activate_alert
Activate a previously created alert. Usage: { "accountId": "<id>", "alertId": "<alertId>" }.
LABSCO SUMMARY
Positions, quotes, option chains and order placement in one session — with the confirmation steps kept visible.
The order path is modelled the way IB actually behaves rather than as a single fire-and-forget call: some orders come back needing confirmation with reply and message ids, and get_live_orders exists precisely because a returned order id is not proof of a fill. Given that it places real trades against a real account, the sensible order of operations is paper trading first with IB_PAPER_TRADING=true, and reading positions and orders back after every write.
What it is
A community server for the Interactive Brokers trading platform. The npm package ships a preconfigured IB Gateway and a Java runtime, so authentication, market data and order routing all run locally against your own account.
What you get
- authenticate opens the Interactive Brokers login flow, and get_account_info returns account details and balances
- get_positions returns current positions for one account or all of them
- get_market_data returns real-time data for a symbol, optionally on a named exchange
- get_option_chain returns expirations and strikes for an underlying, and resolve_option_conid turns a symbol, expiry, strike and right into the specific contract id
- place_order handles market, limit and stop orders with quantity, price, stop price and time in force, for stocks and for resolved option contracts
- confirm_order answers the confirmation prompts IB raises on certain orders, using the reply and message ids it returned
- get_order_status reads one order by id, and get_live_orders lists the open orders — the recommended check that a market order actually filled
- Alerts as first-class objects: create_alert with conditions on a contract, price operator, trigger method and value, then activate_alert, get_alerts and delete_alert
Requirements
An Interactive Brokers account — paper or live — and Node.js 18+; nothing else to install, since IB Gateway and the Java runtime come with the package. It runs as npx -y interactive-brokers-mcp. By default a browser window opens for the IB login. Headless environments set IB_HEADLESS_MODE=true with IB_USERNAME and IB_PASSWORD_AUTH; two-factor may still be requested, and headless authentication waits up to 60 seconds for you to approve it before returning AUTHENTICATION_PENDING. IB_PAPER_TRADING=true points the session at a paper account. The author states this is unofficial, not affiliated with Interactive Brokers, in alpha, and meant to run locally rather than on a public server.
Setup effort
One command — npx -y interactive-brokers-mcp
USE CASES
01
Getting a straight answer about what you currently hold
Authenticate once, then read balances and open positions for the account you name.
02
Picking an option contract to trade
Pull the expirations and strikes for the underlying, resolve the exact contract, and check the live quote before deciding.
03
Placing an order and confirming it actually landed
Submit it, answer any confirmation prompt with the ids it returned, then look at live orders rather than trusting the response.
04
Being told when a price crosses a level
Create the alert with its condition on the contract, activate it, and list or delete alerts as they stop being relevant.
05
Rehearsing a strategy without risking money
Run the same account, quote and order calls against a paper account by switching the paper trading variable on.
14 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
authenticate
Authenticate with Interactive Brokers. Usage: { "confirm": true }.
confirm_order
Manually confirm an order that requires confirmation. Usage: { "replyId": "742a95a7-55f6-4d67-861b-2fd3e2b61e3c", "messageIds": ["o10151", "o10153"] }.
create_alert
Create a new trading alert. Usage: { "accountId": "<id>", "alertRequest": { "alertName": "Price Alert", "conditions": [{ "conidex": "265598", "type": "price", "operator": ">", "triggerMethod": "last", "value": "150" }] } }.
delete_alert
Delete an alert. Usage: { "accountId": "<id>", "alertId": "<alertId>" }.
get_account_info
Get account information and balances. Usage: { "confirm": true }.
get_alerts
Get all trading alerts for an account. Usage: { "accountId": "<id>" }.
get_live_orders
Get all live/open orders for monitoring and validation. Usage: {} for all accounts or { "accountId": "<id>" } for a specific account. This is the recommended way to validate that market orders were executed successfully after placing them.
