Open tickers in your trading app

When you click a ticker in Tapeboard, it can open in the trading app you already use. Web apps open in a new tab. Desktop apps need a small helper program called the Tapeboard Connector, which types the symbol into your app for you. It sends the ticker symbol and nothing else: no orders, no prices, no access to your broker account.

How to choose your trading app

1. Open Settings → Preferences and scroll to Open tickers in….
2. Pick your app: DAS, thinkorswim, TWS / IBKR, Webull, Lightspeed, TradingView, Fidelity, Robinhood or Other.
3. For Webull, TradingView and Fidelity, tickers open the app's web page by default. Click Use the … desktop app if you want the desktop app instead.
4. Robinhood opens its web page.

The scanner toolbar also has an Open in button that shows your choice and lets you change it.

How to install the connector (Windows and Linux)

1. Go to tapeboard.com/connector on the computer where your trading app runs.
2. Download the file for that computer and unzip it.
3. Double-click the program and leave its window open. There is nothing else to install.
4. On Windows, if you see Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.

How to install the connector (Mac)

1. Open the downloaded disk image and drag Tapeboard Connector onto Applications.
2. Right-click the app in Applications and choose Open, then Open again. On macOS 15 or newer, if there is no Open button, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.
3. When macOS asks for Accessibility, click Open System Settings and turn on Tapeboard Connector.
4. When macOS asks to let it control System Events, click Allow.
5. Click the connector's menu-bar icon, choose Quit, and open it again from Applications. Permissions… in its menu should now show two ticks.
6. Use Chrome, Edge, Brave or Firefox for tapeboard.com. Safari cannot reach apps on your Mac.

After updating the connector, macOS may drop its permissions. Open Permissions… from the menu-bar icon, turn the new entry on under Accessibility, then quit and reopen the connector.

How to test it

1. In Settings → Preferences → Open tickers in…, click Test connection. It should say Connected ✓. If it fails, it says what is wrong and how to fix it.
2. If your browser asks to let tapeboard.com access apps on this device, click Allow.
3. Open your trading app so its window is visible.
4. Click Send test symbol. SPY should appear in your app.

How to use it

1. Click any ticker in a scanner, watchlist, chart header or alert.
2. With Send scanner clicks to my trading app turned on (the default), the connector brings your app to the front and types the symbol.
3. If the connector is not running, Webull, TradingView and Fidelity open their web page instead. DAS, thinkorswim, TWS and Lightspeed need the connector.

Notes for each app

• DAS Trader Pro: keep one montage window visible. The symbol goes into the focused montage.
• TWS / Interactive Brokers: the symbol goes into the focused window's symbol field.
• Webull Desktop: click a chart in your layout once first. Webull applies the ticker to the active link group.
• Lightspeed Trader: the symbol goes into the symbol box.
• thinkorswim: click the chart's symbol box once. The connector replaces the old ticker and presses Enter.
• TradingView Desktop: the connector uses Symbol Search and takes the top match. An unusual ticker can match a listing outside the US.
• Fidelity Trader+ and Active Trader Pro: click the symbol box of a linked tool once first. This one has had less testing than the others.

On a phone

There is no connector on a phone and you do not need one. The Open in picker opens Robinhood on iPhone and Android, and Webull on Android, directly from the scanner.

Good to know

• The connector only listens on your own computer. Nothing on the internet can reach it.
• Only ticker symbols are typed. Letters, numbers and a few symbols such as dots and dashes are allowed, up to 12 characters.
• The setting is per device. Turning it on at your trading PC does not change your laptop.
• Tapeboard never sees your keystrokes, your windows or your broker session.

If something doesn't work

• No connector is running: start it from the download, then click Test connection again.
• It works in Chrome but not Safari: Safari blocks it. Use Chrome, Edge, Brave or Firefox.
• The connector did not answer in time: your browser is probably waiting on a permission prompt. Click Allow. If you blocked it earlier, click the icon left of the address bar, open site settings and allow apps on this device.
• Brave times out: click the lion icon and turn Shields off for tapeboard.com.
• The symbol went to the wrong window: keep only one window of that app visible, or click the app's symbol box once and try again.
• macOS blocked the keystroke: Accessibility or Automation is off. Repeat the Mac steps 3 to 5.
• Windows blocked the keystroke: your trading app runs as administrator. Start the connector the same way, with right-click then Run as administrator.
• The connector says it is already running: another copy is open. Use that one and close the new window. An early test copy may also sit at ~/Applications/Tapeboard Connector.app. Quit that one too.
• Anything else: email support@tapeboard.com.