ibkr

# ibkr - IBKR MCP server for TWS and IB Gateway

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[MCP tools](docs/reference/mcp-tools.md) · [MCP resources](docs/reference/mcp-resources.md) · [Configuration](docs/reference/config.md) · [Architecture](docs/architecture.md) · [Platform settings](docs/design/platform-settings.md) · [Agentic use](docs/guides/agentic-use.md) · [Mobile app](web/app/README.md)

**Agentic portfolio analysis and trading-research workflows for IBKR MCP, TWS, and IB Gateway.**

`ibkr` turns your local IB Gateway or TWS session into structured account and market context for the terminal, Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Continue, Zed, and other MCP hosts. It is the local `ibkr mcp` TWS bridge for portfolio review, exposure mapping, options diagnostics, market-regime checks, scanner-driven research, watchlist monitoring, and position-sizing math.

For MCP users, `ibkr mcp` is a local IBKR workflow layer for semi-professional retail traders who want agentic portfolio and trading-research analysis on live broker data. The bundled MCP surface is deliberately no-broker-write: it can analyze and size plans, and it can draft preview-only stock/ETF LMT orders, but it cannot place, modify, cancel, or transmit broker orders.

Use it from a shell:

```sh
ibkr status
ibkr positions --by underlying
ibkr regime
ibkr canary
ibkr market-events --symbol GME --json
ibkr watch IBM --add
ibkr watch
ibkr calendar --market us --date 2026-05-25
ibkr quote SPY --watch
ibkr size --symbol AAPL --entry 207.50 --stop 202.50 --risk-pct 1
ibkr settings show
```

Or connect it to Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Continue, Zed, or any MCP host and ask:

> "What's in my IBKR account?"
>
> "Review my portfolio and rank the risks I should look at today."
>
> "Show my AAPL exposure, including option deltas."
>
> "How does the market regime look today?"
>
> "Should I hold, watch, de-lever, or liquidate risk?"
>
> "Is Xetra open on Whit Monday?"
>
> "If I buy 100 MSFT at 418 with a stop at 408, what's my EUR risk?"

Your account data stays on the machine running IB Gateway or TWS unless you choose to send it to an MCP host. The project ships as one Go binary with a CLI, a local MCP server, and a Go library. No Python runtime, Java runtime, or hosted service is required.

**Contents** — [Install](#install) · [What you get](#what-you-get) · [Pick your path](#pick-your-path) · [How it works](#how-it-works) · [Configure](#configure) · [Safety](#safety) · [Other install paths](#other-install-paths) · [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)

## Install

**Prerequisites.** A running [IB Gateway](https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/ibgateway-stable.php) 10.37+ or TWS (paper or live) on the same machine. Auto-discovered on the four standard ports. An **IBKR Pro** account (IBKR Lite cannot use the TWS API).

### Claude Desktop

Download the latest MCP Bundle:

<https://github.com/osauer/ibkr/releases/latest/download/ibkr.mcpb>

Open the `.mcpb` file with Claude Desktop, drag it into Claude Desktop, or use Settings -> Extensions -> Advanced settings -> Install Extension. Quit Claude completely and relaunch it after installation.

The MCPB bundles the `ibkr` binary for macOS and Linux, runs it locally through stdio, and does not require a separate shell install. Windows Claude Desktop is not supported because `ibkr` has no native Windows daemon; WSL works through the shell install path below.

### Shell, Cursor, Continue, Zed, and generic MCP hosts

```sh
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/osauer/ibkr/main/install.sh | sh
ibkr setup claude-desktop
```

The installer downloads the release for your OS and architecture, verifies the checksum, installs `ibkr` in `~/.local/bin`, and adds that directory to your shell rc when needed. On macOS, it also clears Gatekeeper quarantine.

`ibkr setup claude-desktop` writes the legacy MCP server entry to Claude Desktop. Prefer the MCPB path above for Claude Desktop unless you specifically want one shared shell-managed binary. Skip the setup command if you only want the shell tool.

