Interactive Brokers trading journal

About this integration

Interactive Brokers doesn't expose a public OAuth API the way modern brokers do — their Flex Query system is powerful but legacy. The IBKR card in TFQ is CSV-only: export a Flex Query trades report and upload it. SnapTrade does list IBKR, and both of its IBKR routes show up in the "More brokers via SnapTrade" picker, but neither is a better path than the CSV preset today — SnapTrade reports no trade-history support for the click-and-connect route, and the route that does have it is itself a Flex Query file upload. If you connect IBKR through the SnapTrade picker, treat trade history as unconfirmed rather than expected.

Supported instruments

Setup

1. 1In IBKR: Performance & Reports → Flex Queries → create a trades Flex Query → run it and export CSV
2. 2In TFQ: System → Brokers → Upload CSV
3. 3Select "Interactive Brokers" from the preset dropdown (or let auto-detection pick it)
4. 4Import completes immediately
5. 5For new trades, export a fresh Flex Query and upload again — TFQ does not sync IBKR in the background

How to export your trades from Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers writes its trade history at Flex Query trades export. In TradeFlow Quantum that file imports with the Interactive Brokers preset.

1. 1In IBKR Account Management run your Flex Query trades export and save the CSV.
2. 2In TradeFlow Quantum open System → Brokers → Upload CSV.
3. 3Choose "Interactive Brokers" from the preset dropdown, then upload the file.

Columns we read from the Interactive Brokers export

Ticker

Symbol

Direction

Buy/SellSide

Entry price

PriceTradePriceT. Price

Size

QuantityQty

Realized P&L

Realized P/LRealizedPL

Trade date

Date/TimeTradeDateDate

Header matching is case-insensitive and ignores punctuation and spacing, so a renamed-but-recognisable header still resolves. A file needs a ticker, an entry price, a size and a date to import at all; direction and P&L are filled in when present.

• •IBKR writes the same field under several spellings depending on which report generated it. T. Price and TradePrice both resolve to the entry price; RealizedPL and Realized P/L both resolve to P&L; TradeDate and Date/Time both resolve to the trade timestamp.
• •Header matching lowercases and strips punctuation before comparing, which is why T. Price and TradePrice collapse to the same thing.

How the Interactive Brokers connection syncs

Connection route

CSV only. IBKR's programmatic access is the Flex Query system and the TWS API, neither of which is the public OAuth handshake the direct integrations use, so there is no IBKR connect button. Both of SnapTrade's IBKR slugs appear in the "More brokers via SnapTrade" picker badged "Trade history unclear" — SnapTrade leaves trade-history support unstated on the click-and-connect route, and the route that reports it is itself a Flex Query file upload.

Refresh cadence

Manual. New trades need a fresh Flex Query export and another upload — there is no background sync for IBKR, and none for any broker this product connects.

Interactive Brokers import caveats

• —Activity Statement CSVs also import, but their column names differ from the Flex Query ones. Try this preset first; if it fails, send the header row through Settings → Support and a variant gets added.
• —Option and futures fills import with their P&L understated by the contract multiplier. This preset is one row per fill, so rows are paired FIFO and P&L is computed as (exit - entry) x quantity with no multiplier — correct for stocks and ETFs, wrong for a 100x option or a $50/point future. Filter the Flex Query to stocks, or correct those rows after import.

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

• ✓Cross-broker view. If you trade Interactive Brokers 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 Interactive Brokers history (time-of-day, setup type, emotional state) the broker won’t show you.
• ✓Long-term data ownership. Interactive Brokers’s built-in analytics typically limit history to 90 days or 1 year. TFQ keeps every trade for as long as your account exists, exportable any time — closed trades as CSV, everything including open positions as a JSON backup.