MCP server · Finance and crypto
Alpaca Trading MCP server
by laukikk
Let your AI check your Alpaca stock and crypto account, look up prices, and place or cancel trades for you.
This is a small helper that connects your AI assistant to your Alpaca trading account. Once it is set up, you can ask your AI things like what your balance is, how a position is doing, or what a stock is trading at. It is handy for people who trade on Alpaca and want to check or manage things by just typing a question.
What is an MCP server? The 30-second version
On its own, your AI can only chat with you. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to an app or service. This one connects your AI to Alpaca, the trading platform, so it can look up your account and market data and even place trades when you ask. You stay in charge: the AI only does something after you tell it to.
What this MCP server does
You type a request in plain words, like asking for your account balance or the current price of a stock. Your AI passes that request to this helper. The helper talks to Alpaca using your account keys, then sends the answer back. Your AI shows it to you in the chat, as numbers, lists, or a short summary. If you ask it to place or cancel an order, it does that on Alpaca too.
Click to zoomWhat you can do with it
- Check your account balance and overall portfolio status
- See all your open positions and how each one is doing
- Get a current price quote for a stock or crypto
- Look up historical price data for a symbol over a timeframe
- Place a market, limit, stop, or stop-limit order
- Cancel an open order by its ID
- Close an open position for a specific symbol
- Look up details about a tradable asset
Try asking your AI
- “What is my Alpaca account balance right now?”
- “Show me all my open positions and how much each has gained or lost.”
- “What is the current price of AAPL?”
- “Place a market order to buy 5 shares of TSLA.”
- “Cancel my most recent open order.”
What it gives back to you
You get answers right in the chat. Account and portfolio questions come back as numbers and short lists, like your cash balance or each position with its profit or loss. Price and history questions come back as quotes or a set of price points. When you place or cancel an order, it tells you what it did on Alpaca.
Before you start
What you need
- An Alpaca account (you can start with a free paper trading account)
- Your Alpaca API key and secret (a kind of username and password for apps; Alpaca gives you these in your account settings)
- Python and the uv or pip tool installed on your computer
- The Claude desktop app if you want to use it there
Good to know
This server can place and cancel real trades on your Alpaca account, so double check what you ask for and start with a paper trading account until you are comfortable.
Install it with your AI
Add Alpaca Trading MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed
You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.
Sign in to get the install prompt
Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Alpaca Trading MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.
Who it's for
People who already trade on Alpaca and want a quick, conversational way to check their account, watch prices, and place simple orders.
