Market data MCP server
On this page
An Alpaca market MCP server exposes Alpaca's market data endpoints as tools that an AI agent can call. The agent connects through an MCP gateway, lists the available tools, and calls them by name to read quotes, bars, and trades. Keep read-only market data tools separate from any order placement.
What an Alpaca market MCP server does
An Alpaca market MCP server gives an AI agent a set of tools that call Alpaca's market data API. Each tool has a name, a description, and a list of arguments. The agent picks a tool, fills in the arguments, and receives structured results it can reason over.
Alpaca's market data API serves historical bars, latest quotes, trades, and snapshots for equities and crypto. The Alpaca documentation lists the current endpoints, parameters, and response formats. Read that list before you design prompts or agent workflows around a specific endpoint. Endpoint coverage and parameter names can change.
An MCP server does not add market data of its own. It translates tool calls into HTTP requests to Alpaca and passes the responses back. The data quality, latency, and licensing terms come from Alpaca.
How an agent calls Alpaca data through a gateway
A gateway sits between the MCP client and many upstream APIs. The client connects once and sees every tool the gateway exposes. Alpaca tools appear in that list alongside tools from other providers.
- The MCP client connects to the gateway endpoint and authenticates.
- The client requests the tool list, and the gateway returns each tool's name, description, and input schema.
- The agent calls a tool such as a quote or bars lookup. The gateway forwards the request to Alpaca. It then returns the result to the agent.
Tool descriptions drive tool choice. Read the description and the input schema before you assume what a tool returns. If a tool name suggests real-time data, check whether the upstream endpoint returns real-time data or delayed data for your subscription.
To connect a client, follow the steps on the connect page. The steps cover the endpoint URL and the authentication header your MCP client needs.
Which Alpaca data an agent can read
Market data tools suit research, watchlists, and monitoring. An agent can ask for the latest quote for a symbol, pull daily or minute bars over a date range, or compare snapshots across several symbols in one turn. The agent then summarizes the numbers, flags moves above a threshold you set in the prompt, or builds a table for a human to review.
Give the agent exact symbols, date ranges, and time zones in the prompt. Vague requests such as recent prices produce vague tool calls. Exact requests produce results you can check against the Alpaca documentation or a second source.
Ask the agent to show the timestamp of each quote it reports. A quote without a timestamp is hard to trust in a fast-moving market.
Keep keys and trading permissions separate
Market data access and trading access use different permissions. Treat them as separate risks. Use a credential set that can read market data for agents that only analyze prices. Do not hand trading credentials to a general research agent.
Alpaca documents its authentication and key types in the Alpaca documentation. Check which keys a given endpoint needs before you add them to a gateway configuration. Confirm how the gateway stores upstream keys, who can read them, and how you rotate them.
Do not let an agent place orders from a session that was set up for research. Require a human to approve any order. Keep order tools out of the default tool set for market data workflows.
Pricing
APIbase pricing for this gateway runs from 0 USD to 29.99 USD, depending on the plan you choose. Check the pricing page before you commit to a plan, because the figures above reflect the snapshot used for this page.
Alpaca sets its own pricing for market data and trading. No Alpaca price appears on this page. Read the current terms on the Alpaca website and confirm which data feed and subscription level your use case needs.
Caveats before production use
Market data tools return what the upstream API returns. Verify critical figures against a second source before a human acts on them.
- Latency: a tool result can lag the live market. Ask the agent to report timestamps and to avoid treating a snapshot as live.
- Licensing: market data carries redistribution and display terms. Read Alpaca's terms before you publish or resell agent output that includes raw quotes.
- Scope: a market data tool reads prices. It does not evaluate risk, suitability, or tax consequences, and the agent should say so when a user asks for advice.
Test the setup with a small symbol list and a short date range first. Expand the scope only after the results match the source data.
Live pricing — developer
Data source: live tool catalog snapshot, fetched 2026-11-04.
Chart data as a table
| Tool | Price per call | Cache-hit price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage Time Series | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Per-Tool Usage Breakdown | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Usage Summary | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Discover Tools | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Batch Tool Calls | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Tool Quality Metrics | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| Tool Quality Rankings | $0.0 | $0.0 |
| List Programming Languages | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Check CVE ID Reservation Status | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Security Advisories (deps.dev) | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Dependency Tree (deps.dev) | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Package Info (deps.dev) | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Tool | Provider | Price/call | Cache-hit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usage Time Series | account | $0 | $0 |
| Per-Tool Usage Breakdown | account | $0 | $0 |
| Usage Summary | account | $0 | $0 |
| Discover Tools | apibase | $0 | $0 |
| Batch Tool Calls | platform | $0 | $0 |
| Tool Quality Metrics | platform | $0 | $0 |
| Tool Quality Rankings | platform | $0 | $0 |
| List Programming Languages | judge0 | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Check CVE ID Reservation Status | cve-mitre | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Security Advisories (deps.dev) | depsdev | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Dependency Tree (deps.dev) | depsdev | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
| Package Info (deps.dev) | depsdev | $0.001 | $0.0001 |
Connect via MCP
Data source: gateway design, no measured values.
$ curl -X POST https://apibase.pro/api/v1/tools/account.timeseries/call \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"params": {}}'FAQ
Is there an official Alpaca MCP server?
This page does not confirm an official Alpaca MCP server. Check the current status in the Alpaca documentation. Any MCP setup that calls Alpaca data endpoints works through HTTP requests, whether or not Alpaca publishes its own server.
Do I need an Alpaca account to read market data through a gateway?
Alpaca market data endpoints generally require API credentials. Check which credentials each endpoint needs in the Alpaca documentation, then add only those credentials to the gateway configuration.
Can an agent place trades with an Alpaca market data tool?
A market data tool reads prices. It does not place orders. Trading uses separate endpoints and separate permissions. Keep order tools out of research workflows. Require a human to approve any order.
How do I connect an MCP client to the gateway?
Follow the steps on the connect page. The client needs the gateway endpoint and an authentication header. After the client connects, request the tool list and confirm the Alpaca tools appear before you run any workflow.
Recommended next step
- STEP 1/2 Connect your MCP client
- STEP 2/2 Browse the full catalog
Related guides
Written with AI assistance from APIbase's published documentation and public data; checked automatically against them. Corrections: https://apibase.pro/
Published: 2026-11-04Source: live apibase.pro catalog snapshot