Alpaca API setup for Firefly: a trading-only key in 5 minutes.
Alpaca is the simplest broker to connect: commission-free US stocks and ETFs, separate paper and live environments, and API keys you generate in two clicks. Nova starts every account in paper mode, so the first key you create is the paper one.
Screens change. This guide was checked in October 2026; the broker's own docs are linked below. Never share a key by chat or email — use the onboarding form.
- An Alpaca brokerage account (individual; non-US residents accepted in many countries) with onboarding complete
- Two-factor authentication on your Alpaca login
- Nothing else — Alpaca keys do not need IP whitelisting or a redirect URL
Log in at app.alpaca.markets and switch the environment toggle to Paper. Nova runs here until you choose to go live.
On the dashboard's right-hand panel click Generate New Keys (or View under API Keys). Copy the Key ID and the Secret Key now — the secret is shown once.
Switch the toggle to Live and generate a second pair. Keep paper and live keys clearly labelled; they are not interchangeable.
Key ID and Secret for the environment you want to run. Alpaca keys can trade and read; they cannot withdraw, change bank details or see your password.
Permissions: what the key may and may not do
Grant
- Trading and account read — the only scope Alpaca keys have
Never grant
- Withdrawals — not possible through the API; nothing to disable
Share securely
Paste the credentials into the onboarding form we send after the call (encrypted at rest, visible only to the onboarding engineer). We confirm connectivity on the call and you watch the first read-only calls succeed before any order is placed. Rotate the key at the broker at any time — Firefly stops the moment it is revoked.
Troubleshooting
403 forbidden / unauthorized
Paper key used against the live endpoint or the reverse. Check which environment the key came from.
Account not active
Onboarding or funding still pending at Alpaca; paper works immediately, live needs an approved and funded account.
Pattern day trader restriction
Live margin accounts under $25,000 are limited to three day trades in five days. Nova's end-of-day rules rarely trip it; a cash account avoids it.
Key created? Book the onboarding call.
Thirty minutes: we connect, set capital and risk limits, and you watch the first read-only calls succeed.