How to add Alpaca Trading MCP Server to Claude Desktop

Manage your Alpaca stock and crypto portfolio, place trades, and access market data via MCP. Paste the config into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and restart Claude Desktop.

Last updated June 14, 2026 · 32★ · stdio · apikey

Claude Desktop config for Alpaca Trading MCP Server

pip install -e .

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca-trading-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/PARENT/FOLDER/alpaca-mcp-server",
        "run",
        "src/server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Setup steps

1Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config (this opens ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json).
2Paste the Alpaca Trading MCP Server config below under the top-level "mcpServers" key.
3Fill in any placeholder secrets (API keys, paths) in the snippet.
4Save the file, then fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.
5Open a chat and confirm Alpaca Trading MCP Server's tools appear under the 🔌 tools menu.

Before you start

Python with the project installed via 'pip install -e .' or 'uv pip install -e .'
uv (used in the Claude Desktop config to run the server)
An Alpaca account with Paper Trading API key and secret (ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY, ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET)

What Alpaca Trading MCP Server can do in Claude Desktop

get_account_info_tool

Get current account information.

place_market_order

Place a market order to buy or sell a stock.

place_limit_order

Place a limit order to buy or sell a stock at a specified price.

place_stop_order

Place a stop order to buy or sell a stock when it reaches a specified price.

place_stop_limit_order

Place a stop-limit order combining stop and limit order features.

cancel_order

Cancel an open order by its ID.

close_position

Close an open position for a specific symbol.

get_portfolio_summary

Get a comprehensive summary of the portfolio.

Security

Requires Alpaca API credentials (ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY and ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET) stored in a local .env file. The README configures the server against Alpaca's Paper Trading API. The server can place and cancel live orders and close positions, so credentials grant trade-execution capability on the connected account.

Alpaca Trading MCP Server + Claude Desktop FAQ

Where is the Claude Desktop config file?

Claude Desktop reads MCP servers from ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json. Paste the Alpaca Trading MCP Server config there under the "mcpServers" key and restart the client.

Is Alpaca Trading MCP Server safe to use with Claude Desktop?

How do I install it for Claude Desktop?

You can install it automatically via Smithery with 'npx -y @smithery/cli install @laukikk/alpaca-mcp --client claude', or manually clone the repo, run 'pip install -e .', and add the mcpServers config block pointing 'uv' at the cloned alpaca-mcp-server directory.

What credentials are required?

Alpaca Paper Trading API credentials. Copy .env.example to .env and set ALPACA_PAPER_API_KEY and ALPACA_PAPER_API_SECRET, which you can obtain by creating an account at Alpaca.

What resources does the server expose?

It exposes resources including account://info, positions://all, positions://{symbol}, orders://recent/{limit}, market://{symbol}/quote, market://{symbol}/bars/{timeframe}, assets://list, and assets://{symbol}.

View repo Full Alpaca Trading MCP Server page