# Set up the IBKR scanner

> Turn on Scalpel's IBKR scanner: switch a desk to SCAN, set price, change, volume and share filters, and know how many market data lines the list uses.

Source: https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-ibkr-scanner
Guide 8.1, Scanner. Beginner, 10 min read.
Checked with Scalpel 1.12.8 on 2026-10-15. By Scalpel Team.

**In short:**

Scalpel's scanner is Interactive Brokers' own market scanner, run over your TWS connection, so there is no separate scanner service or data feed to pay for. Click **TRADER** in a desk's header to turn it into a scan desk, then set the filters in **Settings > Connection > IBKR scanner**. Out of the box it lists up to 30 US stocks between $0.10 and $100 that are up at least 10% on the day, pre-market included, and each listed name uses one IBKR market data line.

Scalpel is built for one job: long-only momentum scalping of US small caps, pre-market first. The scanner is where that starts, and it uses only what you already have through Interactive Brokers, plus free public data from the SEC and FINRA for share counts and short interest.

Every scan panel in Scalpel works from one list: the IBKR scanner's. High of day momentum, Running up and Setups all watch the names on it, so once this list is right, the other scans fill in on their own. This guide turns a desk into a scan desk, walks through every filter, explains how the list is built, maps it to the classic momentum checklist, and covers the two limits worth knowing before the open: market data lines and the 40-symbol intel cap.

**Before you start:**

- Scalpel connected to TWS or IB Gateway ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)).
- Real-time US stock data on your IBKR account ([guide 1.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/ibkr-market-data-for-day-trading)). The panel's prices come from your own quotes, so delayed data means delayed rows.
- Optional but worth it: an SEC contact email, for share counts, market caps and the intel chips ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)).

## How the IBKR scanner builds its list

Five IBKR scans run side by side, all with the same filters:

| Scan | What it catches |
|---|---|
| Top gainers | The biggest percent gain against yesterday's close, pre-market included |
| 3 minute volume spikes | Volume running far above its usual pace. A name starting to move often shows here first |
| Halted | Movers in a trading pause, such as a volatility halt |
| Hot by volume | The heaviest trading |
| Gappers | The biggest gap from yesterday's close to today's open. Empty until 09:30 ET |

Scalpel merges them into one list: every scan's number one first, then every scan's number two, and so on, so the top name of any scan gets in at once, whichever scan found it. A stock on two scans keeps its better place. A name that drops off every scan keeps its slot for 3 minutes while there is room, so a stock flickering at the edge of a scan does not churn in and out.

IBKR reruns its scans about every 30 seconds and sends back symbols only. Everything else on the panel (price, change, relative volume, the ranking) comes from live IBKR quotes, tick by tick, so the panel keeps moving between IBKR's refreshes. Only major US exchanges are scanned: no OTC stocks.

**Note.**

IBKR allows ten scanner subscriptions at a time through the API, with up to 50 rows each. Scalpel uses five. If other software on the same login runs API scanners too, they share that allowance.

## Set up the scanner

### 1. Turn a desk into a scan desk

In the header of the desk you want to scan with, click **TRADER** (1). It changes to **SCAN** (2) and the desk fills with three scan panels: **IBKR scanner** on top, then **High of day momentum** and **Running up**.

*Screenshot: The desk header before and after: click TRADER (1) and the desk becomes a scan desk reading SCAN (2), with the hint and the Add panel and Hide buttons on the right. Demo data.*

Switching to SCAN unloads that desk's symbol and frees its market data line. A desk holding a position cannot switch: you get **D1 holds a position: close it before switching it to SCAN**, because a position on no desk would have its stop unwatched. Use a desk with no position, or close the trade first. Click **SCAN** to switch back: the desk reloads the symbol it had. Scalpel remembers each desk's mode, so the scan desk is still there tomorrow.

**Tip.**

On one screen, three trader desks and one scan desk is a good start. With a second monitor, give the scan desk its own screen and widen it: the INTEL column shows more chips the wider the panel. See [guide 2.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/multi-monitor-setup).

### 2. Check the scanner is switched on

Open **Settings** (`Ctrl`+`,`) and stay on the **Connection** tab. Under **IBKR scanner (market scans over TWS)**, **Enabled** is ticked by default.

