-server", "serve"],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code Configuration

To use Alpaca MCP Server with VS Code, please follow the steps below.

VS Code supports MCP servers through GitHub Copilot's agent mode. The official VS Code setup document is available here: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers

Prerequisites

• VS Code with GitHub Copilot extension installed and active subscription
• Python and virtual environment set up (follow Installation steps above)
• MCP support enabled in VS Code (see below)

1. Enable MCP Support in VS Code

1. Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl/Cmd + ,)
2. Search for "chat.mcp.enabled" to check the box to enable MCP support
3. Search for "github.copilot.chat.experimental.mcp" to check the box to use instruction files

2. Configure the MCP Server (uvx recommended)

Recommendation: Use workspace-specific configuration (.vscode/mcp.json) instead of user-wide configuration. This allows different projects to use different API keys (multiple paper accounts or live trading) and keeps trading tools isolated from other development work.

For workspace-specific settings:

1. Create .vscode/mcp.json in your project root.

2. Add the Alpaca MCP server configuration manually to the mcp.json file:

   {
     "mcp": {
       "servers": {
         "alpaca": {
           "type": "stdio",
           "command": "uvx",
           "args": ["alpaca-mcp-server", "serve"],
           "env": {
             "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
             "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
           }
         }
       }
     }
   }

   Note: Replace ${workspaceFolder} with your actual project path. For example:

   • Linux/macOS: /Users/username/Documents/alpaca-mcp-server
   • Windows: C:\\Users\\username\\Documents\\alpaca-mcp-server

For user-wide settings:

To configure an MCP server for all your workspaces, you can add the server configuration to your user settings.json file. This allows you to reuse the same server configuration across multiple projects. Specify the server in the mcp VS Code user settings (settings.json) to enable the MCP server across all workspaces.

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "alpaca": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "bash",
        "args": ["-c", "cd ${workspaceFolder} && source ./.venv/bin/activate && alpaca-mcp-server serve"],
        "env": {
          "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
          "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

PyCharm Configuration

To use the Alpaca MCP Server with PyCharm, please follow the steps below. The official setup guide for configuring the MCP Server in PyCharm is available here: https://www.jetbrains.com/help/ai-assistant/configure-an-mcp-server.html

PyCharm supports MCP servers through its integrated MCP client functionality. This configuration ensures proper logging behavior and prevents common startup issues.

1. Open PyCharm Settings

   • Go to File → Settings
   • Navigate to Tools → Model Context Protocol (MCP) (or similar location depending on PyCharm version)

2. Add New MCP Server

   • Click Add or + to create a new server configuration. You can also import the settings from Claude by clicking the corresponding button.
   • Name: Enter any name you prefer for this server configuration (e.g., Alpaca MCP).
   • type: "stdio",
   • Command: "uvx",
   • Arguments: ["alpaca-mcp-server", "serve"]

3. Set Environment Variables Add the following environment variables in the Environment Variables parameter:

   ALPACA_API_KEY="your_alpaca_api_key"
   ALPACA_SECRET_KEY="your_alpaca_secret_key"
   MCP_CLIENT=pycharm
   

Docker Configuration (locally)

Build the image:

git clone https://github.com/alpacahq/alpaca-mcp-server.git
cd alpaca-mcp-server
docker build -t mcp/alpaca:latest .

Add to Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca-docker": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "--rm", "-i",
        "-e", "ALPACA_API_KEY=your_alpaca_api_key",
        "-e", "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key",
        "-e", "ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE=True",
        "mcp/alpaca:latest"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace your_alpaca_api_key and your_alpaca_secret_key with your actual Alpaca credentials, then restart Claude Desktop.

