How to Connect Claude to Interactive Brokers
Last updated November 2026
Short answer
Interactive Brokers now runs its own official AI connector for Interactive Brokers accounts only. The other route is a connector that reaches Interactive Brokers through a regulated aggregator, which can hold several brokers in one connection, signing in at Interactive Brokers's own screen so no tool handles your password. Claude accepts custom connectors on Desktop, claude.ai and Claude Code. You add the connector URL in settings, authorise once, and the tools are available in any conversation. Once connected, Claude is reading your actual account. Walnut reads Interactive Brokers in full, so the assistant can analyse it. Buys you approve through Walnut go to Public, or to E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and the other brokers that take them. Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser.
Asking Claude how your Interactive Brokers portfolio is doing gets a generic answer, because otherwise it has no access to your positions. Claude is the assistant with the most mature connector support, and the one where this works with the least friction. Once the account is connected, its answers are about what you actually hold.
How the connection works
Claude accepts custom connectors on Desktop, claude.ai and Claude Code. You add the connector URL in settings, authorise once, and the tools are available in any conversation.
Behind it, a regulated aggregator holds the link to Interactive Brokers. You authenticate at Interactive Brokers's own screen, the aggregator receives scoped access, and the assistant reads through it. Your login is never handled by the assistant, and access is revocable from either end.
Interactive Brokers connects to Walnut for reading only. IBKR also runs its own official AI connector for Claude, ChatGPT and other clients, where the AI drafts orders and you submit them, for IBKR accounts only.
How to set it up, step by step
These steps use Walnut, which connects Interactive Brokers and any other brokers you add in one place. Setup takes a few minutes, and there is nothing to download.
1. Create a free Walnut account
Sign up with an email address or a phone number. Nothing is connected yet, and nothing is shared.
2. Connect Interactive Brokers inside Walnut
Open the brokerage screen and pick Interactive Brokers. You sign in at Interactive Brokers's own screen, through a regulated aggregator, so Walnut never sees your password. Your positions appear once the first sync finishes.
3. Add Walnut to Claude
In Claude Desktop or claude.ai, open Settings, then Connectors, choose Add custom connector, name it Walnut and add the server URL https://walnutinvest.com/api/connector/mcp. Leave any OAuth client fields blank.
In Claude Code, run claude mcp add walnut --transport http https://walnutinvest.com/api/connector/mcp, then /mcp to sign in. If Claude Desktop connects but shows no tools, remove it and add it again from claude.ai in a browser, which handles the sign-in step more reliably.
4. Sign in to Walnut and approve access
Claude sends you to Walnut to sign in, and you approve what it can use. The connector reads; it does not place trades. Walnut reads Interactive Brokers in full and places nothing there.
5. Check that it is reading the right account
Ask Claude to list your Interactive Brokers positions with their weights. If the list matches what Interactive Brokers shows, the connection is live. If it answers in generalities, the connector is not attached to that conversation yet. The full walkthrough is in how to connect Walnut to Claude.
Interactive Brokers's own AI connector
Interactive Brokers has an official AI connector. It had certified Claude and ChatGPT connectors by June 2026 and opened them to any assistant built on the MCP standard on July 28, 2026. The AI drafts orders into an AI Instructions area and you submit them yourself; it does not execute on its own. It works with IBKR accounts only.
That makes it the direct route if Interactive Brokers is the only account you want an assistant to see. Walnut covers a different case: one connection across several brokers, including brokers with no connector of their own, read-only by default, with baskets of target weights on top.
What it can and cannot see
| Data | Available? |
|---|---|
| Positions and quantities | Yes, once connected. This is the base of any analysis |
| Average cost per position | Not through Walnut, which receives no cost basis from brokers, so returns are measured as price change over a period |
| Account balances | Yes |
| Placing an order | Not through Walnut, which reads Interactive Brokers in full; buys through Walnut go to Public, or to E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and other brokers. Interactive Brokers's own connector is a separate route |
| Your tax position and goals | No. Nothing knows this unless you say it |
| Accounts at other providers | Only if you connect those too |
Whether orders can be placed depends on the broker and on Walnut, not on the assistant. Walnut reads Interactive Brokers in full. Buys you approve through Walnut go to Public, or to E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and the other brokers that take them. Interactive Brokers' own connector lets an assistant draft orders that you then submit yourself, so the read-only limit applies to Walnut's connection, not to every AI tool.
Get a recommendation for your situation
Walnut is the AI that knows your portfolio: ask anything in plain English, research any fund, and get an honest second opinion. On the broker you already use, read-only, and you approve every trade. Walnut is not a registered investment adviser.
