[Sandbox] Instant Funding and Market Data

[Yania]

Hi! I’m exploring Alpaca’s Broker and Market Data APIs and would appreciate some guidance on two issues I’m encountering:

1. Instant Funding API (403 Forbidden)
   • When attempting to call the Instant Funding endpoints, I consistently receive a 403 Forbidden response.

     • Could you confirm if additional permissions or account-level configurations are required to access this service?

     • Please advise on the steps to enable Instant Funding for my API credentials or partner account.

2. Market Data Discrepancies (Sandbox Environment)
   • I noticed a variance in equity closing prices when testing in the Sandbox environment compared to live market data.

     • Example: Calling /v2/stocks/snapshots?symbols=spcx returned prevDailyBar.c = 171.10, whereas the actual market close was 171.92.

       
       

     • Does the Sandbox environment utilize simulated/delayed data, or default to a specific exchange feed (e.g., IEX vs. SIP)?

     • What is the recommended endpoint or query parameter configuration to retrieve consolidated closing data during development?

Thank you for your assistance!

[Dan_Whitnable_Alpaca]

@Yania First off, thank you for your interest in developing Alpaca. The broker API sandbox is meant as a place for prospective Broker and RIA partners to “kick the tires” and try out the Broker APIs. If after initial testing it seems like a fit, the next step would be to contact Alpaca sales. They will assign a project manager and a solutions engineer who will help configure your sandbox environment for your specific application. This would include configuring instant funding. The key is to engage sales early in the process.

Regarding market data access, by default feed=iex. IEX data is provided for testing but does not represent full market SIP data. That is probably the discrepancy you are seeing. You can set feed=delayed_sip which will get you actual full market data but delayed 15 minutes. See the documentation here.

The end point you are showing in your screenshot will provide a good overview of current and previous daily bars along with quotes. Something like this:

https://data.sandbox.alpaca.markets/v2/stocks/snapshots?symbols=SPCX&feed=delayed_sip

You didn’t mention anything about your application, but if this is just for your personal use then you should be looking at the Trading API’s and not the Broker API’s. If this is a commercial application you are developing, you may want to consider starting with the Connect program. That is free (unlike the Broker API’s) and can be a good approach.