Yes. The server is free and open source (MIT) from Alpaca; you only need an Alpaca account and API keys. Paper trading and market data are available without funding a live account.

Does it support remote/OAuth?

No hosted OAuth endpoint. It runs locally over stdio via uvx (or Docker) and authenticates with your Alpaca API key and secret; it can also serve HTTP locally.

Will it trade real money?

Only if you opt in. It defaults to paper trading via ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE; set it to false to trade live. Keep a human in the loop before enabling live mode.

Alpaca MCP server

OfficialAlpacaConfig last verified Jun 1, 2026

Alpaca's official MCP server lets an agent trade stocks, options, and crypto, manage positions, and pull market data in plain English.

Alpaca MCP Server is the official server from Alpaca, the developer-first brokerage, that lets an AI agent research markets and place real trades through natural language. It covers the full trading loop: read account info and portfolio history, place stock, options, and crypto orders, replace or cancel orders, and manage open positions including closing one or all of them and exercising options contracts. It also exposes watchlists, the market calendar and clock, assets and option contracts, and corporate-action announcements, so an agent can plan around market hours and instrument availability.

On the data side it provides bars, quotes, trades, latest snapshots, and order books for stocks, options, and crypto, plus market movers, most-active lists, and news, giving an agent the inputs to analyze before it acts. It is a Python server (a v2 rewrite built on FastMCP) launched with uvx or Docker, authenticating with ALPACA_API_KEY and ALPACA_SECRET_KEY. Critically, it defaults to paper trading via ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE, so an agent can be tested against fake money before you flip it to live; the optional ALPACA_TOOLSETS variable lets you restrict which tool groups are exposed. Because live mode moves real money, keep a human in the loop and start on paper.

Quick install

Copy-paste configs are provided for all 8 supported clients. Pick your client below.

Add to ~/.claude.json

~/.claude.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "alpaca-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "<ALPACA_API_KEY>",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "<ALPACA_SECRET_KEY>",
        "ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE": "<ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Or via CLI

bash

claude mcp add alpaca -- uvx alpaca-mcp-server

Step-by-step guides

Available tools

Tool	Description
get_account_info	Returns account details including buying power and equity.
get_account_config	Returns the account's trading configuration.
update_account_config	Updates the account's trading configuration.
get_portfolio_history	Returns the account's portfolio value history over time.
get_account_activities	Returns account activity records such as fills and transfers.
get_orders	Lists orders filtered by status.
get_order_by_id	Returns a single order by its id.
place_stock_order	Places a stock or ETF order.
place_option_order	Places an options order.
place_crypto_order	Places a cryptocurrency order.
replace_order_by_id	Replaces an existing order with new parameters.
cancel_order_by_id	Cancels a single order by id.
cancel_all_orders	Cancels all open orders.
get_all_positions	Lists all open positions.
get_open_position	Returns a single open position by symbol.
close_position	Closes a single open position.
close_all_positions	Closes all open positions.
exercise_options_position	Exercises an options position.
create_watchlist	Creates a new watchlist.
get_watchlists	Lists the account's watchlists.
add_asset_to_watchlist_by_id	Adds an asset to a watchlist.
remove_asset_from_watchlist_by_id	Removes an asset from a watchlist.
get_all_assets	Lists tradable assets.
get_asset	Returns details for a single asset.
get_option_contracts	Lists option contracts for an underlying.
get_calendar	Returns the market trading calendar.
get_clock	Returns the current market clock and open/closed status.
get_corporate_action_announcements	Lists corporate-action announcements.
get_stock_bars	Returns historical OHLCV bars for a stock.
get_stock_quotes	Returns historical quotes for a stock.
get_stock_trades	Returns historical trades for a stock.
get_stock_latest_quote	Returns the latest quote for a stock.
get_stock_latest_trade	Returns the latest trade for a stock.
get_stock_snapshot	Returns a full snapshot for a stock.
get_most_active_stocks	Returns the day's most-active stocks.
get_market_movers	Returns the day's top gainers and losers.
get_crypto_bars	Returns historical OHLCV bars for a crypto pair.
get_crypto_latest_quote	Returns the latest quote for a crypto pair.
get_crypto_latest_orderbook	Returns the latest order book for a crypto pair.
get_crypto_snapshot	Returns a full snapshot for a crypto pair.
get_option_bars	Returns historical OHLCV bars for an option contract.
get_option_latest_quote	Returns the latest quote for an option contract.
get_option_snapshot	Returns a full snapshot for an option contract.
get_option_chain	Returns the option chain for an underlying.
get_news	Returns market news articles for given symbols.

Required configuration

ALPACA_API_KEYRequired
Your Alpaca API key.
ALPACA_SECRET_KEYRequired
Your Alpaca API secret key.
ALPACA_PAPER_TRADEOptional
Use the paper-trading environment. Defaults to true; set to false for live trading.
ALPACA_TOOLSETSOptional
Comma-separated list of tool groups to expose, restricting which tools are available.

What you can do with it

Research then trade in one conversation

The agent pulls bars, the latest quote, and recent news for a ticker, reasons about it, and places a paper order, keeping analysis and execution in the same flow.

Manage a portfolio hands-free

Ask the agent to review open positions and portfolio history and it can rebalance by closing or trimming positions and placing new orders, all against the paper account first.

FAQ

Is it free?: Yes. The server is free and open source (MIT) from Alpaca; you only need an Alpaca account and API keys. Paper trading and market data are available without funding a live account.
Does it support remote/OAuth?: No hosted OAuth endpoint. It runs locally over stdio via uvx (or Docker) and authenticates with your Alpaca API key and secret; it can also serve HTTP locally.
Will it trade real money?: Only if you opt in. It defaults to paper trading via ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE; set it to false to trade live. Keep a human in the loop before enabling live mode.

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