Affiliate disclosure: This site contains affiliate links. If you sign up for a third-party tool through a link here, we may earn a commission at no cost to you.  • Not financial advice. Nothing here is investment advice, a trading signal, or a strategy recommendation.  • All tool demos are paper/sim mode only. No real funds. No returns claimed. No guarantee of any outcome.
Independent builder education

Wire a trade agent
without giving up your keys

Learn how webhook alerts, MCP servers, and command-line agents connect to your broker account. Mechanics-first. Paper mode throughout. No custody. No hype.

Keep your keys. Your broker, your auth, your control.

Get Autoview free → See how it works
trade-agent / paper session
What this is

The MCP agent white-space nobody is teaching

Most trading education sells signal subscriptions or backtests. Trade Agent Lab teaches the layer underneath: how to wire a webhook, expose an MCP server, and call a broker API from a command-line agent. That layer is unclaimed by incumbents. It is useful to builders.

01 / WEBHOOK
Alert fires an action
A chart alert or script POSTs a JSON payload to a webhook URL. The receiver parses the action field and routes to your broker API. The mechanics are the same across brokers.
How-to guide
02 / MCP SERVER
Agent reads your account
An MCP server wraps your broker connection and exposes tools: list_positions, get_balance, cancel_order. A Claude agent or any MCP client can call these tools without seeing your raw credentials.
Architecture walkthrough
03 / PAPER FIRST
Test the plumbing, not the P&L
Connecting a broker demo/testnet account (e.g. OANDA Practice, Alpaca Paper) through Autoview lets you run the full webhook-to-fill flow without risking capital. The mechanics are identical to live. Test the wiring before you flip the switch.
Sim / paper only on this site
04 / NO CUSTODY
Your broker, your auth
No third party holds your funds or your credentials. You authenticate directly with your broker. An agent sends order commands through the broker's own API under your account.
Keep your keys
The white-space

MCP and agents are the unclaimed layer

Incumbent trading-education sites teach charting, analysis, or subscription signals. None of them teach you how to expose a broker connection as an MCP server so an AI agent can call it.

That is the gap. That is what this site covers. Mechanics only. Paper mode. No profit claims.

Common questions

How this works

Practical mechanics. No filler.

What does "keep your keys" actually mean?
Your broker credentials, API keys, and account credentials stay on your machine or in your own environment. No third-party service stores them. An automation agent sends orders through your broker API using credentials you configure. If you stop using the agent, the credentials are yours to revoke. Nothing is in custody.
What is a webhook and how does it connect to a broker?
A webhook is an HTTP endpoint that receives a POST request with a JSON payload. Your charting tool or script sends an alert to that endpoint. A webhook receiver script parses the action field (buy/sell/close) and quantity, then calls your broker API on your behalf. The full walkthrough is in the How it works guide.
What is an MCP server in a trading context?
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard for exposing tools to AI agents. An MCP server wraps your broker connection and publishes tools like list_positions, send_order, or cancel_order. An AI agent (Claude, or any MCP client) calls those tools without seeing your raw API keys. The broker auth lives in your server process, not in the agent.
Is this financial advice or a trading strategy?
No. Trade Agent Lab is builder education. We explain how webhook and MCP plumbing works. We do not recommend positions, securities, entry or exit points, or any trading strategy. Nothing on this site is financial advice, investment advice, or a signal service. All tool demonstrations use paper/sim accounts. No real funds are involved on this site.
Why Autoview for the paper-mode demos?
Autoview is a third-party automation tool with a free tier that includes connecting broker demo/testnet accounts (paper trading). A broker demo/testnet account connected through Autoview runs the same webhook flow as a live account, so you can test the full plumbing without risking capital. Trade Agent Lab has an affiliate relationship with Autoview and may earn a commission if you sign up. This is disclosed up front on every page.
What exchanges and brokers work with webhook automation?
That depends on the tool and the broker's API support. We do not assert specific per-exchange compatibility lists here because support changes. Check the tool's own documentation for current exchange and broker support. What we teach is the underlying HTTP webhook and MCP pattern, which transfers across brokers and tools.