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Interactive Brokers API GET /iserver/marketdata/history

GET/iserver/marketdata/historyversion v1Market data

OHLC bars for a contract over a period, with bar size, start time, data source and outside hours option.

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.

Independent and unofficialinteractivebrokers.comchecked

Each bar has o, h, l, c, v and t, a Unix time in milliseconds.

Parameters

NameInTypeDescription
conidrequiredqueryintegerIB contract ID of the instrument.
periodrequiredquerystringLength of the request, in min, h, d, w, m or y. Default 1d.
barrequiredquerystringBar size, in S, min, h, d, w or m. Default 1min.
exchangequerystringExchange, or SMART, to request data from.
outsideRthquerybooleanInclude data outside regular trading hours. Default false.
startTimequerystringFormat YYYYMMDD-hh:mm:ss.
directionqueryinteger-1 (default): data ends at the current time. 1: data begins at startTime.
sourcequerystringLast (default), Bid_Ask or Midpoint.

Authentication headers

NameTypeDescription
AuthorizationstringOAuth only; the Gateway sends none. On the OAuth host this is the SSO bearer token IBKR's reference lists for this call. With the Client Portal Gateway on your own computer the browser login holds the session. Placeholder only.

Request

Written from the method, path and parameters recorded on this page. No demo host is recorded as a plain address for this API, so the samples read the base address from an environment variable. Not executed against a live or demo account. Credentials are read from environment variables on your own machine and are never entered on this site. The request builder writes these same snippets, from the same record.

Python
# Set IBKR_BASE_URL as an environment variable first. Never paste real values into code.
# No demo host is recorded as a plain address for this API, so the base address is read from IBKR_BASE_URL.
# Replace each {placeholder}, "..." and 0 with a real value before running.
# Optional and not shown: headers Authorization; query parameters exchange, outsideRth, startTime, direction, source.
import os
import requests

BASE_URL = os.environ["IBKR_BASE_URL"]
headers = {}
params = {"conid": "{conid}", "period": "{period}", "bar": "{bar}"}
resp = requests.get(BASE_URL + "/iserver/marketdata/history", headers=headers, params=params, timeout=10)
resp.raise_for_status()
print(resp.json())
JavaScript
// Set IBKR_BASE_URL as an environment variable first. Never paste real values into code.
// No demo host is recorded as a plain address for this API, so the base address is read from IBKR_BASE_URL.
// Replace each {placeholder}, "..." and 0 with a real value before running.
// Optional and not shown: headers Authorization; query parameters exchange, outsideRth, startTime, direction, source.
// Run as a module, for example a .mjs file, on a Node version that has fetch built in.
const BASE_URL = process.env.IBKR_BASE_URL;
const res = await fetch(BASE_URL + "/iserver/marketdata/history" + "?conid={conid}&period={period}&bar={bar}", {
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
  },
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
console.log(await res.json());
curl
# Set IBKR_BASE_URL as an environment variable first. Never paste real values into code.
# No demo host is recorded as a plain address for this API, so the base address is read from IBKR_BASE_URL.
# Replace each {placeholder}, "..." and 0 with a real value before running.
# Optional and not shown: headers Authorization; query parameters exchange, outsideRth, startTime, direction, source.
curl -X GET "$IBKR_BASE_URL/iserver/marketdata/history?conid={conid}&period={period}&bar={bar}"

Response

A mock response. The values are invented, so check field names against the official reference.

{
  "_mock": true,
  "symbol": "AAPL",
  "text": "APPLE INC",
  "timePeriod": "1w",
  "barLength": 86400,
  "startTime": "20260911-13:30:00",
  "points": 1,
  "priceFactor": 100,
  "volumeFactor": 100,
  "outsideRth": false,
  "mktDataDelay": 0,
  "serverId": "MOCK-0001",
  "data": [
    {
      "o": 188.5,
      "h": 191.2,
      "l": 187.9,
      "c": 190,
      "v": 0,
      "t": 1789725600000
    }
  ]
}

Response schema, HTTP 200

Every field this site's OpenAPI file for Interactive Brokers declares for this response.

FieldTypeDescription
symbolstringNot recorded
textstringNot recorded
timePeriodstringNot recorded
barLengthintegerNot recorded
startTimestringNot recorded
chartPanStartTimestringNot recorded
directionintegerNot recorded
highstringNot recorded
lowstringNot recorded
pointsintegerNot recorded
priceFactorintegerNot recorded
volumeFactorintegerNot recorded
priceDisplayRuleintegerNot recorded
priceDisplayValuestringNot recorded
negativeCapablebooleanNot recorded
mdAvailabilitystringNot recorded
mktDataDelayintegerNot recorded
messageVersionintegerNot recorded
outsideRthbooleanNot recorded
serverIdstringNot recorded
travelTimeintegerNot recorded
dataarray of valuesNot recorded
onumberNot recorded
hnumberNot recorded
lnumberNot recorded
cnumberNot recorded
vnumberNot recorded
tintegerUnix time in milliseconds.

interactivebrokers.comchecked

Limits that apply at Interactive Brokers

LimitValueScopeSource
Global requests a second (Web API)10Per authenticated username, that is per Web API sessionibkrcampus.comchecked corroborated by interactivebrokers.com/docs/web-api/trading/usage-and-availability/pacing-limitations
Historical market data requestsEither 10 req/s or 50 req/minute, as the page words itGET /iserver/marketdata/history onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked corroborated by ibkrcampus.com/campus/ibkr-api-page/webapi-doc/
Market data snapshot requests a second10GET /iserver/marketdata/snapshot onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked corroborated by ibkrcampus.com/campus/ibkr-api-page/webapi-doc/
Order and trade list requests1 req/5 sGET /iserver/orders and GET /iserver/trades, each counted on its owninteractivebrokers.comchecked corroborated by ibkrcampus.com/campus/ibkr-api-page/webapi-doc/
Session validation requests a minute1GET /sso/validate onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked corroborated by ibkrcampus.com/campus/ibkr-api-page/webapi-doc/
Session keep alive requests a second1GET /tickle onlyinteractivebrokers.comchecked corroborated by ibkrcampus.com/campus/ibkr-api-page/webapi-doc/

Interactive Brokers API errors you may meet

All Interactive Brokers API error codes, including 505 more not listed here.