LABSCO SUMMARY

It removes the round trip between the chart you are reading and the order you are placing.

Most brokerage integrations give you either data or execution; this gives both, so a position check, an options-chain lookup and the order that follows are three calls in one conversation rather than three tabs. The documentation tools matter more than they look — when a parameter is ambiguous the model can read Alpaca's own API reference instead of guessing the schema.

What it is

Alpaca's own MCP server, running against a live or paper Alpaca account: order placement across stocks, options and crypto, position and account management, historical and latest market data, and search over Alpaca's documentation and API reference. Paper trading is the default until you say otherwise.

What you get

Stock, crypto and single- or multi-leg options orders placed through place_stock_order, place_crypto_order and place_option_order, then replaced or cancelled by id
The account as it stands — get_all_positions, get_open_position, get_account_info, get_portfolio_history — and one position or every position closed in a single call
Historical bars, quotes and trades for stocks, crypto and option contracts, with the lookback given as days, hours or minutes instead of explicit start dates
Latest snapshots, quotes, trades and crypto orderbooks, plus get_market_movers and get_most_active_stocks off real-time SIP data
The options chain worked properly: get_option_chain and get_option_snapshot return implied volatility and greeks per contract, and exercise_options_position and do_not_exercise_options_position submit the matching instructions
Whether the market is open (get_clock), what the trading calendar says (get_calendar), and which corporate actions are announced (get_corporate_action_announcements)
News articles for stocks and crypto, index values, and latest quotes on bonds and treasuries by ISIN
Account configuration read and changed — trading restrictions, margin settings, PDT checks and options trading level
Alpaca's own docs and OpenAPI specs searched from the same session through search_alpaca_docs, search_alpaca_api_specs and get_alpaca_endpoint_docs
Watchlists and short-sale locates kept in order through create_watchlist, create_locate and get_locate_quotes
A smaller tool list when you want one: ALPACA_TOOLSETS takes any of account, trading, watchlists, assets, stock-data, crypto-data, options-data, corporate-actions, news, fixed-income-data and locates

Requirements

Python 3.10 or newer with uv, and an Alpaca account: ALPACA_API_KEY and ALPACA_SECRET_KEY, which a free paper account gives you. ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE defaults to true — orders go to the paper account until you set it to false and supply live keys, which is the one setting that decides whether real money moves. Configuration lives in the MCP client's env block; the older .env and init flow is gone, and none of the version 1 tool names survived the rewrite.

Setup effort

One command plus a key — uvx alpaca-mcp-server, then supply credentials

See installation options

USE CASES

Deciding whether to add to a position

Read the position and the account's buying power, look at the latest snapshot, then place the order in the same thread.

get_open_positionget_account_infoget_stock_snapshotplace_stock_order

Picking an options contract properly

Pull the chain with implied volatility and greeks per contract, check the latest quote on the one you want, then place the leg or the spread.

get_option_chainget_option_latest_quoteplace_option_order

Practising the whole flow without risking money

Leave paper trading on, place and cancel orders against the paper account, and only switch the flag when you mean it.

place_stock_orderget_orderscancel_order_by_id

Explaining what the portfolio did

Read portfolio history over the window in question, then the fills, dividends and transfers behind the change.

get_portfolio_historyget_account_activities

Finding out what is moving today

Check the market is open, then pull gainers, losers and the most actively traded names off live SIP data.

get_clockget_market_moversget_most_active_stocks

Answering an Alpaca question without leaving the session

Search the documentation, or go straight to the API reference for the endpoint whose parameters you need.

search_alpaca_docssearch_alpaca_api_specsget_alpaca_endpoint_docs

74 tools

Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.

`add_asset_to_watchlist_by_id`

Add an asset by symbol to a specific watchlist.

INSTALLATION

Connect your client

Server setup

TERMINAL

uvx alpaca-mcp-server

MCP Clients

Claude Desktop, Cursor, Antigravity

JSON

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

VS Code

VS CODE · JSON

{
  "servers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "alpaca-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ALPACA_API_KEY": "<YOUR_ALPACA_API_KEY>",
        "ALPACA_SECRET_KEY": "<YOUR_ALPACA_SECRET_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

CLAUDE CODE · TERMINAL

claude mcp add alpaca --scope user --transport stdio uvx alpaca-mcp-server \
  --env ALPACA_API_KEY=<YOUR_ALPACA_API_KEY> \
  --env ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=<YOUR_ALPACA_SECRET_KEY>

Docker

DOCKER · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "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"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Alpaca Trading

It removes the round trip between the chart you are reading and the order you are placing.

