jacktang / ibc

Automation of Interactive Brokers TWS. You can download the latest release here: https://github.com/ibcalpha/ibc/releases/latest

Download the latest official release here

IBC automates many aspects of running Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation and Gateway that would otherwise involve manual intervention. It's especially useful for those who run automated trading systems based on the Interactive Brokers API, but many manual traders find it helpful as well.

Here are some of the things it will do for you:

• It automatically fills in your username and password in the Login dialog when TWS or Gateway start running, and clicks the Login button
• It handles various dialog boxes which TWS sometimes displays, to keep things running smoothly with no user involvement
• It can keep TWS running indefinitely if required, by dealing with the autologoff mechanism (however this mechanism no longer works for TWS 974 and later version because Interactive Brokers have changed TWS functionality to prevent it)
• It allows TWS to be shut down at a specified time on a specified day of the week (again, this functionality no longer applies for TWS 974 and later versions)
• It allows the Gateway to be shut down at a specified time every day
• It can be remotely instructed to shut down TWS or Gateway, which can be useful if they are running in the cloud or on an inaccessible computer

IBC runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

Please note that IBC cannot automatically complete your login if Interactive Brokers have given you a card or device that you must use during login. IBC can still enter your username and password, but you will have to type in the relevant code and complete the login. You can request Interactive Brokers (via your Account Management page on their website) to relax this requirement when logging in to TWS or Gateway, but you will lose certain guarantees should you suffer losses as a result of your account being compromised.

If you're moving to IBC from IBController, there are some changes that you'll have to make. See the IBC User Guide for further information.

Downloads

If you just want to use IBC without modifying it, you should download the latest official release ZIP which you can find here. Note that there are separate release files for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Users who want to make changes to IBC should clone this repository in the usual way.

User Guide

Please see the IBC User Guide for installation and usage instructions. The User Guide is also included as a PDF file in the download ZIPs.

Support

IMPORTANT By far the most common problem that users have when setting up IBC is the result of trying to use it with the self-updating version of TWS.

IBC DOES NOT WORK with the self-updating version of TWS.

You must install the offline version of TWS for use with IBC.

Note however that there is no self-updating version of the Gateway, so the normal Gateway installer will work fine if you only want to use the Gateway.

If you need assistance with running IBC, or have any queries or suggestions for improvement, you should join the IBC User Group.

If you're convinced you've found a bug in IBC, please report it via either the IBC User Group or the GitHub Issue Tracker. Please provide as much evidence as you can, especially the versions of IBC and TWS/Gateway you're using and a full description of the incorrect behaviour you're seeing.

Note that IBC creates a log file that records a lot of useful information that can be very helpful in diagnosing users' problems. The location of this log file is prominently displayed in the window that appears when you run IBC. It is helpful to attach this log file to any problem reports.

Contributing

There are several ways you may be able to contribute to IBC's ongoing development and support. Please read the contributor guidelines, and send us a pull request.

We also thank past contributors to the IBController project from which IBC was forked: Richard King, Steven Kearns, Ken Geis, Ben Alex and Shane Castle.

License

IBC is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.

History

A brief note by Richard L King (rlktradewright on GitHub) updated 5 April 2019.

IBC is a fork of the original IBController project. For many years, from 2004 to early 2018, I was the primary maintainer, developer and supporter for that project.

For reasons beyond my control, in early 2018 I decided to withdraw my direct support for the original project, and to create this fork. It is my intention to ensure that this fork continues to be developed and supported to the high standards of the past.

The status of the original IBController repository now seems unclear, so IBController users are invited to switch to IBC.

If you switch from IBController to IBC, please note that there are some significant differences, and it's best to install IBC from scratch using the download on the Releases page. The last section of the IBC User Guide contains useful information about these differences.