For v1.0.0+ releases, the installer, `ibkr update`, and the MCPB release asset are covered by the signed `SHA256SUMS` file. The MCP Registry metadata also carries the MCPB file SHA-256. [Other install paths.](#other-install-paths)

## What you get

- **Account and positions.** Net liquidation, buying power, cash, margin, daily P&L, positions, option Greeks, per-underlying grouping, and portfolio-level delta/theta/gamma/vega rollups. Multi-currency accounts include FX exposure.
- **Quotes and history.** Snapshot quotes, coalesced stock/ETF streaming, daily OHLCV bars, previous close, day change, and data freshness (`live`, `frozen`, `delayed`, `delayed-frozen`).
- **Official market calendars.** US cash equities, US listed options regular sessions, and German Xetra cash equities with holidays, early closes, next open/close, and quote `session_context` when calendar state explains stale or missing data.
- **Local watchlist.** Add/remove/clear symbols offline, list them as JSON, show an enriched quote monitor with price, currency, changes, ranges, volume, timestamps, and held-stock context, or poll the saved list with `ibkr watch --watch`.
- **Options.** Expiry lists with ATM IV and implied move, strike grids with call/put quotes, deltas, and open interest. Option snapshots are supported; option streaming is not exposed.
- **Scanners.** Built-in market scans for movers, losers, unusual volume, gaps, high IV rank, and option volume. Agents can also compose ad-hoc scans without writing config.
- **Position sizing.** Fixed-fractional sizing against live NLV, with optional target, R-multiple, and breakeven win rate. Pure math; never an order ticket.
- **Market breadth.** S&P 500 participation from constituent daily bars: percent above 50-DMA, percent above 200-DMA, and fresh 52-week highs/lows. A fresh cache is instant; first-ever cold start can take about an hour because of IBKR pacing.
- **Dealer gamma.** Production-ready SPX/SPXW-canonical zero-gamma and concentration view, with SPY used as corroborating context when its option surface is usable. A fresh, rankable SPX result is the stable headline signal; SPY-only is a labeled proxy. Treat the signed level as a regime hint, not a precise trading level.
- **Risk regime.** One call returns the eight-row dashboard: VIX term structure, VVIX, HYG/SPY divergence, HY/IG OAS, funding spread, USD/JPY weekly move, SPX-canonical dealer gamma, and S&P 500 breadth. Heavy rows report `computing` instead of pretending stale data is fresh.
- **Portfolio canary.** `ibkr canary` and MCP `ibkr_canary` produce a stateless `market regime × portfolio shape` monitor with `action`, `market_confirmation`, `portfolio_fit`, `input_health`, planner readiness, stable fingerprints, and supporting `signals[]`. It also emits bounded `portfolio.held_stress[]` rows for material held underlyings when existing positions data shows held-name daily P&L shock, near-expiry held-option delta concentration, or held-name liquidity degradation. Account-only risk stays evidence, not a canary DEFEND trigger; DEFEND requires confirmed market pressure, vulnerable portfolio fit, and clean enough inputs. Use `ibkr canary --details` for the full evidence rows.
- **Market-event flags.** `ibkr market-events` and MCP `ibkr_market_events` annotate held or requested stock/ETF symbols with borrow inventory, extreme borrow fee, Nasdaq Reg SHO threshold-list, LULD pause, and regulatory/news halt context. Flags are context and proposal gates: active halt/LULD can block protection proposals, borrow stress can strengthen short buy-to-cover context, and unknown sources remain unknown rather than false.
- **Platform settings.** `ibkr settings show` and MCP `ibkr_settings` report runtime preferences, trading/build capability, account mode, and compact observed market-data quality with `access`, `source`, and read-only reasons. `ibkr settings set features.purge_restore.enabled=false` disables purge/restore write actions while leaving `purge status` readable.

Every data command supports `--json`. `ibkr restart --json` is also useful for scripts: it reports whether a daemon was already running, old/new PIDs, whether `--force` was used, the post-start `status.health` snapshot, and any app process it refreshed. Lifecycle commands such as `setup`, `update`, `restart`, `mcp`, and `daemon` are for local operation and transport setup.

For schemas and edge cases, see the [agent skill schema notes](skills/ibkr/schemas.md), [MCP tools reference](docs/reference/mcp-tools.md), [MCP resources reference](docs/reference/mcp-resources.md), [configuration reference](docs/reference/config.md), and [concept docs](docs/concepts.md).

For ready-to-run prompts, see [examples/ibkr_portfolio_analysis_prompt.md](examples/ibkr_portfolio_analysis_prompt.md) for portfolio review and [examples/ibkr_portfolio_canary_prompt.md](examples/ibkr_portfolio_canary_prompt.md) for scheduled stress checks.

## Pick your path

### Claude Desktop, Cursor, Continue, Zed

`ibkr mcp` starts a local stdio MCP server. MCP hosts can call the same account, watchlist, quote, calendar, position, scanner, sizing, regime, canary, and preview-only order-draft tools that the CLI exposes as JSON. The order preview surface can mint a local non-submitting preview token, but it cannot place, modify, cancel, or transmit broker orders. Watchlist access through MCP can return either