Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is a brokerage firm that operates in most countries around the world. It’s a great choice for investing and trading, especially if you don’t have access to other supported platforms.

Note: If you have access to other supported brokers, compare their fee structures to see which one offers the best deal for you.

Note

Easy Setup with .env File

LumiBot automatically loads your API credentials from a .env file! Simply create a .env file in the same folder as your trading strategy and add your Interactive Brokers credentials. LumiBot will automatically detect and use these credentials - no additional configuration required.

Example .env file:

# Interactive Brokers Configuration
IB_USERNAME=your_ib_username
IB_PASSWORD=your_ib_password
IB_ACCOUNT_ID=your_account_id

That’s it! LumiBot handles the rest automatically.

Market Data Subscriptions

To access real-time market data, you need to subscribe to the appropriate market data packages. Interactive Brokers offers various subscriptions depending on the exchanges and types of data you need. Here are some common options:

  • US Securities Snapshot and Futures Value Bundle

  • US Equity and Options Add-On Streaming Bundle

  • NASDAQ (Network C/UTP) TotalView

  • NYSE (Network A/CTA) OpenBook Ultra

  • OPRA (US Options Exchanges)

Note

Different strategies may require different market data subscriptions. For top options-related strategies, the OPRA (US Options Exchanges) subscription should suffice.

To subscribe to market data:

Important

Market data subscriptions are login-specific. Ensure you’re logged in with the same credentials you plan to use with Lumibot before proceeding.

  1. Log in to the IBKR Client Portal.

  2. Navigate to the Settings menu.

IB Main Menu

  1. Under Account Settings, find the Market Data Subscriptions section.

IB Settings

  1. Click Configure and select the desired market data packages.

IB Market Data Subscriptions

  1. Find your desired subscription.

  2. Follow the prompts to complete the subscription process.

Note: Market data subscriptions may incur additional fees. Review the costs associated with each package before subscribing.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Interactive Brokers requires two-factor authentication for Client Portal Gateway users. Individual users must authenticate in a browser on the same machine as the gateway and reauthenticate at least daily. LumiBot does not provide a supported way to bypass this requirement.

See IBKR Client Portal Gateway requirements.

Warning

LumiBot can start IBeam as a local convenience for controlled individual or internal paper testing. IBeam is a third-party wrapper, and IBKR does not support automated Client Portal Gateway authentication or third-party wrappers. Do not use this path to collect customer credentials. Commercial third-party products should complete IBKR onboarding and use approved OAuth.

Using a Secondary Username

IBKR allows one active brokerage session per username. Logging into Client Portal, TWS, IB Gateway, or another trading-enabled session with the same username can displace the API session.

An additional username can isolate API activity from normal Client Portal use. It does not remove IBKR’s 2FA or session-authentication requirements. Market-data subscriptions are username-specific and may incur separate fees.

Using a Paper Trading Account

When using a paper trading account, log in with your paper trading username and password. This allows you to practice trading without risking real money.

Steps to get your paper trading username and password:

  1. Log in to the IBKR Client Portal using your primary (live) account credentials.

  2. Navigate to the Settings menu in the upper right corner.

  3. Under Account Settings, find the Paper Trading Account section.

  4. Click on Configure or Request Paper Trading Account.

  5. Follow the prompts to set up your paper trading account.

  6. Once the setup is complete, you’ll receive a separate username and password for your paper trading account.

  7. Use these credentials when logging into the paper trading environment and configuring your API connection.

Note: The paper trading account is separate from your live account. Ensure you’re using the correct credentials for each environment to avoid any login conflicts.

Strategy Setup

Add these variables to a .env file in the same directory as your strategy:

Interactive Brokers Configuration

Secret

Description

Example

IB_USERNAME

Your Interactive Brokers username.

<your-paper-username>

IB_PASSWORD

Your Interactive Brokers password.

<your-paper-password>

IB_ACCOUNT_ID

(Optional) An Interactive Brokers subaccount to trade on.

<your-account-id>

IB_API_URL

(Optional) URL of an externally managed Client Portal or approved REST transport.

https://localhost:4234

IB_USE_PAPER_ACCOUNT

Local IBeam paper-account toggle. Defaults to true.

true

IB_GATEWAY_PORT

(Optional) Host port for local IBeam or a localhost sidecar.

4234

IB_AUTH_TIMEOUT

(Optional) Maximum authentication wait in seconds.

300

Example Strategy

from lumibot.traders import Trader
from lumibot.strategies.examples import Strangle

trader = Trader()
strategy = Strangle()
trader.add_strategy(strategy)
trader.run_all()