Alpaca Trading Skill

Trade stocks and crypto programmatically via Alpaca's API.

Setup

Requires API credentials stored in environment or config:

# Set environment variables
export ALPACA_API_KEY="your-api-key"
export ALPACA_SECRET_KEY="your-secret-key"
export ALPACA_PAPER="true"  # "true" for paper, "false" for live

Or store in ~/.openclaw/credentials/alpaca.json:

{
  "apiKey": "your-api-key",
  "secretKey": "your-secret-key",
  "paper": true
}

Quick Reference

Get Quote

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py quote AAPL
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py quote AAPL,TSLA,NVDA

Get Bars (Historical Data)

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py bars AAPL --timeframe 1Day --limit 10
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py bars AAPL --timeframe 1Hour --start 2026-02-01

Check Account

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py account

List Positions

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py positions

Place Orders

# Market order
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py order buy AAPL 10

# Limit order
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py order buy AAPL 10 --limit 150.00

# Stop order
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py order sell TSLA 5 --stop 200.00

# Stop-limit order
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py order sell TSLA 5 --stop 200.00 --limit 195.00

# Skip price validation (use with caution)
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py order buy AAPL 10 --limit 999.00 --force

Order Guardrails:

1. Symbol validation — Rejects invalid/unknown tickers
2. Buying power check — Blocks orders exceeding available funds, shows max shares
3. Duplicate detection — Warns if you have open orders for same symbol/side
4. Price validation — Warns if limit price is worse than market
5. Market hours check — Detects pre-market, after-hours, and closed sessions
   • Pre-market (4:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET): Option to place pre-market order
   • After-hours (4:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET): Option to place after-hours order
   • Closed: Warns order will queue until market open
6. Cost confirmation — Shows total cost and requires confirmation

Use --force to skip all confirmation prompts (use with caution).

List Orders

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py orders
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py orders --status open
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py orders --status closed --limit 20

Cancel Order

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py cancel ORDER_ID
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py cancel all  # Cancel all open orders

Get News

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py news AAPL
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py news AAPL,TSLA --limit 5

Watchlist

python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py watchlist list
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py watchlist create "Tech Stocks" AAPL,MSFT,GOOGL
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py watchlist add WATCHLIST_ID NVDA
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py watchlist delete WATCHLIST_ID

Stream Live Data (Websocket)

# Stream trades (default)
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py stream AAPL

# Stream quotes
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py stream AAPL,TSLA --type quotes

# Stream bars (1-min)
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py stream NVDA --type bars

# Stream all data types
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py stream AAPL --type all

Press Ctrl+C to stop streaming.

Price Alerts

# Add alert - notify when INTU drops below $399
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert add --symbol INTU --price 399 --condition below

# Add alert - notify when AAPL goes above $300
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert add --symbol AAPL --price 300 --condition above

# List active alerts
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert list

# Check alerts (used by cron)
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert check

# Remove an alert
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert remove --alert_id ABC123

# Clear all alerts
python3 scripts/alpaca_cli.py alert clear

Alerts are stored in ~/.openclaw/data/alpaca-alerts.json.

Script Location

All commands use: scripts/alpaca_cli.py (relative to this skill directory)

API Reference

See references/api.md for detailed API documentation and response formats.

Safety Notes

• Always confirm with user before placing real trades
• Paper trading (ALPACA_PAPER=true) recommended for testing
• Check buying power before large orders
• Verify order details before submission