/alpaca

name: alpaca
description: |
  Alpaca integration. Manage Organizations, Users, Filters. Use when the user wants to interact with Alpaca data.
compatibility: Requires network access and a valid Membrane account (Free tier supported).
license: MIT
homepage: https://getmembrane.com
repository: https://github.com/membranedev/application-skills
metadata:
  author: membrane
  version: "1.0"
  categories: ""

Alpaca

Alpaca is a commission-free stock brokerage platform. It provides APIs for developers to build and integrate trading algorithms and applications. It's used by fintech companies, algorithmic traders, and developers interested in building trading platforms.

Official docs: https://alpaca.markets/docs/

Alpaca Overview

• **Order**
• **Order leg**
• **Account**
• **Portfolio**
• **Watchlist**
• **Calendar**
• **Clock**
• **Asset**

Working with Alpaca

This skill uses the Membrane CLI to interact with Alpaca. Membrane handles authentication and credentials refresh automatically — so you can focus on the integration logic rather than auth plumbing.

Install the CLI

Install the Membrane CLI so you can run `membrane` from the terminal:

npm install -g @membranehq/cli@latest

Authentication

membrane login --tenant --clientName=<agentType>

This will either open a browser for authentication or print an authorization URL to the console, depending on whether interactive mode is available.

**Headless environments:** The command will print an authorization URL. Ask the user to open it in a browser. When they see a code after completing login, finish with:

membrane login complete <code>

Add `--json` to any command for machine-readable JSON output.

**Agent Types** : claude, openclaw, codex, warp, windsurf, etc. Those will be used to adjust tooling to be used best with your harness

Connecting to Alpaca

Use `membrane connection ensure` to find or create a connection by app URL or domain:

membrane connection ensure "https://alpaca.markets/" --json

The user completes authentication in the browser. The output contains the new connection id.

This is the fastest way to get a connection. The URL is normalized to a domain and matched against known apps. If no app is found, one is created and a connector is built automatically.

If the returned connection has `state: "READY"`, skip to **Step 2**.

1b. Wait for the connection to be ready

If the connection is in `BUILDING` state, poll until it's ready:

npx @membranehq/cli connection get <id> --wait --json

The `--wait` flag long-polls (up to `--timeout` seconds, default 30) until the state changes. Keep polling until `state` is no longer `BUILDING`.

The resulting state tells you what to do next:

• **`READY`** — connection is fully set up. Skip to **Step 2**.
• **`CLIENT_ACTION_REQUIRED`** — the user or agent needs to do something. The `clientAction` object describes the required action:
• `clientAction.type` — the kind of action needed:
• `"connect"` — user needs to authenticate (OAuth, API key, etc.). This covers initial authentication and re-authentication for disconnected connections.
• `"provide-input"` — more information is needed (e.g. which app to connect to).
• `clientAction.description` — human-readable explanation of what's needed.
• `clientAction.uiUrl` (optional) — URL to a pre-built UI where the user can complete the action. Show this to the user when present.
• `clientAction.agentInstructions` (optional) — instructions for the AI agent on how to proceed programmatically.

After the user completes the action (e.g. authenticates in the browser), poll again with `membrane connection get <id> --json` to check if the state moved to `READY`.

• **`CONFIGURATION_ERROR`** or **`SETUP_FAILED`** — something went wrong. Check the `error` field for details.

Searching for actions

Search using a natural language description of what you want to do:

membrane action list --connectionId=CONNECTION_ID --intent "QUERY" --limit 10 --json

You should always search for actions in the context of a specific connection.

Each result includes `id`, `name`, `description`, `inputSchema` (what parameters the action accepts), and `outputSchema` (what it returns).

Popular actions

| Name | Key | Description | |---|---|---| | List Assets | list-assets | Retrieve a list of assets available for trading. | | List Positions | list-positions | Retrieve a list of all open positions in the account. | | List Orders | list-orders | Retrieve a list of orders for the account, with optional filters. | | List Watchlists | list-watchlists | Retrieve all watchlists for the account. | | List Account Activities | list-account-activities | Retrieve account activity history including trades, dividends, and other transactions. | | Get Account | get-account | Retrieve the account information associated with the current API credentials. | | Get Asset | get-asset | Retrieve details about a specific asset by symbol or asset ID. | | Get Position | get-position | Retrieve the position for a specific asset by symbol or asset ID. | | Get Order | get-order | Retrieve details of a specific order by its ID. | | Get Watchlist | get-watchlist | Retrieve a specific watchlist by ID. | | Get Clock | get-clock | Retrieve the current market clock, including whether the market is open. | | Get Calendar | get-calendar | Retrieve the market calendar showing trading days and their open/close times. | | Get Account Configurations | get-account-configurations | Retrieve the current account trading configurations. | | Create Order | create-order | Submit a new order to buy or sell an asset. | | Create Watchlist | create-watchlist | Create a new watchlist with optional initial symbols. | | Update Account Configurations | update-account-configurations | Update account trading configurations. | | Cancel Order | cancel-order | Cancel an open order by its ID. | | Close Position