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>] 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/
  • add/<id> - Adds user with specified id number
  • players - Shows list of users with whom you recently played
  • joinchat/<id> - Joins a chat with a specified id number
  • message/<id> -
• steam://guestpasses/ Opens up the Guest Passes window
• steam://hardwarepromo/ Executes hardware promo method.
  • Example: steam://hardwarepromo/305 gets the products for this offer.
  • Example: steam://hardwarepromo/609 gets the products for this offer.
• 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
  • mymedia
  • news
  • registerproduct - Allows registering of keys from different games (e.g Prey)
  • tools
  • servers
  • settings
• steam://openurl/<url> Opens URL in 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.
• 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 th