| name | alpaca-api-reference |
| description | Alpaca Markets API reference. Use for trading/market data/broker API, orders, positions, account management, or building Alpaca-based bots/apps. |
Alpaca API reference for looking up endpoint specifications, request/response schemas, authentication, order types, and market data access.
When to Use
- User asks about a specific Alpaca API endpoint
- User needs to know how to place orders, check positions, or access market data
- User is building a trading bot or algorithmic trading system with Alpaca
- User asks about order types, time-in-force values, or order lifecycle
- User needs authentication or SDK setup guidance
API Overview
Alpaca offers API-first trading solutions. Three main APIs:
- Trading API — For individual traders: place orders, manage positions, get account info
- Broker API — For businesses building trading apps on Alpaca's infrastructure
- Market Data API — Historical and real-time market data for stocks, crypto, options
Base URLs
| Environment | Trading API | Market Data API |
|---|
| Live | https://api.alpaca.markets | https://data.alpaca.markets |
| Paper (test) | https://paper-api.alpaca.markets | https://data.alpaca.markets |
| Broker sandbox | https://broker-api.sandbox.alpaca.markets/v1 | — |
Authentication
All requests require API key authentication via headers:
APCA-API-KEY-ID: {API_KEY}
APCA-API-SECRET-KEY: {API_SECRET}
Or as Basic Auth. Get keys from Alpaca Dashboard.
SDKs
| Language | Install |
|---|
| Python | pip install alpaca-py |
| Go | go get -u github.com/alpacahq/alpaca-trade-api-go/v3/alpaca |
| JavaScript | npm install --save @alpacahq/alpaca-trade-api |
| C# | dotnet add package Alpaca.Markets |
Request IDs
All endpoints return X-Request-ID in response headers. Persist this for support requests.
Reference Files
When asked about a specific topic, read the appropriate reference file:
| Topic | Reference File | Contents |
|---|
| Getting started, auth, SDK setup | references/getting-started.md | Overview, quickstart, SDK examples |
| Orders (place, cancel, types) | references/trading-orders.md | Order types, TIF, lifecycle, bracket orders |
| Positions | references/positions.md | GET /v2/positions endpoint |
| Account | references/account.md | GET /v2/account endpoint |
| Stock historical bars | references/market-data-stock-bars.md | GET /v2/stocks/bars parameters |
| Market data overview | references/market-data.md | Subscription plans, data sources, SDK examples |
Common API Endpoints
Trading API (paper: https://paper-api.alpaca.markets)
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|
| GET | /v2/account | Get account details, buying power, equity |
| GET | /v2/orders | List orders (query: status, symbols, limit, etc.) |
| POST | /v2/orders | Place an order |
| DELETE | /v2/orders/{order_id} | Cancel an order |
| GET | /v2/positions | List all open positions |
| GET | /v2/positions/{symbol} | Get position for a symbol |
| DELETE | /v2/positions/{symbol} | Close a position |
Market Data API (https://data.alpaca.markets)
| Method | Path | Description |
|---|
| GET | /v2/stocks/bars | Historical stock OHLCV bars (multi-symbol) |
| GET | /v2/stocks/{symbol}/bars | Historical bars for single symbol |
| GET | /v2/stocks/trades | Historical trades |
| GET | /v2/stocks/quotes | Historical quotes |
| GET | /v2/stocks/snapshots | Latest snapshot for symbols |
| GET | /v2/crypto/bars | Crypto historical bars |
How to Look Up an Endpoint
- Identify the topic from the user's question
- Map to the reference file using the table above
- Read the file and extract the relevant details
- If the file doesn't cover it, check
https://docs.alpaca.markets/reference
Source: https://docs.alpaca.markets/ (crawled 2026-04-13)
