Alpaca trading journal

About this integration

Alpaca pioneered the developer-friendly broker model. Their REST API is well-documented, rate-limits are generous, and the OAuth flow Just Works. If you're algorithmic-leaning or building your own analytics on top of TFQ data, Alpaca is the broker we recommend connecting first.

Supported instruments

Access scope

We read account information, positions, orders, and trade history — that is every Alpaca call TFQ makes. The token Alpaca issues us is broader than that: we request `account:write trading data`, so the grant itself carries trading authority. TFQ contains no order-placement code, but that limit is ours, not Alpaca's.

What we read is limited by our code, not by Alpaca. TradeFlow Quantum has no order-placement code path and we do not intend to add one — but because the granted token carries trade permission, treat a compromise of TFQ as reaching this brokerage connection. If that is not an acceptable risk, use the CSV import instead of connecting.

Setup

1. 1System → Brokers → Connect Alpaca
2. 2You're redirected to Alpaca to authorize TradeFlow Quantum
3. 3Approve the scope on Alpaca's authorization page — read the scope list; it includes trading
4. 4Redirected back to TFQ — your last 90 days of trades sync within 60 seconds
5. 5Going forward, new trades appear in TFQ within 60 seconds of execution

How the Alpaca connection syncs

Authorization

OAuth 2.0 authorization-code flow via app.alpaca.markets/oauth/authorize.

API host

api.alpaca.markets for live accounts, paper-api.alpaca.markets for paper accounts.

Data endpoint

GET /v2/account/activities filtered to activity_types=FILL.

Pagination

A page_token cursor set to the last row's id, 100 fills per page, until a short page comes back.

Round-trip pairing

FIFO per symbol. A buy or sell_short opens a position; a sell or buy_to_cover closes the oldest matching one.

Alpaca import caveats

• —One sync reads at most 10,000 fills (100 pages of 100). A history longer than that stops at the ceiling rather than looping — the cap exists so a misbehaving response can't spin forever.
• —Paper and live accounts answer on different API hosts. A connection is bound to one of them — the environment is stored on the connection at connect time and every later request uses that host.

Why use TradeFlow Quantum instead of Alpaca's built-in tools?

• ✓Cross-broker view. If you trade Alpaca plus any other broker, TFQ unifies the equity curve, P&L attribution, and mistake-checker across all of them.
• ✓Mistake-checker on YOUR data — surfaces patterns in your Alpaca history (time-of-day, setup type, emotional state) the broker won’t show you.
• ✓Long-term data ownership. Alpaca’s built-in analytics typically limit history to 90 days or 1 year. TFQ keeps every trade forever, exportable to CSV any time.