What it does
This is Alpaca's official MCP server for trading. It exposes trading APIs (stocks, ETFs, crypto, options) as natural-language tools, letting you execute trades, fetch portfolio data, and analyze markets through Claude, Cursor, or VS Code. V2 is a complete rewrite built with FastMCP and OpenAPI spec alignment; it is not backward compatible with V1.
Who it's for
Traders and investors who want to manage positions and analyze markets from their IDE without switching tools. Also useful for developers building trading bots or portfolio dashboards that integrate with Alpaca's APIs.
Common use cases
- Query live market prices and portfolio holdings from Claude
- Place stock or options trades via natural-language instructions
- Fetch and analyze historical price data for technical analysis
- Build paper-trading strategies and backtest ideas through conversation
- Monitor account status and positions across multiple asset classes
Setup pitfalls
- V2 is not backward compatible with V1 — tool names and schemas differ. Update your MCP client config, restart it, and start a new session so the LLM discovers current tools.
- The scanner detected 16 secrets in the repository; use paper trading or sandbox accounts only and never hardcode live credentials in version control.
- Requires Alpaca API keys provided via environment variables in your MCP client config, not version-controlled files.
- The server reads the filesystem; run it in a sandboxed container or restricted directory to prevent unintended file access.