# IG API: questions and answers Independent and unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any broker or platform named here. Educational only: nothing here is advice, and nothing here recommends a broker or a trade. This is the markdown version of https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/ig, written from the same records as that page. Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders. 8 questions about the IG API, each answered from the IG record on this site (https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig) and nothing else. 2 rest on sources that conflict. - Newest check: 2026-10-12 - Official documentation: [labs.ig.com](https://labs.ig.com/) An answer here is the record's own wording, cut at the end of a sentence, or a list of names read from records. An answer that opens with the word Unverified has no dated source behind it. Where this page and the provider's own documentation differ, the documentation wins. Nothing here recommends a broker. ## IG API questions ### Does IG have an API? Yes. This register records IG as having its own API (REST and Streaming), with availability marked as active. REST plus streaming for IG spread bet and CFD accounts. - Status: verified. Source: [IG Labs](https://labs.ig.com/), checked 2026-09-24. - [The IG API record](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig) ### Does IG have a demo or paper trading API? Partial: demo API works, but no key from a standalone demo account unless it is linked to a live account. - Status: verified. Source: [How to use IG API](https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-platforms/trading-apis/how-to-use-ig-api), checked 2026-10-12. - Status: verified. Source: [IG Labs FAQ: the demo and live base addresses, and the demo key rule](https://labs.ig.com/faq.html), checked 2026-10-12. - Status: verified. Source: [IG REST trading API guide: examples on the demo host](https://labs.ig.com/rest-trading-api-guide.html), checked 2026-10-12. - [The IG record's full wording](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig#access) ### What are IG's API rate limits? Sources conflict on at least one of these limits, and the rate limits page shows both readings. The limits register holds 5 limit records for the IG API, each with its own scope: Historical price data points a week, Non trading requests a minute, Concurrent streaming subscriptions and Trading requests a minute. - Status: conflicting. Source: [labs.ig.com](https://labs.ig.com/faq.html), checked 2026-10-12. - [IG API rate limits in full, each with its scope](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig/rate-limits) ### How do I authenticate with the IG API? Sources conflict. API key plus username and password returns CST and X-SECURITY-TOKEN, valid 12 hours on a rolling basis with each call resetting the clock on the IG Labs FAQ, while IG's REST trading API guide says 6 hours at first, extended up to a maximum of 72 hours: a disagreement between two IG pages that the blocked reference page could not settle on 23 Sep 2026. The other reading: IG Labs FAQ: 12 hours between calls, reset by each call. IG Labs REST trading API guide: 6 hours at first, extended up to 72 hours while in use. - Status: conflicting. Source: [IG Labs REST trading API guide](https://labs.ig.com/rest-trading-api-guide.html), checked 2026-10-12. - Status: conflicting. Source: [IG Labs FAQ](https://labs.ig.com/faq.html), checked 2026-10-12. - [The IG record's full wording](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig#access) ### Does IG support streaming or WebSocket prices? Streaming runs on Lightstreamer: IG's Streaming API Guide starts by sending you to the Lightstreamer client library, and the server address to connect to comes back from the /session call. By default a connection holds up to 40 simultaneous subscriptions. - Status: verified. Source: [IG Labs Streaming API Guide](https://labs.ig.com/streaming-api-guide.html), checked 2026-10-12. - Status: verified. Source: [IG Labs FAQ](https://labs.ig.com/faq.html), checked 2026-10-12. - [The IG record's full wording](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig#access) ### Is there an official Python library for IG? No Python library marked official is recorded here for IG, which is not evidence that none exists. The record lists as community: trading-ig. - Status: verified. Source: [trading-ig](https://github.com/ig-python/trading-ig), checked 2026-09-18. - [Every library in the IG record](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig#sdks) ### Does IG have an MCP server? The MCP server register on this site holds 2 servers for IG. Published by the provider itself: IG Trading: CFD Assistant. Published by the community, not by the provider: ig-trading-mcp. - Status: verified. Source: [IG Trading: CFD Assistant](https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/ig-australia-launches-mcp-server-opens-its-trading-platform-to-chatgpt/), checked 2026-09-24. - Status: verified. Source: [ig-trading-mcp](https://github.com/kea0811/ig-trading-mcp), checked 2026-09-24. - [The MCP server directory, with what each server can do](https://openbrokerapi.com/ai/mcp-directory) ### What does IG error error.public-api.exceeded-api-key-allowance mean? The traffic allowance of the API key has been exceeded. IG's reference lists this code under HTTP 403 in the Exceptions tables for /session. - Status: verified. Source: [labs.ig.com](https://labs.ig.com/reference/session.html), checked 2026-10-09. - [IG error error.public-api.exceeded-api-key-allowance: the meaning in full and what to do](https://openbrokerapi.com/errors/ig/exceeded-api-key-allowance) ## Where to go next - [The IG API record in full: every field with its source](https://openbrokerapi.com/brokers/ig) - [Answers for every broker and platform API](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers) - [Which retail brokers have a public trading API?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/has-an-api) - [Which broker APIs have a demo environment?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/demo-api) - [What are the rate limits of each broker API?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/rate-limits) - [How does each broker API authenticate?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/authentication) - [Which broker APIs stream prices?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/streaming) - [Which broker APIs have an official Python library?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/python-library) - [Which broker APIs have an MCP server?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/mcp-server) - [What does each API's most referenced error mean?](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/error-codes) - [Axi API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/axi) - [Bitget API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/bitget) - [Capital.com API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/capital-com) - [CMC Markets API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/cmc-markets) - [Deriv API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/deriv) - [Dukascopy API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/dukascopy) - [eToro API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/etoro) - [Exness API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/exness) - [FOREX.com API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/forex-com-city-index) - [FXCM API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/fxcm) - [FxPro API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/fxpro) - [Interactive Brokers API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/ibkr) - [OANDA API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/oanda) - [Pepperstone API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/pepperstone) - [Saxo API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/saxo) - [Swissquote API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/swissquote) - [ThinkMarkets API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/thinkmarkets) - [Tickmill API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/tickmill) - [Trading 212 API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/trading-212) - [XTB API: questions and answers](https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/xtb) ## Licence and how to cite The records behind this page are all rights reserved. This file is the page itself, at its own address, in another format. It is not part of the CC BY 4.0 downloads listed at https://openbrokerapi.com/data. Quote from it with a link to the page. Cite as: IG API: questions and answers. Broker API Hub, https://openbrokerapi.com/answers/ig, newest check 2026-10-12. Where you rely on a single figure, cite the source and the checked date printed beside it as well. Where this page and a broker's own documentation differ, the documentation wins.