alpaca

The Alpaca MCP server is a TypeScript-based implementation that facilitates access to Alpaca’s REST API through standard input and output, enabling you to retrieve real-time market data, manage orders, and gain insights into your portfolio. By using this server, you can streamline the integration of Alpaca's capabilities into your applications, enhancing your trading and investment strategies with immediate data responsiveness.

Once connected to the Alpaca MCP server, you can issue commands directly through standard input to interact with the API effectively. You can perform queries related to market data, manage orders, and retrieve portfolio insights by sending specific JSON-formatted requests. Commands that work best include retrieving market quotes, placing trades, and checking account balances. Ensure you format your queries correctly to receive the desired responses.

Prerequisites

• Ensure you have Node.js installed on your machine, as it is required to run the Alpaca MCP server.

Option A: Quick start with npx

If you want to quickly run the server without installing it globally, you can use the following command:

npx -y wlu03/alpaca-mcp-server  

Option B: Global install alternative

To install the Alpaca MCP server globally, you can clone the repository and run it manually:

git clone https://github.com/wlu03/alpaca-mcp-server  
cd alpaca-mcp-server  
npm install  
npm start  

This allows you to run the server from any directory on your system.

When configuring the Alpaca MCP server, ensure that you set up your Alpaca API keys as environment variables to authenticate your requests. Common issues include not properly formatting your JSON commands or not providing necessary parameters, which can lead to errors in your queries. Always refer to the Alpaca API documentation for the correct structure of requests.