Data and Data Providers
Which data sources are available?
V5 has seventeen provider packages, covering U.S. and international statistical agencies, central banks, regulators, and several exchanges. Each installs its own namespace, such as obb.fred, obb.sec, or obb.cboe. The providers page lists every package with its namespace and credentials, and the API reference documents every command.
If the data you need is not covered, send a feature request describing the use case.
Where did obb.equity, obb.economy, and the other shared namespaces go?
V5 provider packages do not feed shared asset-class routers. Every command lives in the namespace of the provider package that serves it, so equity price history from Cboe is obb.cboe.equity.historical and from Nasdaq is obb.nasdaq.equity.historical. Code written for V4 needs to move to the provider namespaces; the migration guide lists the changes.
What happened to yfinance, FMP, Intrinio, and the other V4 providers?
They were removed from V5: openbb-alpha-vantage, openbb-benzinga, openbb-biztoc, openbb-econdb, openbb-finviz, openbb-fmp, openbb-intrinio, openbb-multpl, openbb-seeking-alpha, openbb-stockgrid, openbb-tiingo, openbb-tradier, openbb-tradingeconomics, openbb-wsj, and openbb-yfinance. Their last releases require openbb-core 1.x and cannot be installed with V5. openbb-congress-gov was merged into openbb-government-us, whose Congress data is under obb.uscongress.
Which providers need an API key?
Only FRED and the EIA require one: set fred_api_key and eia_api_key. Three others take an optional credential. bls_api_key raises the BLS API's per-request limits, cftc_app_token avoids throttling on Commitments of Traders requests, and congress_gov_api_key is needed only for Congresses before the 108th. Every other provider is keyless.
from openbb import obb
obb.user.credentials.fred_api_key = "REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_KEY"
The credentials page covers storing keys between sessions.
A namespace or command is missing from obb.
Namespaces and commands come from the installed packages. If openbb-technical is not installed, obb.technical does not exist; if openbb-cboe is not installed, neither does obb.cboe. Install the package by name, then rebuild the Python client:
pip install openbb-cboe
openbb-build
Importing openbb also rebuilds automatically when it detects that extensions were added or removed, but an already running Python session must be restarted to pick up the change.
To see what the environment serves, list the installed providers and their commands:
from openbb import obb
obb.coverage.providers
A few commands depend on a second package. obb.news.company, for example, appears only when openbb-news and at least one of openbb-nasdaq or openbb-tmx are installed.
Why doesn't the returned data match the start and end dates I requested?
A provider returns what its source publishes. The source may not have data for the whole period, may publish with a delay, or may limit how far back a given interval goes. For example, obb.cboe.equity.historical(symbol="SPY", interval="1m") returns one-minute bars for the most recent trading day only.
If a result looks wrong for a technical reason, search the GitHub issues and open one if it is not already reported. Include the command, its parameters, the installed package versions, and the full error message.
How do I get data for listings outside the U.S.?
Coverage depends on the provider. openbb-tmx serves Canadian listings under obb.tmx, and openbb-nasdaq serves Nasdaq Nordic and Baltic markets under obb.nasdaq.nordic. Symbol conventions differ by source, so look a symbol up with the provider's own search before requesting data:
from openbb import obb
obb.tmx.equity.search(query="royal bank")
obb.tmx.equity.historical(symbol="RY", start_date="2024-01-01")
How can I request a data provider or function?
Please request a feature and describe your use case.
Can I contribute my own data provider extension?
Yes. A provider is a Python package that registers a Provider and a router through entry points. The provider extension guide covers the structure, and the developer quickstart walks through a first package.
Can my company become a data partner?
Yes. Visit the data vendors page and fill out the form.