IB Blade MCP

Interactive Brokers MCP server for Claude, Sidereal, and any MCP-compatible client. Portfolio monitoring, market data, order management, and market scanners — all through the IB Client Portal Gateway.

Built for the Model Context Protocol.

Why another IB MCP?

	ib-blade-mcp	rcontesti/IB_MCP	code-rabi/interactive-brokers-mcp	Hellek1/ib-mcp
Approach	CP Gateway REST	CP Gateway REST	Bundled Gateway + JRE	TWS socket (ib_async)
Headless	Yes (gateway runs separately)	Yes	Bundles JRE + Gateway in npm	Requires running TWS/Gateway
Order safety	Triple gate: env var + confirm param + what-if preview	Basic	Basic confirm	Read-only by design
Token efficiency	Pipe-delimited, compact formatters, batch endpoints	JSON dumps	JSON dumps	JSON dumps
Credential handling	Gateway handles auth; MCP never sees IB passwords. Scrubbing on errors	Env var passwords	OAuth or env var passwords	Env var passwords
Rate limiting	Concurrency semaphore + snapshot throttle	None	None	None
HTTP transport	stdio + streamable-http with bearer auth	stdio only	stdio only	stdio only
Security posture	No bundled JRE, no IB credentials in MCP process, bearer auth for remote	Passwords in env	Ships a JRE	Passwords in env
IB Australia	Works with any IB entity (AU, US, UK, etc.)	Global only	Global only	Global only
Tests	pytest + mypy + ruff CI	Minimal	Minimal	Good (pytest)

Key design decisions

1. Gateway separation. This MCP server connects to an already-authenticated Client Portal Gateway. Your IB credentials never touch the MCP process. The gateway handles authentication, session management, and market data subscriptions.

2. Triple order safety. Three independent gates prevent accidental trades:

   • IB_WRITE_ENABLED=true environment variable (off by default)
   • confirm=true parameter on every order tool (off by default)
   • ib_order_preview returns margin impact and commission before you commit

3. Token efficiency. Every tool returns compact pipe-delimited output, not raw JSON. Positions, orders, and trades each fit in a few hundred tokens instead of thousands.

4. No bundled infrastructure. Unlike alternatives that bundle JRE and gateway binaries inside npm packages, this server is a lightweight Python process that talks to your existing gateway.

What this covers

• 21 tools across 6 categories
• Portfolio: accounts, positions, summary, cash balances, P&L
• Market data: contract search, quotes, batch snapshots, historical bars
• Orders: list, status, preview, place, modify, cancel, confirm
• Scanners: parameter discovery, scanner execution
• Trades: recent executions

Quick start

Prerequisites

1. IB Client Portal Gateway — download from IB API page and run it:

   cd clientportal-gw && bin/run.sh root/conf.yaml
   

2. Authenticate by opening https://localhost:5000 in a browser
3. Python 3.12+

Install

# From PyPI (when published)
uv pip install ib-blade-mcp

# From source
git clone https://github.com/groupthink-dev/ib-blade-mcp
cd ib-blade-mcp && uv sync

Configure

# Required
export IB_GATEWAY_URL="https://localhost:5000"

# Optional
export IB_ACCOUNT_ID="U1234567"       # Auto-detected if omitted
export IB_SSL_VERIFY="false"           # For self-signed gateway certs
export IB_WRITE_ENABLED="false"        # Enable order placement
export IB_MCP_API_TOKEN=""             # Bearer token for HTTP transport

Run

# stdio transport (default — for Claude Code, Sidereal, etc.)
ib-blade-mcp

# HTTP transport (for remote/tunnel access)
IB_MCP_TRANSPORT=http IB_MCP_PORT=8790 ib-blade-mcp

Claude Code configuration

Add to ~/.claude.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ib": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/ib-blade-mcp", "ib-blade-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "IB_GATEWAY_URL": "https://localhost:5000",
        "IB_SSL_VERIFY": "false",
        "IB_WRITE_ENABLED": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

System (2)

Tool	Description
ib_status	Session status, auth state, write gate, rate limits
ib_tickle	Keep gateway session alive (heartbeat)

Portfolio (5)

Tool	Description
ib_accounts	List linked brokerage accounts
ib_positions	Open positions with P&L, market value, cost basis
ib_portfolio_summary	NAV, cash, unrealised P&L, buying power, margin
ib_cash_balances	Cash balances by currency
ib_pnl	Daily and unrealised P&L

Market Data (6)

Tool	Description
ib_contract_search	Find contracts by symbol or name → conid
ib_contract_detail	Contract info: exchange, currency, multiplier
ib_quote	Live snapshot: last, bid, ask, volume, change
ib_historical	Historical OHLCV bars
ib_scanner_params	Available scanner types and filters
ib_scanner_run	Run market scanner (gainers, most active, etc.)

