IB MCP

[!Note]

Project Status

This project is currently under active development. Features may be incomplete, and breaking changes may occur.

Motivation

This project is built exclusively on the Interactive Brokers Web API, and this is a deliberate design choice. While the TWS API is powerful, the Web API provides a more modern and flexible foundation for the goals of this project.

TWS API MCP vs. WEB API MCP?

Why not using the TWS API? The short answer is that the WEB API is planned to be more comprehensive. By more comprehensive I mean, it brings account management, specifically reporting, into the same place. The two other important reasons are: 1. The Web API is standalone. It does not require you to run the TWS desktop software or IB Gateway. 2. Model context protocols (MCPs) are easier to build on top of HTTPS communication rather than TCP/IP sockets.

If it is more comprehensive why not using just the WEB API? Three reasons: 1. WEB API is in beta (see Limitations) 2. TWS is faster and more reliable for trading. 3. TWS has some trading functionalities that the WEB API does not have.

While other projects act as a "bridge" to make the TWS API look like a web API, they introduce an unofficial, third-party dependency. This project avoids that risk by using the official IBKR Web API directly, ensuring better long-term stability and support.

In summary:

• If you need fast and reliable trading go with TWS API
• If you need a more comprehensive and cloud ready solution go with the WEB API

For a more detailed, side-by-side breakdown, please see the TWS vs. Web API Comparison section.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Overview
• Docker Desktop Setup
  • Limitations of Multi-Container Setup
  • Session Management
• Future Work
• Endpoints Status
• TWS vs WEB comparison
• Limitations
• Architecture
  • 📦 Interactive Brokers Client Portal Gateway Docker Container
    • 🔧 What This Container Does
  • 📦 Interactive Brokers Routers Generator Docker Container [WIP]
  • 📦 IB MCP Server Docker Container
    • 🔧 What This Container Does
• References
• Contributing
• License

Overview

This project provides an Interactive Brokers (IB) API interface using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). There are several ways to interact with Interactive Brokers, like the TWS API, the WEB API, Excel RTD and FIX among others. This project is built on top of Interactive Brokers WEB API.

This development uses the retail authentication process which is managed using the Client Portal Gateway, a small Java program used to route local web requests with appropriate authentication.

Docker Desktop Setup