ibkr-trading

What This Skill Does

The ibkr-trading skill provides a comprehensive bridge between your OpenClaw agent and the Interactive Brokers (IBKR) Client Portal API. It simplifies the complex authentication flow required by IBKR, including the automated handling of the 'IB Key' 2FA notification via the IBeam utility. Once authenticated, the agent can interact with your trading account to retrieve live market data, monitor positions, evaluate portfolio performance, and execute trades programmatically. This skill is designed for algorithmic traders and power users who need to automate their investment workflows within a secure, headless Linux environment.

Installation

Installation requires a Linux-based host with Java 17 and Chromium installed. First, install the necessary dependencies including openjdk-17-jre-headless, chromium-browser, chromium-chromedriver, and xvfb. Once configured, download the IBKR Client Portal Gateway and extract it. Create a .env file in your workspace directory containing your IBKR credentials and path configurations. Finally, start the gateway service and trigger the IBeam authentication process while keeping your mobile device ready for the 2FA approval. For detailed setup, follow the OpenClaw CLI install command: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/flokiew/ibkr-trader.

Use Cases

• Automated Portfolio Monitoring: Have the agent summarize your net liquidation value, buying power, and current open positions daily or on-demand.
• Algorithmic Execution: Create custom logic that triggers BUY/SELL orders based on specific market conditions, price alerts, or technical indicators retrieved via the API.
• Market Research: Automate the process of searching for financial instruments and fetching real-time market data snapshots for analysis.
• Session Management: Maintain persistent connections by scheduling automated 'tickle' requests, ensuring the trading session stays active throughout the market day.

Example Prompts

1. "OpenClaw, what are my current open positions for my paper trading account and what is their total market value?"
2. "Check the current market price for AAPL and if it is below $170, place a market buy order for 5 shares."
3. "Summarize my account performance over the last 24 hours and list my top 3 holdings by market value."

Tips & Limitations

• Safety First: Always use a Paper Trading account during the testing phase of your scripts to avoid unintended financial loss.
• 2FA Requirements: The IBKR Key app is mandatory; headless environments cannot bypass the mobile-based 2FA challenge.
• Session Expiry: Remember that sessions expire daily. Use the ping/tickle endpoint or a cron job to keep your session alive, or prepare to re-authenticate manually if the token expires.
• Resource Management: Ensure your server time is synchronized via NTP, as IBKR API requests often fail if the system time deviates significantly from server time.