Order Query (3)

Tool	Description
ib_orders	Live/recent orders with fill status
ib_order_status	Detailed status of a specific order
ib_trades	Recent trade executions

Order Write (5) — gated

Tool	Gate	Description
ib_order_preview	write	What-if preview: margin, commission, equity impact
ib_place_order	write + confirm	Place order (LMT, MKT, STP, STP_LMT, MIDPRICE)
ib_confirm_order	write	Reply to gateway confirmation prompts
ib_modify_order	write + confirm	Modify quantity, price, or TIF
ib_cancel_order	write	Cancel an open order

Output format

All tools return compact pipe-delimited text optimised for LLM token efficiency:

conid | symbol | pos | mkt_value | avg_cost | unrealised_pnl | pnl%
265598 | AAPL | 100 | $17.5K | 150.00 | $2500.00 | +16.7%
9579970 | BHP.ASX | 500 | $22.5K | 42.00 | $1500.00 | +7.1%

Money values use compact formatting: $1.2M, $45.3K, $500.00.

Security model

• Gateway isolation. IB credentials are managed by the Client Portal Gateway, not this MCP server. The MCP process never sees your IB username or password.
• Write gating. All order operations require IB_WRITE_ENABLED=true. Order placement additionally requires confirm=true per call.
• Credential scrubbing. Session tokens, cookies, and auth headers are stripped from error messages before returning to the LLM.
• Bearer auth. HTTP transport optionally requires Authorization: Bearer <token> with timing-safe comparison.
• No bundled binaries. Unlike some alternatives, this server doesn't ship JRE, gateway, or other large dependencies.

IB Australia

This server works with any Interactive Brokers entity. IB Australia (ABN 98 166 929 568, AFSL 453554) accounts use the same Client Portal Gateway as any other region. The account ID determines jurisdiction — no code-level configuration needed.

AUD base currency is handled natively in formatters.

Architecture

┌──────────────┐     stdio/HTTP      ┌──────────────┐    REST/JSON    ┌──────────────┐
│  MCP Client  │ ◄──────────────────► │ ib-blade-mcp │ ◄────────────► │  IB Gateway   │
│ (Claude, etc)│                      │  (FastMCP)   │                │ (CP Gateway)  │
└──────────────┘                      └──────────────┘                └──────┬───────┘
                                                                             │
                                                                    IB Auth + Market Data
                                                                             │
                                                                      ┌──────▼───────┐
                                                                      │   IB Servers  │
                                                                      └──────────────┘

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Description
IB_GATEWAY_URL	Yes	—	Client Portal Gateway URL
IB_ACCOUNT_ID	No	auto-detect	Default account ID
IB_SSL_VERIFY	No	true	Verify SSL certs (set false for self-signed)
IB_WRITE_ENABLED	No	false	Enable order operations
IB_MCP_TRANSPORT	No	stdio	Transport: stdio or http
IB_MCP_HOST	No	127.0.0.1	HTTP bind address
IB_MCP_PORT	No	8790	HTTP port
IB_MCP_API_TOKEN	No	—	Bearer token for HTTP transport

Development

make install-dev    # Install with dev + test deps
make test           # Run unit tests
make test-cov       # Run with coverage
make check          # Lint + format + typecheck
make run            # Start the server

Roadmap

• WebSocket order streaming — subscribe to order status changes via gateway WebSocket for real-time fill notifications
• OAuth 2.0 Web API — direct IB Web API access with private_key_jwt, eliminating the gateway dependency
• Flex Queries — historical trade reports and statements via IB Flex Query system
• Watchlist management — create and manage watchlists through the gateway
• Sidereal marketplace — publish as a certified Sidereal pack

License

MIT