alpaca

The Alpaca MCP Server exposes a set of natural-language friendly tools that let Claude or other MCP clients interact with the Alpaca trading API. It supports retrieving real-time market data, viewing account information, inspecting and managing positions, and placing or canceling orders. With commands like get_stock_quote(symbol) and get_stock_bars(symbol, days), you can fetch quotes and historical prices. You can also query get_account_info() and get_positions() to understand your trading status, and use place_market_order(...) or place_limit_order(...) to execute trades through natural language. For operations that affect your portfolio, such as cancel_all_orders() or close_all_positions(cancel_orders), you can manage risk and keep your account organized directly from the MCP interface.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+
• Alpaca API keys (API_KEY_ID and API_SECRET_KEY)
• Claude for Desktop or another MCP client

Installation steps:

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/alpaca-mcp.git
cd alpaca-mcp

# 2. Install required Python packages
pip install mcp alpaca-py python-dotenv

# 3. Create a .env file with your Alpaca credentials (alternatively supply via MCP env vars)
# API_KEY_ID=your_alpaca_api_key
# API_SECRET_KEY=your_alpaca_secret_key

Configure the MCP server for your environment:

# Example: Run the server directly (adjust path as needed)
python alpaca_mcp_server.py

If you plan to connect via Claude Desktop, ensure the server is reachable and add the appropriate configuration in claude_desktop_config.json as shown in the README. You can also disable paper trading by adjusting your Alpaca client settings in the server code if needed.

Environment variables:

• API_KEY_ID: Your Alpaca API key ID
• API_SECRET_KEY: Your Alpaca API secret key
• Optional: set paper=True/False in your TradingClient initialization if you modify the server code to control live vs. paper trading

Common issues:

• Mismatched API keys or missing.env file can cause authentication errors. Ensure the keys are correct and loaded in the environment when the server starts.
• If Claude cannot reach the server, verify network accessibility and that the Python process is running without errors.
• By default, the server uses Alpaca's paper trading environment. Change settings in the server as needed to work with live trading, and be mindful of risks.

Security:

• The MCP server can perform real trades if configured with live keys. Keep credentials secure and restrict access to trusted clients.