OpenBB

What it is

Open Data Platform by OpenBB, ODP for short, is an open source toolset that connects data sources once so many tools can read them. Its README says it helps data engineers bring proprietary, licensed and public data into downstream applications like AI copilots and research dashboards. The same installed commands are available from Python, as a REST API, as MCP tools and as OpenBB Workspace widgets. The README also names Excel as a surface for analysts. It comes as a Python package, a command line and a desktop app.

1. You install the openbb package or single providers
2. Each provider adds one data source and its own namespace
3. The installed commands become one set of data calls
4. Python, REST, MCP tools and Workspace widgets all use it

Who it suits

Quants who work in Python, analysts who want the same data in OpenBB Workspace, and developers who give an AI agent market and economic data through MCP. Skip it if you want a finished trading product. The README’s own disclaimer says the data is not necessarily accurate and that trading in financial instruments carries high risk.

Where to use it

The maker documents these routes, and the kit has a page for each.

• Python: the obb object, after pip install openbb
• The command line: the openbb command, for one command, a batch or an interactive REPL
• ODP Desktop: a Windows and macOS app that manages Python environments and backend servers
• REST API: openbb-api serves every installed command over HTTP
• OpenBB Workspace: connect the running REST API as a backend
• MCP: openbb-mcp serves the commands as tools for Claude Desktop, Cursor and VS Code

How to set it up

Get it saves a zip of Mindket’s setup notes in your downloads folder, with a page for each route above. The main route is pip, inside a virtual environment.

1. Make a virtual environment and activate it.
2. Install the openbb package.
3. Make a first call to a provider that needs no key.

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install openbb

On Windows, activate with .venv\Scripts\activate.

How to use it

Import obb and call a command. Each provider’s commands sit under its own namespace, so the source is part of the path. This first call uses Cboe, which needs no key.

from openbb import obb

quote = obb.cboe.equity.quote(symbol="AAPL", provider="cboe")
quote.to_dataframe()

To serve the same commands over HTTP, install the launcher and start it. It listens on 127.0.0.1:6900 and moves to the next free port if that one is taken.

pip install openbb-platform-api openbb-cboe
openbb-api

Routes mirror the Python path, and keyword arguments become query parameters.

curl "http://127.0.0.1:6900/api/v1/cboe/equity/quote?symbol=AAPL&provider=cboe"

Example

You want Claude Desktop to answer a question about an Apple quote. With uv installed, you add this to its configuration and restart it.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openbb-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "openbb-mcp-server",
        "--with",
        "openbb-cboe",
        "--with",
        "openbb-imf",
        "openbb-mcp",
        "--transport",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Ask for the Apple quote. The tool for it is cboe_equity_quote, which the docs name from the route /api/v1/cboe/equity/quote. The docs say each installed provider contributes its commands, so this setup serves the Cboe and IMF ones.

For newcomers and experts

If you are new. A provider is a connector to one data source, such as Cboe or the FRED economic database. OpenBB does not host or serve data. Provider packages are connectors to public or third-party services, which set their own coverage, rate limits and terms of use. Start with the Python route and a provider that needs no key, then add a key for FRED when you want economic series.

For experts. Any FastAPI router registered under the openbb_core_extension entry-point group becomes an extension. The REST API serves its routes, and the Python interface generates them as methods on obb after openbb-build or on the next import. openbb-mcp names each tool from its route path, so obb.cboe.equity.quote is cboe_equity_quote. On a large install, one flag hides the command tools behind four tools named available_categories, available_tools, search_tools and call_tool.

openbb-mcp --tool-discovery

The tool run_pipeline chains tools on the server, so a price history does not travel through the conversation. A .spec file from openbb --generate-spec lets openbb-api or openbb-mcp proxy a remote server with no provider packages installed.

Good to know

The kit’s notes follow the V5 documentation. The options below cover what can surprise you.

• Version 5: V5 moved commands from shared routers such as obb.equity into provider namespaces such as obb.cboe, removed fifteen V4 provider packages, and changed the license from AGPL-3.0 to Apache-2.0. The README’s own example still uses the V4 call obb.equity.price.historical, and videos may show V4 commands
• Data: OpenBB does not host or serve data. Provider packages connect to public or third-party services, whose terms may restrict storage, redistribution or commercial use. The license covers the software, not the data
• Accuracy: the README says the data is not necessarily accurate, and that OpenBB and its data providers accept no liability for losses from trading or from relying on the data
• Open by default: the REST API accepts every request and every origin until you set a Basic login and a CORS list. The MCP server’s install_skill tool writes files to the server’s disk for any connected client, so require server_auth when clients are not trusted
• Desktop app: it installs Miniforge and environments, runs background tasks and shell scripts, and can start at login. Its Uninstall removes them with the app data. The docs say it is not meant for virtual machines or CI
• OpenBB Workspace: a separate, commercial OpenBB app at pro.openbb.co that needs a sign-in. OpenBB’s site says its Community Edition is free for individuals. The same site says the non-profit OpenBQ is taking over OpenBB’s assets and that users of the hosted products will hear about timelines. These notes cover connecting your own server to it, not the app itself
• Excel: the README names Excel beside Workspace for analysts. The kit has no Excel steps
• Usage data: the README and the pages used here say nothing about it
• Removal: the installation page says to add or remove providers with pip, and the providers page says to run openbb-build or restart the Python session after removing one. No page gives a command that removes everything. Uninstall what you installed with pip and delete the virtual environment. Settings and keys stay in ~/.openbb_platform/ (user_settings.json, mcp_settings.json), and openbb-sec keeps a disk cache in ~/OpenBBUserData/cache/sec (up to 8 GB by default), so delete those folders too
• License: Apache-2.0. GitHub’s API lists the license as “Other”, but the LICENSE file gives the full Apache 2.0 text and reads “Copyright (c) 2021-2026 OpenBB Inc.” The license grants no rights to the OpenBB trademarks