For users who need to run the MCP server on a remote machine (e.g., Ubuntu server) and connect from a different machine (e.g., Windows Claude Desktop), use HTTP transport:

Server Setup (Remote Machine)

# Start server with HTTP transport (default: 127.0.0.1:8000)
alpaca-mcp-server serve --transport http

# Start server with custom host/port for remote access
alpaca-mcp-server serve --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 9000

# For systemd service (example from GitHub issue #6)
# Update your start script to use HTTP transport
#!/bin/bash
cd /root/alpaca-mcp-server
source .venv/bin/activate
exec alpaca-mcp-server serve --transport http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

Remote Access Options:

1. Direct binding: Use --host 0.0.0.0 to bind to all interfaces for direct remote access
2. SSH tunneling: ssh -L 8000:localhost:8000 user@your-server for secure access (recommended for localhost binding)
3. Reverse proxy: Use nginx/Apache to expose the service securely with authentication

Client Setup

Update your Claude Desktop configuration to use HTTP:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://your-server-ip:8000/mcp",
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "your_alpaca_api_key",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "your_alpaca_secret_key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting HTTP Transport Issues

• Port not listening: Ensure the server started successfully and check firewall settings
• Connection refused: Verify the server is running on the expected host:port
• ENOENT errors: Make sure you're using the updated server command with --transport http
• Remote access: Use --host 0.0.0.0 for direct access, or SSH tunneling for localhost binding
• Port conflicts: Use --port <PORT> to specify a different port if default is busy

Account & Positions

• get_account_info() – View balance, margin, and account status
• get_positions() – List all held assets
• get_open_position(symbol) – Detailed info on a specific position
• close_position(symbol, qty|percentage) – Close part or all of a position
• close_all_positions(cancel_orders) – Liquidate entire portfolio

Stock Market Data

• get_stock_quote(symbol_or_symbols) – Real-time bid/ask quote for one or more symbols
• get_stock_bars(symbol, days=5, timeframe="1Day", limit=None, start=None, end=None) – OHLCV historical bars with flexible timeframes (1Min, 5Min, 1Hour, 1Day, etc.)
• get_stock_latest_trade(symbol, feed=None, currency=None) – Latest market trade price
• get_stock_latest_bar(symbol, feed=None, currency=None) – Most recent OHLC bar
• get_stock_snapshot(symbol_or_symbols, feed=None, currency=None) – Comprehensive snapshot with latest quote, trade, minute bar, daily bar, and previous daily bar
• get_stock_trades(symbol, days=5, limit=None, sort=Sort.ASC, feed=None, currency=None, asof=None) – Trade-level history

Orders

• get_orders(status, limit) – Retrieve all or filtered orders
• place_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 order
• cancel_all_orders() – Cancel all open orders

Crypto

• place_crypto_order(symbol, side, order_type="market", time_in_force="gtc", qty=None, notional=None, limit_price=None, stop_price=None, client_order_id=None) – Place a crypto order supporting market, limit, and stop_limit types with GTC/IOC time in force

Options

• get_option_contracts(underlying_symbol, expiration_date=None, expiration_date_gte=None, expiration_date_lte=None, expiration_expression=None, strike_price_gte=None, strike_price_lte=None, type=None, status=None, root_symbol=None, limit=None) – – Get option contracts with flexible filtering.
• get_option_latest_quote(option_symbol) – Latest bid/ask on contract
• get_option_snapshot(symbol_or_symbols) – Get Greeks and underlying
• place_option_market_order(legs, order_class=None, quantity=1, time_in_force=TimeInForce.DAY, extended_hours=False) – Execute option strategy
• exercise_options_position(symbol_or_contract_id) – Exercise a held option contract, converting it into the underlying asset

Market Info & Corporate Actions

• get_market_clock() – Market open/close schedule
• get_market_calendar(start, end) – Holidays and trading days
• get_corporate_announcements(ca_types, start, end, symbols) – Historical and future corporate actions (e.g., earnings, dividends, splits)

Watchlists

• create_watchlist(name, symbols) – Create a new list
• update_watchlist(watchlist_id, name=None, symbols=None) – Modify an existing list
• get_watchlists() – Retrieve all saved watchlists

Assets

• get_asset_info(symbol) – Search asset metadata
• get_all_assets(status=None, asset_class=None, exchange=None, attributes=None) – List all tradable instruments with filtering options