What to ask about your Interactive Brokers account
First ask the assistant to list your positions, so you know what it can see. These questions are useful on a Interactive Brokers account in particular.
What can you see in my account, and what is missing?
IBKR accounts often hold several asset types and listings outside the US, so compare what came through with your account before relying on the analysis.
How has each holding done against the S&P 500 over the past year?
Walnut measures each holding as price change over the period against the index, because brokers send no cost basis, so it shows how each holding performed, not your profit or loss on it.
How far is the account from the mix I want?
Save the mix you want as a basket with target weights and Walnut measures how far each holding has moved from it, then lists the trades that would bring it back. Walnut reads Interactive Brokers only, so you place those trades at Interactive Brokers yourself.
You may not need Claude for this
If the goal is to ask questions about your own portfolio and get answers based on what you hold, the assistant you use is a matter of preference.
Walnut connects Interactive Brokers and has its own built-in assistant, so the conversation works whether or not Claude ever supports connectors. For people who would rather stay in the assistant they already use, Walnut also exposes an MCP connector that Claude and ChatGPT accept. Both routes read the same account.
Related: connecting Interactive Brokers to an AI assistant covers this broker in depth, and AI portfolio analysis covers what you can learn from reading the account alone.
FAQ
Can Claude connect to Interactive Brokers?
Yes, in two ways: Interactive Brokers's own official connector, for Interactive Brokers accounts only; a connector that reaches Interactive Brokers through a regulated aggregator, which can also hold your other brokers in the same connection. Once connected, Claude reads your real positions inside the conversation rather than answering from what you paste in.
Does Claude see my real Interactive Brokers holdings?
Only through a connection you set up and authorise. Without one it knows nothing about your account and answers in general terms. With one, it reads your actual positions.
Can Claude place trades in my Interactive Brokers account?
Not through Walnut. Walnut reads Interactive Brokers in full, so an assistant can analyse the account, and Walnut makes no orders in it. Buys you approve through Walnut go to Public, or to E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull and the other brokers that take them. Interactive Brokers' own connector lets an assistant draft orders that you then submit yourself, so the read-only limit applies to Walnut's connection, not to every AI tool.
Is it safe to connect Interactive Brokers to an AI assistant?
The safe shape is the same regardless of assistant: you sign in at Interactive Brokers's own screen so no tool handles your password, access is scoped and revocable, and you can end it from the broker's side as well as the app's. Check those before you connect.
What can it not do?
It does not know your tax position, your goals, or any account you have not connected, so advice depending on those is guessing unless you supply them. It also cannot see accounts at other providers unless you connect those too.
Do I need Claude at all?
No. Walnut has its own built-in assistant that reads a connected Interactive Brokers account directly, so you can ask about your portfolio without Claude or any other client supporting connectors. Using Claude is optional.
Which brokers can an AI assistant actually trade?
Through Walnut, buys you approve are placed at Public first, and also at E*Trade, tastytrade, Webull (US and Canada), moomoo, Questrade, Wealthsimple, Trading 212 and Stake (Australia). Every other connected broker, including Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard and Interactive Brokers, is read in full for tracking and analysis. Separately, several brokers now run their own official AI connectors for their own accounts, including Robinhood, Interactive Brokers (which drafts orders for you to submit), Webull and Public.
How do I disconnect Interactive Brokers?
From the app that holds the connection. In Walnut, the brokerage screen has a disconnect that removes the authorization, so nothing can read Interactive Brokers through it any more, including Claude. Removing the Walnut connector from Claude's settings ends the assistant's side as well. You can also review and revoke connected apps from Interactive Brokers's own account settings.
Is connecting Interactive Brokers to Claude free?
Walnut is free to start, including connecting Interactive Brokers and adding the connector to Claude. Walnut Plus, $9.99 a month on the web, removes the session limit on the assistant. Pricing changes, so check the current plans before you rely on this.
What should I ask once it is connected?
Ask it to list your positions and their weights, sorted by value. That shows what it can see and how concentrated the account is. Then ask how each holding has done against the S&P 500.
More on Interactive Brokers
Connect your broker to an AI assistant
Step-by-step guides for each major broker, plus the general setup guides for ChatGPT and Claude, which brokers have an AI assistant built in, and Walnut's MCP connector.
Related articles
Walnut is informational and is not an investment adviser, and nothing here is investment advice. Assistant connector support and broker integrations both change; the positions described were checked again in October 2026 and may have changed since.