Markets MCP Server

The InstNews Markets MCP server at https://mcp.instnews.net gives AI assistants market-data tools — prices, aggregates, option chains, fundamentals and technical indicators — authenticated with your InstNews API key (Pro and Max).

Connect Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients to live US stock, option, and futures market data over the Model Context Protocol. Once connected, your assistant pulls real-time prices, aggregates, option chains, fundamentals, and technical indicators as tools.

1. Create an API key

Sign in to your account on a Pro or Max plan, then API Keys → Create key. Copy it exactly as shown (shown once) — it looks like instnews_…. This is the same key used for the REST API. Free-tier keys are rejected with 401.

2. Connect your client

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your key in the examples below.

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http instnews-markets https://mcp.instnews.net/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"Copy

Claude Desktop

Edit claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/, Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\), then restart Claude. Requires Node.js.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instnews-markets": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.instnews.net/mcp", "--header", "X-API-Key:${AUTH}"],
      "env": { "AUTH": "YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}Copy

Use the X-API-Key header for Claude Desktop, not Authorization: Bearer. Claude Desktop splits --header arguments on spaces, so a Bearer <key> value is mangled and the server returns 401 — which shows up as the generic "Server disconnected." X-API-Key carries the bare key with no space, so it is the most reliable form; the value is supplied through the AUTH env var.

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instnews-markets": {
      "url": "https://mcp.instnews.net/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}Copy

The Claude.ai web "custom connector" is OAuth-only and does not accept a static key — use one of the clients above.

3. Try it

Once connected, ask your assistant things like:

• "What's the price of CL=F?" — resolves the blurry symbol to the front-month WTI contract (CLN6) and returns the price.
• "Show the AAPL option chain for the next expiry with greeks."
• "Give me NVDA's last 30 daily bars and its 14-day RSI."
• "What are today's top stock gainers? Is the market open?"

~36 tools span stocks, options, and futures. Blurry futures symbols (CL=F, crude oil, gold, GC=F, ES=F) are resolved to the right contract for you. Some real-time tick data (per-trade, live bid/ask) needs an extra entitlement and may return "Not authorized"; aggregates, snapshots, daily close/VWAP, and option greeks/IV are available.

4. Troubleshooting