What it is

What you get

Requirements

Setup effort

Deciding whether to add to a position

Picking an options contract properly

Practising the whole flow without risking money

Explaining what the portfolio did

Finding out what is moving today

Answering an Alpaca question without leaving the session

74 tools

add_asset_to_watchlist_by_id

cancel_all_orders

cancel_order_by_id

close_all_positions

close_position

create_locate

create_watchlist

delete_watchlist_by_id

do_not_exercise_options_position

exercise_options_position

fetch_alpaca_doc

get_account_activities

get_account_activities_by_type

get_account_config

get_account_info

get_all_assets

get_all_positions

get_alpaca_endpoint_docs

get_asset

get_calendar

get_clock

get_corporate_action_announcement

get_corporate_action_announcements

get_corporate_actions

get_crypto_bars

get_crypto_latest_bar

get_crypto_latest_orderbook

get_crypto_latest_quote

get_crypto_latest_trade

get_crypto_quotes

get_crypto_snapshot

get_crypto_trades

get_fixed_income_latest_quotes

get_index_latest_values

get_index_values

get_locate

get_locate_quotes

get_locates

get_market_movers

get_most_active_stocks

get_news

get_open_position

get_option_bars

get_option_chain

get_option_contract

get_option_contracts

get_option_exchange_codes

get_option_latest_quote

get_option_latest_trade

get_option_snapshot

get_option_trades

get_order_by_client_id

get_order_by_id

get_orders

get_portfolio_history

get_stock_bars

get_stock_latest_bar

get_stock_latest_quote

get_stock_latest_trade

get_stock_quotes

get_stock_snapshot

get_stock_trades

get_watchlist_by_id

get_watchlists

list_alpaca_api_endpoints

place_crypto_order

place_option_order

`add_asset_to_watchlist_by_id`

`cancel_all_orders`

`cancel_order_by_id`

`close_all_positions`

`close_position`

`create_locate`

`create_watchlist`

`delete_watchlist_by_id`

`do_not_exercise_options_position`

`exercise_options_position`

`fetch_alpaca_doc`

`get_account_activities`

`get_account_activities_by_type`

`get_account_config`

`get_account_info`

`get_all_assets`

`get_all_positions`

`get_alpaca_endpoint_docs`

`get_asset`

`get_calendar`

`get_clock`

`get_corporate_action_announcement`

`get_corporate_action_announcements`

`get_corporate_actions`

`get_crypto_bars`

`get_crypto_latest_bar`

`get_crypto_latest_orderbook`

`get_crypto_latest_quote`

`get_crypto_latest_trade`

`get_crypto_quotes`

`get_crypto_snapshot`

`get_crypto_trades`

`get_fixed_income_latest_quotes`

`get_index_latest_values`

`get_index_values`

`get_locate`

`get_locate_quotes`

`get_locates`

`get_market_movers`

`get_most_active_stocks`

`get_news`

`get_open_position`

`get_option_bars`

`get_option_chain`

`get_option_contract`

`get_option_contracts`

`get_option_exchange_codes`

`get_option_latest_quote`

`get_option_latest_trade`

`get_option_snapshot`

`get_option_trades`

`get_order_by_client_id`

`get_order_by_id`

`get_orders`

`get_portfolio_history`

`get_stock_bars`

`get_stock_latest_bar`

`get_stock_latest_quote`

`get_stock_latest_trade`

`get_stock_quotes`

`get_stock_snapshot`

`get_stock_trades`

`get_watchlist_by_id`

`get_watchlists`

`list_alpaca_api_endpoints`

`place_crypto_order`

`place_option_order`

`place_stock_order`

`remove_asset_from_watchlist_by_id`

`replace_order_by_id`

`search_alpaca_api_specs`

`search_alpaca_docs`

`update_account_config`

`update_watchlist_by_id`