*Screenshot: Settings, Connection: the IBKR scanner block, outlined, at its defaults.*

### 3. Set the price band

**Price min** and **Price max** are in dollars: 0.1 and 100 by default, so sub-dollar runners count. If you only trade $2 to $20 stocks, set 2 and 20. The list then spends its slots on names you would actually trade instead of on $0.40 tickers you would never touch.

### 4. Set the minimum move

**Min change %** is the percent the stock must be up on the day, against yesterday's close, pre-market included. The default is 10. The scans are long only: they look for gainers, never for stocks falling. On a slow day, 5 widens the net; on a hot day, 20 keeps the list to the real runners.

### 5. Choose the list size

**List size** is how many names the merged list holds: 30 by default, from 1 to 100. Each name takes one IBKR market data line for as long as it is listed, so size the list to your lines (more on that below).

### 6. Add the optional filters

These are off by default:

- **Min volume**: shares traded today, pre-market included, as a plain number (500000, not 500K). It drops stocks showing a big percent move on a few hundred shares. Leave it empty for no limit.
- **Max shares out (M)**: a cap on shares outstanding, in millions, so 20 means under 20 million shares. IBKR does not allow float as an API scan filter, so this is the closest cap there is. Leave it empty unless you need it: names IBKR has no share count for are dropped, and those are often the fresh small caps that run.
- **Stocks only (no ETFs)**: on by default. Leveraged single-stock ETFs move with their underlying and would double up the list. ADRs stay in, since many small-cap runners are ADRs.

### 7. Apply and read the panel

Click **Apply**. The filters apply live, with no restart: the scans resubscribe and the list rebuilds within seconds. The **IBKR scanner** panel shows the list ranked by change, biggest first.

*Screenshot: The IBKR scanner panel: the rank and how far it moved (1), the symbol with its HALT tag and new-name dot (2), the intel chips (3), the squeeze score (4), shares out and short interest (5), and the squares that load a row onto a desk (6). Demo data.*

## Read the IBKR scanner panel

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **RANK** | The name's place by change. A green +2 means it climbed two places since the last update; a red -1 means it slipped one |
| **SYM** | The symbol, a red **HALT** tag while it is halted, and a pulsing red dot for 30 seconds after it first appears |
| **PRICE**, **CHG%** | Last price and percent change against yesterday's close, pre-market included |
| **VWAP** | A yellow dot while the price is above the session [VWAP](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#vwap). Blank below it |
| **INTEL** | Up to three chips: dilution, the news catalyst and borrow ([guide 9.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/intel-chips)) |
| **SQZ** | The squeeze score, 0 to 100, on a violet cell that glows brighter as it rises ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) |
| **RVOL** | [Relative volume](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/glossary#relative-volume): today's volume against IBKR's 90-day average daily volume |
| **SHS OUT** | Shares outstanding, from SEC filings |
| **SHORT** | FINRA short interest as a percent of shares out, then days to cover, for example 18% 3.4d |
| **MKT CAP** | Price x shares outstanding |
| **VOL** | Shares traded today |
| **DESK** | One small square per open trader desk, in the desk's colour |

A dash means Scalpel does not know the value yet. SHS OUT, MKT CAP and the SHORT percent need the SEC contact email ([guide 9.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/set-up-intel)).

Click a row to load the stock onto a trader desk: an empty one first, otherwise one with no open position. If the stock is already on a desk, that desk takes focus instead. To pick the desk yourself, click its square on the row. Click a column header to sort by it, biggest first; click again to flip the order. [Guide 8.5](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/scanner-panels) covers the rest of the panel's controls.

When a new name joins the list, the panel's bell rings and a toast reads, for example, **New on IBKR scanner: TUVW +41%**. Names already on the list when the scanner starts, or reconnects, stay quiet, so opening Scalpel at 09:45 does not set off thirty alerts.