get_market_data
Get real-time market data. Usage: { "symbol": "AAPL" } or { "symbol": "AAPL", "exchange": "NASDAQ" }.
get_option_chain
Get option expirations and strikes for an underlying symbol. Usage: { "symbol": "AAPL" } or { "symbol": "AAPL", "exchange": "SMART" }.
get_order_status
Get the status of a specific order. Usage: { "orderId": "12345" }.
get_positions
Get current positions. Usage: {} or { "accountId": "<id>" }.
place_order
Place a trading order. Examples:
- Market buy:
{ "accountId":"abc","symbol":"AAPL","action":"BUY","orderType":"MKT","quantity":1 } - Limit sell:
{ "accountId":"abc","symbol":"AAPL","action":"SELL","orderType":"LMT","quantity":1,"price":185.5 } - Stop sell:
{ "accountId":"abc","symbol":"AAPL","action":"SELL","orderType":"STP","quantity":1,"stopPrice":180 } - Option buy:
{ "accountId":"abc","symbol":"AAPL","secType":"OPT","expiry":"JAN27","strike":200,"right":"C","action":"BUY","orderType":"LMT","quantity":1,"price":4.5 } - Option by conid:
{ "accountId":"abc","conid":123456789,"secType":"OPT","action":"BUY","orderType":"MKT","quantity":1 } - Suppress confirmations:
{ "accountId":"abc","symbol":"AAPL","action":"BUY","orderType":"MKT","quantity":1,"suppressConfirmations":true }
resolve_option_conid
Resolve a specific option contract conid. Usage: { "symbol": "AAPL", "expiry": "JAN27", "strike": 200, "right": "C" } or add { "exchange": "SMART" }.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
14 tools when we connected; the project documents 17. The three Flex Query tools (get_flex_query, list_flex_queries, forget_flex_query) appear only with IB_FLEX_TOKEN set. place_order works only when IB_READ_ONLY_MODE is disabled.
Requires
- npx on PATH
- Node.js 18+
Optional
- IB_PASSWORD_AUTH in your environment
- IB_FLEX_TOKEN in your environment
- IB_TOTP_SECRET in your environment
- IB_USERNAME in your environment
Where it runs
All 6 documented setups run the server on your machine.
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
npx -y interactive-brokers-mcpMCP Clients
Cursor — browser OAuth, Claude Desktop — browser OAuth
JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"interactive-brokers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"interactive-brokers-mcp"
]
}
}
}Any MCP client — headless
ANY MCP CLIENT — HEADLESS · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"interactive-brokers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"interactive-brokers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"IB_HEADLESS_MODE": "true",
"IB_USERNAME": "<YOUR_IB_USERNAME>",
"IB_PASSWORD_AUTH": "<YOUR_IB_PASSWORD_AUTH>"
}
}
}
}Any MCP client — paper trading
ANY MCP CLIENT — PAPER TRADING · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"interactive-brokers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"interactive-brokers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"IB_HEADLESS_MODE": "true",
"IB_USERNAME": "<YOUR_IB_USERNAME>",
"IB_PASSWORD_AUTH": "<YOUR_IB_PASSWORD_AUTH>",
"IB_PAPER_TRADING": "true"
}
}
}
}Any MCP client — Flex Queries
ANY MCP CLIENT — FLEX QUERIES · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"interactive-brokers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"interactive-brokers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"IB_FLEX_TOKEN": "<YOUR_IB_FLEX_TOKEN>"
}
}
}
}Any MCP client — headless 2FA
ANY MCP CLIENT — HEADLESS 2FA · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"interactive-brokers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"interactive-brokers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"IB_HEADLESS_MODE": "true",
"IB_USERNAME": "<YOUR_IB_USERNAME>",
"IB_PASSWORD_AUTH": "<YOUR_IB_PASSWORD_AUTH>",
"IB_TWO_FA_STRATEGY": "totp",
"IB_TOTP_SECRET": "<YOUR_IB_TOTP_SECRET>"
}
}
}
}
