mcp-finnhub

# Finnhub — Stock, Crypto, Forex Data

Finnhub's REST API. Real-time stock quotes, fundamentals, earnings, news, alternative data (insider transactions, sentiment, ETF holdings), economic data, crypto, and forex. Comprehensive market data with a strong free tier.

Part of [Pipeworx](https://pipeworx.io) — an MCP gateway connecting AI agents to 1684+ live data sources.

## Why this matters for AI agents

Where [Alpha Vantage](/docs/reference/alphavantage) is solid for fundamentals + technical, Finnhub is stronger for real-time quotes (1-minute resolution on free), insider transactions, news/sentiment, and international markets. For finance agents that need price data alongside news flow and insider activity, Finnhub is fit-for-purpose.

Common flows:

- **Quote.** Real-time (or 15-min delayed on free tier) stock quote.
- **Company news.** Recent news for a ticker with sentiment scoring.
- **Insider transactions.** Form 4 filings with timing and dollar amounts (also see [insider-trading](/docs/reference/insider-trading) pack which is SEC-EDGAR-direct).
- **Earnings.** Upcoming earnings calendar, surprise history, EPS estimates.
- **International symbols.** European, Asian, emerging-market tickers (where Alpha Vantage gets thinner).

## Auth

Free key from https://finnhub.io/dashboard. Free tier: 60 API calls/minute. Pass via `_apiKey`.

Higher tiers ($50-200/mo) unlock real-time data, longer historical, and rate limits suitable for production. The free tier is sufficient for most agent research.

## When to use Finnhub vs. Alpha Vantage

| Need | Better source |
|---|---|
| Quotes | Either; Finnhub real-time-er on free tier |
| Income statement / balance sheet | Alpha Vantage (cleaner schema) |
| Insider transactions | Finnhub or insider-trading pack |
| Company news with sentiment | Finnhub |
| Earnings calendar | Finnhub |
| International coverage | Finnhub |
| Technical indicators | Alpha Vantage |
| ETF holdings | Finnhub |

For richest coverage, Pipeworx agents often mount both.

## Common pitfalls

- **Symbol conventions.** US tickers are simple (AAPL); international markets need exchange suffixes (NESN.SW for Nestlé on Swiss exchange). Finnhub has a symbol search.
- **Free tier real-time delay.** "Real-time" on free is essentially current; on paid it's actually live. For agent research, free is fine. For trading, paid.
- **News sentiment is heuristic.** Finnhub computes sentiment with NLP — it's directionally useful but noisy. Don't treat as ground truth; useful as a signal.
- **Insider transaction lag.** SEC requires Form 4 filing within 2 business days of the transaction. Finnhub picks them up shortly after. Real-time alerting requires either polling or a separate real-time SEC feed.
- **Estimates vs. actuals.** Finnhub provides analyst consensus estimates; mixing them with actuals in plots requires labeling carefully.
- **Free-tier coverage holes.** Some smaller caps and OTC stocks have limited Finnhub coverage on free. Verify the data exists for your target tickers before designing flows around it.

## Quick Start

Add to your MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, etc.):

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "finnhub": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/finnhub/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

### What this endpoint actually serves

`tools/list` at `https://gateway.pipeworx.io/finnhub/mcp` returns the tools in the table
above **plus the shared Pipeworx meta-tools** — `ask_pipeworx`,
`discover_tools`, `search_within`, `remember`/`recall` and the rest of the
gateway-wide set. So the tool count you see is larger than this table: a
single-pack endpoint currently lists roughly 30 shared tools alongside the
pack's own. The connection's `initialize` response states its exact scope, and
is the authoritative answer for a given day.

This is deliberate, not multiplexing by accident. The meta-tools are what let a
scoped connection answer a question this pack does not cover — via
`ask_pipeworx`, which routes across the whole catalog — without you adding a
second MCP server. There is currently no way to mount a pack endpoint without
them; if the extra schemas cost you more context than the routing is worth,
connect to the full gateway once rather than to several pack endpoints.

Or connect to the full Pipeworx gateway to get every pack's tools listed
directly, instead of just this one's:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

Both URLs reach the same gateway and the same 1684+ data sources. The
only difference is which pack's tools are listed **directly**; `ask_pipeworx`
reaches all of them from either one.

## No MCP client? Call it over HTTP

Our finnhub key is reserved for paid accounts, so an anonymous call to `POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_quote` needs your own key passed as `_apiKey` alongside the arguments. Inspect any tool: `GET https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/get_quote`. Find one: `POST https://gateway.pipeworx.io/v1/tools/search_packs` with `{"query":"..."}`.

## Standalone (no gateway account)

This package also runs as a local stdio MCP server — no Pipeworx account, no
gateway round-trip:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "finnhub": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@pipeworx/mcp-finnhub"]
    }
  }
}
```

Or run it directly to confirm it starts:

```bash
npx -y @pipeworx/mcp-finnhub
```

It speaks MCP over stdin/stdout and answers `initialize`/`tools/list`/`tools/call`
for **only** this pack's tools — none of the shared meta-tools the gateway
connection above adds. Same source, same tools, no ask_pipeworx routing.

## Using with ask_pipeworx

Instead of calling tools directly, you can ask questions in plain English —
this works on the pack endpoint above as well as on the full gateway:

```
ask_pipeworx({ question: "your question about Finnhub data" })
```

The gateway picks the right tool and fills the arguments automatically.

## More

- [Docs and guides](https://pipeworx.io/docs)
- [pipeworx.io](https://pipeworx.io)

## License

MIT