mannbadal/alpaca-mcp repository overview

Unofficial multi-arch Docker image of Alpaca's open-source MCP server (alpacahq/alpaca-mcp-server⁠), kept in sync with upstream. Build source: mannbadal/alpaca-mcp-server⁠.

⁠Quick Start

Get your free API keys at app.alpaca.markets⁠ (paper trading available).

Docker Compose:

services:
  alpaca-mcp:
    image: mannbadal/alpaca-mcp:latest
    container_name: alpaca-mcp
    command:
      [
        "alpaca-mcp-server",
        "--transport",
        "streamable-http",
        "--host",
        "0.0.0.0",
        "--port",
        "8000",
      ]
    environment:
      - ALPACA_API_KEY=${ALPACA_API_KEY}
      - ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=${ALPACA_SECRET_KEY}
      - ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE=True   # Set to False for live trading
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    restart: unless-stopped

Then connect your MCP client to http://localhost:8000/mcp.

⁠Environment Variables

Available toolsets: account, trading, watchlists, assets, stock-data, crypto-data, options-data, corporate-actions, news, fixed-income-data, locates.

⁠Remote access

The server rejects requests (HTTP 421 Misdirected Request) whose Host header isn't localhost or 127.0.0.1. This protects against DNS-rebinding attacks. If clients reach the container any other way, list those hostnames:

    environment:
      - ALPACA_API_KEY=${ALPACA_API_KEY}
      - ALPACA_SECRET_KEY=${ALPACA_SECRET_KEY}
      - ALPACA_PAPER_TRADE=True
      - 'FASTMCP_HTTP_ALLOWED_HOSTS=["192.168.1.50","myserver.local","alpaca-mcp"]'

• Use JSON list syntax, quoted as shown. A comma-separated value (a,b) or a bare * makes the server exit on startup.
• Ports are ignored when matching, and wildcards like "alpaca-mcp-*" are supported.

⁠Tags

⁠Connecting MCP clients

For any MCP client that supports remote/HTTP connections, the URL is:

http://localhost:8000/mcp

Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http alpaca http://localhost:8000/mcp

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS, %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows). The config file only launches local commands, so bridge to HTTP with mcp-remote⁠ (requires Node.js):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "http://localhost:8000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "alpaca": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8000/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Credentials go in the Docker Compose environment block, not in the client config. The server holds the Alpaca keys, and clients connect without authentication.