Wiki
Interactive Brokers
What is Interactive Brokers?
Interactive Brokers (IB) is a brokerage that can be used with TWM in two ways:
- As a broker — to execute trades on stocks, futures, and other instruments
- As a data source — to receive market data, if you have active IB market data subscriptions
To use Interactive Brokers with TWM, you need an active Interactive Brokers account.
Requirements Before Connecting
Before you can connect TWM to Interactive Brokers, you must:
- Have an Interactive Brokers account — Sign up at interactivebrokers.com if you don't have one.
- Install and run one of the following applications:
- TWS (Trader Workstation) — the full IB trading terminal
- IB Gateway — a lightweight alternative to TWS
Why do I need TWS or IB Gateway running?
TWM connects to Interactive Brokers through the IB API (not through REST or WebSocket). This means TWS or IB Gateway must be running locally on your computer for TWM to communicate with Interactive Brokers.
TWS (Trader Workstation)
TWS is Interactive Brokers' full-featured trading terminal.
How to download and install TWS:
1. Go to the Interactive Brokers download page: https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/download-tws.php
2. Download the Latest version for your operating system.
3. Install TWS following the standard installation process.
4. Launch TWS.
5. Log in with your Interactive Brokers credentials. Note: Interactive Brokers may require two-factor authentication (2FA). You will need to confirm the login via the IBKR Mobile app or your configured authenticator.
6. Make sure the API settings in TWS are configured to allow connections. Go to Settings > Global Configuration > API > Settings and ensure:
- "Enable ActiveX and Socket Clients" is checked
- The Socket port is noted (default is usually 7496 for live)
IB Gateway
IB Gateway is a lighter alternative to TWS. It provides the same API connectivity but without the full trading terminal interface. Use IB Gateway if you don't need the TWS interface and prefer a minimal application running in the background.
How to download and install IB Gateway:
1. Go to the Interactive Brokers download page and find the IB Gateway section: interactivebrokers.com/en/trading/ibgateway-latest.php
2. Download and install IB Gateway.
3. Launch IB Gateway and log in with your Interactive Brokers credentials.
4. Once logged in, IB Gateway will show a minimal interface confirming the connection is active.
5. Make sure the API settings in IB Gateway are configured to allow connections. Go to Configure > Settings > API > Settings and ensure:
- "Read-Only API" is unchecked
- The Socket port is noted (default is usually 7496 for live)
Either TWS or IB Gateway will work with TWM — choose whichever you prefer.
Connecting Interactive Brokers in TWM
To set up an Interactive Brokers connection in TWM:
- Open TWM and go to the Connections panel.
- Click Add Connection and select Interactive Brokers.
- Fill in the connection fields:
- Login — your Interactive Brokers username
- Password — your Interactive Brokers password
- Live Trading — enable this for live trading
- The connection should now be active.
Important: Trading Mode Limitations
| Mode | |
| Live Trading | Yes |
| Paper Trading (IB) | No — not supported |
| Sim Trading (TWM) | Yes — TWM's built-in simulator works |
Interactive Brokers Paper Trading accounts are not supported in TWM. If you want to practice without risking real money, use TWM's built-in Sim Trading feature instead.
Trade Permissions
To trade specific instrument types through Interactive Brokers, you must have the appropriate trade permissions enabled in your IB account.
Examples:
- To trade futures, you need Futures trading permissions
- To trade stocks, you need Stock trading permissions
How to check and enable trade permissions:
1. Log in to the Interactive Brokers Client Portal.
2. Navigate to Trade > Trading Permissions.
3. Enable the permissions for the instrument types you want to trade.
Note: For some permissions, Interactive Brokers may require you to complete a questionnaire or knowledge test before granting access. This is a standard IB requirement.
Market Data Subscriptions in IB
If you want to receive market data directly from Interactive Brokers (instead of from DXFeed), you must have active market data subscriptions in your IB account.
How to subscribe to IB market data:
1. Log in to the Interactive Brokers Client Portal.
2. Navigate to Settings > User Settings > Market Data Subscriptions.
3. Browse available market data packages and subscribe to the ones you need.
Note: IB market data subscriptions are not required if you are using DXFeed as your data source. You only need them if you want to receive data directly from Interactive Brokers.
Historical Data Limitations
Interactive Brokers has limitations on downloading historical data:
- Small timeframes (such as 1-minute or 15-minute bars) are not supported for historical data through IB in TWM.
- TWM limits IB historical data to larger timeframes:
- Hourly
- Daily
- Weekly
- and above
For active charting and analysis with smaller timeframes, it is recommended to use DXFeed as your market data source and use Interactive Brokers primarily as a broker for trade execution.
Summary
After reading this section, you should understand:
- That Interactive Brokers can be used as a broker and/or data source
- That TWS or IB Gateway must be running locally for TWM to connect
- How to download, install, and configure TWS or IB Gateway
- How to set up the IB connection in TWM
- That only Live Trading is supported (not IB Paper Trading)
- How to enable trade permissions for different instrument types
- How to subscribe to IB market data (optional if using DXFeed)
- That IB historical data is limited to larger timeframes