## The momentum checklist, mapped to Scalpel

Scalpel's scanning is inspired by the small-cap momentum style taught by Ross Cameron of Warrior Trading. His publicly known stock selection criteria are five: a price of roughly $2 to $20, up 10% or more on the day, at least 5 times normal volume, a news catalyst, and a low float. Here is where each one lives in Scalpel:

| Criterion | Where Scalpel checks it |
|---|---|
| Price roughly $2 to $20 | **Price min** and **Price max** on the IBKR scanner (set 2 and 20), or Running up's own $2 to $20 default |
| Up 10% or more | **Min change %**, 10 by default, and the **CHG%** column |
| 5x relative volume | The **RVOL** column, and Running up's **Min rel volume (x)** of 5 |
| A news catalyst | The catalyst chip in the **INTEL** column ([guide 9.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/catalyst-grading)), and **Require news catalyst** on Running up |
| Low float | The **SHS OUT** column, the float's stand-in, and **Max shares out (M)** ([guide 8.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/shares-out-short-interest-squeeze)) |

The scanner's defaults are deliberately wider than the checklist (from $0.10, any volume, any share count), so it surfaces everything that is moving and you narrow it down with your eyes and the columns. [Guide 14.6](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/momentum-method) covers the method as a whole. Scalpel is independent software, not affiliated with or endorsed by Ross Cameron or Warrior Trading.

**Note.**

A list of movers is not a list of trades. Small-cap momentum trading carries a significant risk of loss, it is very difficult, and many people who try it lose money. Practise in SIM first ([guide 6.1](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/paper-trading-sim)) and trade a small fixed risk with a daily loss limit.

## Market data lines and the 40-symbol intel limit

**Lines.** Every listed name holds one IBKR market data line, and your trader desks need their own. Most IBKR accounts start with 100 lines. A list of 30 plus four trader desks fits comfortably; a list of 100 leaves no room for anything else. The scanner runs whenever it is enabled, even with no scan desk open, because intel and the other scans read its list. If you never scan, untick **Enabled** to give the lines back.

**Intel.** Scalpel's intel (dilution, catalysts, borrow, shares out and short interest) follows at most 40 symbols at once: the stocks you hold first, then the symbols on your desks, then the IBKR scanner's list in IBKR's own order. With a list of 30 and four desks, everything is covered. With a list of 60, the bottom of the list gets no chips, no share count and a thinner squeeze score.

**Tip.**

A List size of 30 to 35 is the sweet spot for most traders: every name gets intel, and the lines stay well inside the default allowance.

## What can go wrong

Every scan panel says why it is empty:

*Screenshot: The two empty states: the scanner is switched off (with a button straight to Settings), and the scanner is waiting for TWS.*

- **"IBKR scanner is off".** The scanner is unticked. Click **Open settings**, tick **Enabled** under IBKR scanner, then **Apply**. See [the fix guide](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-scanner-off).
- **"Waiting for TWS".** Scalpel is not connected yet, or TWS has not answered the scanner. Check the footer reads IBKR Connected ([guide 1.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/connect-interactive-brokers)). Each part of Scalpel opens its own TWS connection, so make sure TWS allows enough API clients.
- **"No matches".** The scanner is running but nothing passes your filters. Early in the pre-market, or on a quiet day, 10% movers can be thin: lower **Min change %**, widen the price band, or clear **Max shares out (M)**.
- **Prices lag or rows stay blank.** Rows show only once a name has a live price, and the prices are your own IBKR quotes. With delayed data the panel is delayed too ([guide 13.4](https://scalpeltrade.com/guides/fix-delayed-data)).

## Questions

**Does Scalpel's scanner cost extra?**

No. It runs Interactive Brokers' own scanner over your TWS connection. The live prices on the panel use the IBKR market data you already pay for, one line per listed name.

**Can I scan by float?**

No. IBKR refuses float as an API scan filter. Max shares out (M) is the closest cap, and the SHS OUT column shows shares outstanding from SEC filings, which is never below the float.

**Does it work in the pre-market?**

Yes. Top gainers, volume spikes, halts and hot by volume all run from 04:00 ET, with change measured against yesterday's close. The gappers scan stays empty until the 09:30 open.

**Why is a stock I can see moving not on the list?**

It failed a filter (price band, min change, min volume, max shares out), it is an ETF, it trades OTC, or the list was full. Raise List size or loosen the filter that excludes it.

**How often does the list update?**

IBKR reruns its scans about every 30 seconds, and Scalpel merges the results every second. Prices, change and ranking on the panel update tick by tick from your quotes.

**Can different panels use different scanner filters?**

No. There is one IBKR scanner list, shared by every panel. Running up adds its own filters on top of that list; High of day momentum and Setups show every listed name that triggers.