Alpha Vantage MCP Server

The official Alpha Vantage API MCP server enables LLMs and agentic workflows to seamlessly interact with real-time and historical stock market data through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Add this server to your favorite apps such as Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and many more to give them access to comprehensive financial data.

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Quickstart

To use the server, <a href="https://www.alphavantage.co/support/#api-key" onclick="gtag('event', 'mcp_getKey')">get your free Alpha Vantage API key</a>, copy it to your clipboard, then follow the instructions below for the agentic tool/platform of your interest.

⚡ We use an optimization technique called Progressive Tool Discovery to minimize the number of tokens consumed (hence the cost incurred) while preserving the superb response quality when the MCP server is invoked. You can learn more about this technique here

⭐ View MCP source code on Github

👉 Any questions? Please contact support@alphavantage.co

 

Connection Examples

Remote Server Connection:

https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY

Local Server Connection:

uvx av-mcp YOUR_API_KEY

 

Setup Instructions by Use Case

💡💡 I'm just exploring

Just exploring what to build? Check out the Trading Agents stock research tool (#1 trending on Github), which is powered by Alpha Vantage market data with no setup required.

 

💬📊 Power your chatbot with financial data

<details> <summary><b>Install in Claude</b></summary>

Requirements:

• Claude Pro account (or higher tier)

Claude Remote Server Connection

To connect Claude (Web or Desktop) to this MCP server:

📺 Watch the setup tutorial - Click the image below to watch a step-by-step video guide:

📺 Already have your Alpha Vantage MCP server set up? Below are a few examples of Claude performing various stock analysis & charting tasks:

Query Param Option (Recommended):

1. Go to claude.ai/settings/connectors (Web) or Settings → Connectors (Desktop)
2. Click "Add Custom Connector"
3. Add the MCP server URL with your API key: https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY (replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual Alpha Vantage API key)
4. Click "Connect"

OAuth Option:

1. Go to claude.ai/settings/connectors (Web) or Settings → Connectors (Desktop)
2. Click "Add Custom Connector"
3. Add the MCP server URL: https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp
4. Click "Connect"
5. Enter your Alpha Vantage API token
6. Click "Authorize Access"

Claude Local Server Connection

See Claude Desktop MCP docs for more info.

Install uv (a modern Python package and project manager):

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Open Claude Desktop developer settings and edit your claude_desktop_config.json file to add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alphavantage": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["av-mcp", "YOUR_API_KEY"]
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual Alpha Vantage API key.

</details> <details> <summary><b>Install in ChatGPT</b></summary>

Requirements:

• ChatGPT Plus account (or higher tier)
• Developer mode enabled (beta feature) - see OpenAI's Developer Mode documentation

Setup:

1. Go to ChatGPT Settings → Apps
2. Click on Advanced settings → enable Developer mode
3. Return to the Apps submenu, then click Create app.
4. MCP Server URL: https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY (replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual Alpha Vantage API key).
5. Authentication: No authentication

Note: When you return to your conversation, your UI will clearly indicate that you are in Developer mode. ChatGPT will retain memory of any previous remarks made within the same chat session; however, these sessions may not be persisted, meaning the conversation generated while Developer mode is active may not be saved or accessible once closed.

Troubleshooting for ChatGPT Plus Accounts

While Developer mode is available for both Plus and Pro accounts, on Plus accounts, first-time MCP tool execution may exhibit inconsistent behavior. This primarily affects large data payloads returned from the MCP server. If you notice that MCP calls abruptly terminate without returning any JSON response, try the following:

1. Confirm Connection

   • Confirm the connection by prompting:

     List 3 functions available in Alpha Vantage MCP server.
     

   • You should see endpoints like TIME_SERIES_DAILY and TIME_SERIES_INTRADAY.

2. Force JSON Passthrough with simple payload

   • Use the following prompts in sequence to prime ChatGPT to surface the full payload:

     Run ADD_TWO_NUMBERS from Alpha Vantage MCP Server using 3 and 6, and then show the JSON response.
     

   • If successful, ChatGPT should ask you to Confirm or Deny the call. Click Confirm.
   • If it doesn't, use the 🔄 "Try Again..." button and see if you get the Confirm/Deny prompt.
   • If this doesn't work, ask ChatGPT the following, and if it starts Thinking make it Skip, so that it doesn't try the call again and instead outputs its conversational response.

     Why aren't you receiving a JSON response?
     

   • Then, regardless of the response, prompt ChatGPT

     Explicitly request a return value from the tool response to verify what the server outputs.
     

   • Typically, this gets ChatGPT to ask you to Confirm or Deny the call. Click Confirm.
   • Sometimes, ChatGPT will insist it has no active connection to Alpha Vantage MCP Server. Just tell it to "try again".
   • If payloads still fail to appear, start a New Chat and try Step #2 again.

3. Force JSON Passthrough with large payload

   • Once step #2 has been successful, repeat step #2 with the larger call:

     Run TIME_SERIES_DAILY using NVDA, and then show the JSON response.
     

   • Use the fallback steps from Step #2 if ChatGPT does not ask you to Confirm or Deny the call.
   • Once you observe ChatGPT successfully return part of the raw JSON payload from the larger call, you can typically continue on with more conversational queries.

</details>

 

🤖📈 Create agentic workflows for quantitative investing

<details> <summary><b>Configure in OpenAI Agent Builder</b></summary>

Requirements:

• OpenAI account with access to Agent Builder (e.g., billing details added, organization verified)

📺 Watch the setup tutorial. (Click image below.)

OpenAI Agent Builder Connection

To connect OpenAI Agent Builder to this MCP server:

1. Do not add a separate MCP Server object. Instead, click on your agent in OpenAI Agent Builder to add the MCP Server directly to the agent.
2. Find the Tools section of the agent and click the + button to add a new tool
3. Select MCP Server
4. Click "+ Server" in the upper right of the "Add MCP server" menu
5. Configure the MCP server with the following settings:
   • URL: https://mcp.alphavantage.co/mcp
   • Label: Alpha Vantage MCP Server (or any name you prefer)
   • Description: Financial market data and technical indicators (or any description you prefer)
   • Authentication: Select "Access token / API key" (should be default)
   • Access Token: Enter your Alpha Vantage API key
6. Click Connect
7. If successful, the next prompt will display all the tools. Scroll to the bottom and click Add.

Recommended Agent Instructions:

Add the following instruction to your agent's configuration to optimize performance:

You are a helpful financial agent with access to market data through Alpha Vantage MCP Server.

IMPORTANT: Alpha Vantage functions are accessed via wrapper tools:
- Use TOOL_LIST to see available functions (TIME_SERIES_DAILY, RSI, COMPANY_OVERVIEW, etc.)
- Use TOOL_CALL with the format: TOOL_CALL(tool_name="FUNCTION_NAME", arguments={...})
- Example: TOOL_CALL(tool_name="TIME_SERIES_DAILY", arguments={"symbol": "AAPL", "outputsize": "compact"})

</details> <details> <summary><b>Install in OpenAI Agents SDK</b></summary>

To use the Alpha Vantage MCP server with OpenAI Agents SDK, see our example agent that demonstrates:

• Interactive financial analysis agent
• Session management for conversation continuity
• Real-time tool execution with Alpha Vantage data
• Support for both HTTP and stdio MCP connections

The example includes a complete setup guide and configuration templates.

</details>

 

💻💵 Code up fintech apps

<details> <summary><b>Install in OpenAI Codex</b></summary>

Requirements:

• ChatGPT Plus account (or higher tier)

See OpenAI Codex for more information.

📺 Watch the setup tutorial. (Click image below.) This video additionally provide

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