MCP Integration

What is MCP

StrategyQuant X (SQX) and QuantDataManager (QDM) both run a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server while the application is open. Any MCP client, such as Claude Code or Claude Desktop, can connect to it and work with your projects, strategies and market data through a fixed set of tools.

The MCP server offers the raw tools of the product only. Q, the AI assistant built into the application, has its own knowledge (skills, rules, report recipes, background loops), and none of that is part of the MCP server. Your AI client brings its own reasoning and works with the application the way the command line or the user interface would.

http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp

The dialog shows the server URL and the exact commands needed to connect your AI client.

Connect an AI client

Claude Desktop

Add the following block to your claude_desktop_config.json file (find it under Settings → Developer inside Claude Desktop):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sqx": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://localhost:8080/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop after saving the file. The SQX tools will appear automatically in the next conversation.

Or you can use
Connect from Claude Code:

Available tools

Once connected, your AI client has access to the following SQX tools. You can list them at any time by typing list tools of sqx mcp in Claude Code.

Available tools:

Usage examples

Running a project

Ask Claude to find and start a project by name. Claude will list the available projects, identify the right one, and call run_project — all in a single conversation turn.

Inspecting strategy statistics

Ask Claude to list strategies from a databank and retrieve detailed stats for any of them. The results are presented as a structured table directly in the conversation.

Tools in QuantDataManager

QDM has no projects, databanks, strategies, snippets or building blocks, so it serves only the tools its screens back: 27 built-in tools. A call to an SQX-only tool is answered with "Tool not found".

Avaible tools:

Downloads started by update_data and import_mt5_data run in the background; get_data_update_status reports their progress. Exported CSV files use these headers: bars Date,Time,Open,High,Low,Close,Volume (Date yyyyMMdd, Time HH:mm:ss), ticks DateTime,Bid,Ask,Volume, custom data Date,<value columns> (Date yyyy.MM.dd HH:mm:ss).

How the tools work

• Paths are relative to the install folder. Absolute paths inside it work too; anything outside the folder is refused.
• Working folder: everything a tool writes without an explicit target (CSV exports, trade lists, generated source code, backtested strategy files) lands in user/mcp-work/. Pass your own path to put it elsewhere inside the install folder.
• Results are JSON. A failed call carries isError and an error message. A long listing says truncated and accepts offset and limit.
• Long operations (run_project, wait_for_project, export_data_csv, wait_for_files) wait on the server in steps of up to 300 seconds, so your client never has to poll in a loop.
• Python runs on the Python 3.13 runtime bundled with the application, with numpy, pandas and matplotlib. Each run_python call gets a fresh output folder in user/mcp-work/analyses/ (environment variable SQX_OUT_DIR); inline scripts are kept in user/mcp-work/scripts/.
• Undo: write_file and edit_file keep a snapshot of the previous content; restore_file puts it back. get_operation_log lists what was already done.
• get_ui_context asks the open application window what the user is looking at. It times out when no window is open.

Who can connect

The tools write files and start runs, so by default the server accepts connections from your own computer only. Connections from other machines follow the Remote access setting (Settings > Remote access...).

execute_shell runs with your full user permissions and is not limited to the install folder. Every call is logged; review get_operation_log if you are unsure what a client did.

What MCP does not expose

Your own AI plugins in user/extend/AIPlugins/ and your own ext_* snippet tools stay reachable.

The other direction: Q uses other MCP servers

Q, the assistant built into SQX and QDM, can also use the tools of other MCP servers, such as MetaTrader 5's built-in MCP server, a server on your computer or a remote data service. Add one with the /mcp command in the Q chat. The last section of the MCP Server dialog points to this as well.

Details and the MetaTrader 5 setup are in docs/sqai/external-mcp.md in the application folder.

Be sure to check out our video tutorial for more details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqtKGyeio50