Steam browser protocol

There are numerous system-wide commands available that interact with Steam. All of them open up Steam if it is not open. They can either be typed into a command box (Start-> Run) or through your browser's address bar (you can normally create links to them as you would web page links). Use a Steam Application ID in place of <id> (i.e. 211 for the Source SDK).

Implemented commands

steam:"<commands>"

Opens Steam with command line arguments, which can be found here.

Note:If you forget the closing quote on a steam:"<command>", you will get an assertion failed error from Steam.exe/BootStrapperApp.cpp.

steam://advertise/<id>

Opens up the store for an application.

steam://ackMessage/ackGuestPass/<pass>

Accepts the Gift or Guest Pass.

steam://appnews/<id>

Opens up the news page for an app.

steam://backup/<id>

Opens up the Backup Wizard and checks the specified application. If an application is not specified then nothing will be checked.

steam://connect/<IP or DNS name>[:<port>][/<password>]

Connects the user to the server specified by the IP or DNS name. You don't have to specify anything for connecting a third party mod server, it will be automaticly detected.

• Example: steam://connect/1.0.0.27:27015
• Example: steam://connect/dns.server.com

steam://defrag/<id>

Defragments files of the application.

steam://friends/

Opens Friends. These sub-commands are accepted:

add/<id>

Adds user with specified id number

friends/<id>

Shows list of users with whom you recently played

joinchat/<id>

Joins a chat with a specified id number

message/<id>

Send a message

steam://guestpasses/

Opens up the Guest Passes window

steam://hardwarepromo/

Tests whether the user has hardware that matches a promotional offer.

• Example: steam://hardwarepromo/305 (ATi)
• Example: steam://hardwarepromo/609 (nVidia)

steam://install/<id>

Installs an application.

• Example: steam://install/8230 installs Sam & Max: Episode 4.

steam://installaddon/<addon>

Installs the specified add-on.

• Example: steam://installaddon/halflifehd installs HL High-Def Pack.

steam://open/<component>

Opens a Steam window. Known <component> values:

friends

games

main

Your "favorite window".

mymedia

news

registerproduct

CD key registration (e.g Prey)

tools

servers

settings

steam://openurl/<url>

Opens URL in the system's default web browser.

steam://paypal/cancel

Cancels an ongoing PayPal transaction.

steam://preload/<id>

Preloads an application.

steam://publisher/<name>

Loads the specified publisher catalogue in the Store. Type the publisher's name in lowercase, e.g. activision or valve.

Bug:Somehow broken.  [todo tested in ?]

steam://purchase/<id>

Opens a dialog box to buy an application from Steam.

steam://purchase/subscription/<id>

Opens up a dialog box to buy a subscription to a Steam product/service. None are available yet.

steam://removeaddon/<addon>

Uninstalls the specified add-on.

• Example: steam://removeaddon/halflifehd uninstalls HL High-Def Pack

steam://run/<id>

Runs an application. It will be installed if necessary.

steam://runsafe/<id>

Resets CVARs of a Source game.

steam://rungameid/<id>

Same as run, but with support for mods and non-Steam shortcuts.

steam://settings/

Same as steam://open/settings, but also allows for subcommands for each page:

account

friends

interface

ingame

downloads

voice

steam://store/<id>

Opens up the store for an app, if no app is specified then the default one is opened.

steam://support/<params>

Launches the Steam Support utility, running all tests. Enter valid support string to filter results.

steam://uninstall/<id>

Deletes the specified apps' cache files.

steam://updatenews/<id>

Opens the news about the latest updates for an app.

steam://url/<named page>

Opens a special, named web pages:

ChatBanListAdmin/...

DownloadsSupportInfo

GroupEventsPage/<id>

GroupSteamIDPage/<id>

GroupSteamIDAdmin/<id>

LeaveGroupPage

SteamIDControlPage

SteamIDEditPage

SteamIDLoginPage/<pass>

Opens the internal auto-sign in page. Won't work unless the correct one-time password is included.

SteamIDPage/<id></nowiki>

StoreFrontPage

Opens store homepage in Steam store tab.

SupportFrontPage

Opens support.steampowered.com in your default browser

steam://validate/<id>

Validates the local files of an app.

Suggested commands

The following commands are community suggestions and are not presently featured in Steam:

Connect protocol

• steam://connect/<IP or DNS name>[:port]/'command1 "arg1" "arg2";command2 "arg1";password "blah";etc..'
  • Connects to the specified server after executing the specified commands --ts2do
  • An alternate syntax which makes more sense if you're familiar with HTTP URL syntax: steam://connect/<IP or DNS name>[:port]/?cvar1=value&cvar2=value&password=blah&etc.. --The MAZZTer 21:03, 31 Jul 2008 (PDT)
  • A similar syntax could be: steam://connect/?ip=<ip>:<port>&password=<password>&hltv=<true/false>&gamedetails=<true/false>&cvars="<cvar1> <value>;<cvar2> <value>;" where gamedetails refers to Server Info (similar to proposed protocol below); and all data under cvars is automatically compiled into a one-time .cfg file. -- JRod 17:13, 22 Nov 2008 (PST)
• steam://open/bandwidth
  • Opens the bandwidth monitor panel, which is currently rather buried and unreachable without opening another window. Considering the potential impact of large downloads it'd be nice if it was easier to see what was happening. Case in point: here in Australia you can quickly run up hundreds, even thousands of dollars if you don't consider your quotas and peak/off-peak download periods and excess download fees. --Gth 02:05, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Overlay Browser

• steam://overlay/<Website or Arguments From Steam://url>
  • Opens the overlay ingame with the specified parameter, helpful for opening steam groups ingame so players can join. --DontWannaName
    • Second this request, would be great for creating communities for/in L4D Captain-p0t-n00dle 10:02, 10 May 2009 (UTC)
    • Great suggestion. Would love to see that available. Holek 13:16, 16 March 2010 (UTC)

Other

• steam://server/<IP:PORT> <ADD | Delete>
  • Allows for making links to add said server to favorites.- Jay7981

• steam://runadv/<AppID> <parameters>
  • Runs an app allowing you to specify advanced parameters like -windowed. -ultradude25
• steam://vdc/<page title>
  • Open title page on the VDC. -- AiusEpsi and ts2do
    • Why would this be useful? We already have steam://openurl/<url>. -- WildCat
      • Saves us from having to type http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/ for everything. We're not completely obsessed, we don't use steam:// to open hypertext pages --Alph Tech STUART 17:13, 9 Jun 2006 (PDT).
• steam://gameinfo/<IP or DNS name>[:port]
  • Opens the "Game Info" dialog for the specified server. Maybe also integrated into the server browser, so you don't have to add a server to the favorites to have access to that window. --Koraktor
    • Appreciated -Rotzi
• steam://runsingle/<AppID>
  • Runs an app, then shuts down Steam once the game closes. -- AiusEpsi
    • This is stupid. All Source games needs Steam open in order to do anything concerning gcf files, which is the game itself.--Sortie 23:53, 5 Apr 2007 (PDT)
      • It shuts down Steam AFTER the game is ran and closed! Leopard84
• steam://forceupdate/<AppID>
  • Forces update (if autoupdate fails) of all files (including all linked .gcf) for defined AppID. -- Dwarden
    • I don't get the point. Useless in my point of view. -Rotzi
      • Restarting Steam would be simpler, and have the same effect. --TomEdwards 08:23, 13 Sep 2006 (PDT)
        • I'm afraid it's not that simple, see my post here. -- Dwarden
          • Yea, my steam REFUSES to update ANYTHING, even after re-installing it. A force update would be nice. --PanFrie 04:50, 1 Feb 2008 (EST)
• steam://friends/message/<id OR username>
  • This would update the /friends/message/ command to allow users to more easily add their IM links to their webpages (i.e. social networking sites). It just seems a little odd that you have to know your numerical steam ID in order to use this command. The /friends/add/ command could also include this functionality.

• steam://checkbuild/<AppID>
  • Compares actual local build of AppID with latest version available at Steam servers for defined AppID.

Results displayed in way: '<AppID> - <ActualLocalBuild>:<LatestBuildAtSteamServers> and if they don't match, it offers user dialog to force update to latest build.