Stock and Options Brokers for LumiBot¶

Q: How do I switch Alpaca from paper trading to live trading?

Alpaca uses paper trading unless you set ALPACA_IS_PAPER=false and use your live account keys. See the Alpaca guide.

Trade US stocks, ETFs and options from a LumiBot strategy or AI agent with one of these brokers. The strategy code stays the same; only the broker credentials change.

What BotSpot MCP adds

Use Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code or another MCP-compatible assistant? Connect the free BotSpot MCP for:

Skills: build LumiBot strategies.
Free data: news, economics and SEC filings.
Backtests: run tests and read charts.
Cloud hosting: low-cost scheduled bots.
Community: share bots and discuss trades.
Marketplace: discover and publish strategies.
Broker linking: connect accounts through BotSpot.

Connect your AI assistant

Stock and options brokers¶
Broker	Assets in LumiBot	Paper trading	Login
Alpaca	Stocks, ETFs, options, crypto	Yes, free paper account	API key and secret, or OAuth
Charles Schwab	Stocks, ETFs, single-leg options	No paper switch in LumiBot	Schwab developer app and OAuth
Interactive Brokers (Client Portal REST)	Stocks, options, futures and more, by account	Yes, separate paper login	Username and password with 2FA
Interactive Brokers (legacy TWS)	Markets your TWS account can trade	Yes, paper port 7497	TWS or IB Gateway
Tradier	Stocks, ETFs, options	Yes, sandbox account	Access token and account number

Frequently asked questions¶

Which stock broker is easiest to start with?¶

Alpaca. You can open a free paper account, create an API key in the dashboard, set ALPACA_API_KEY and ALPACA_API_SECRET, and run. Paper mode is the default.

Which brokers can trade options with LumiBot?¶

Alpaca, Charles Schwab (single-leg options), Interactive Brokers and Tradier.

Can I backtest a stock or options strategy before connecting a broker?¶

Yes. Use Yahoo for free daily stock data, or Alpaca, Polygon, ThetaData or Interactive Brokers data for intraday and options history. See Backtesting Trading Strategies in Python with LumiBot.

Can an AI agent trade stocks and options through these brokers?¶

Yes. An AI agent submits orders through the same LumiBot order pipeline, so it can use any of these brokers. See Build AI Trading Agents in Python with LumiBot.

Can I switch brokers without rewriting my strategy?¶

Yes. The strategy class stays the same. You change the broker settings in your .env file, as long as the new broker can trade the assets your strategy uses.

How do I switch Alpaca from paper trading to live trading?¶

Alpaca uses paper trading unless you set ALPACA_IS_PAPER=false and use your live account keys. See the Alpaca guide.