Overview
Alpaca provides real-time and historical market data for US equities and ETFs, along with commission-free trading capabilities. It uses API key authentication and supports both paper trading (simulation) and live trading environments. It is a strong choice for building algorithmic trading bots or financial data dashboards.
Beginner Tip
Start with a paper trading account on alpaca.markets to get free API keys for testing without risking real money. Use the data API at data.alpaca.markets separately from the broker API at paper-api.alpaca.markets.
Available Data
Example Response
{
"status": "success",
"data": {
"result": "Data from Alpaca",
"description": "Realtime and historical market data on all US equities and ETFs",
"timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}
} Field Reference
t Timestamp for the bar in RFC 3339 format o Opening price for the bar period h Highest price during the bar period l Lowest price during the bar period c Closing price for the bar period v Trading volume (number of shares) during the bar period Implementation Example
const url = "https://alpaca.markets/docs/api-documentation/api-v2/market-data/alpaca-data-api-v2/";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data); What Can You Build?
Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.
Common Errors & Troubleshooting
Matrix Score Breakdown
Partially tested on Apr 5, 2026
Technical Specifications
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