SDK Installation
The Source SDK is freely available to all Steam users. It is used to develop mods and content for the Source 2006, Source 2007 and Source 2013 engine branches.
Valve games since 2008 onward started to have their own SDK or Authoring Tools, and are engine versions that have no source code available to the public:
Left 4 Dead Authoring Tools
Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring Tools
Alien Swarm SDK (free to all)![[Portal 2]](/w/images/7/77/Portal2-16px.png)
Portal 2 Authoring Tools
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Authoring Tools
SteamPipe migration and abandonment of the Source SDK app
Valve in 2013 changed how authoring tools were distributed for Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike Source, Day of Defeat: Source, and Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.
Previously these tools were distributed together under the "Source SDK" tool, which resided in a totally different folder from the games. Valve moved towards a model more similar to L4D and CS:GO. The SDK tools are currently shipped with the game by default. Note that the tools are only available for Windows.
The tools are located in the respective bin folder for the game (e.g: [steam]/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/bin) and are meant to be launched from the following batch files:
- hammer.bat
- faceposer.bat
- hlmv.bat
- stdudiomdl.bat
- vtex.bat
Note: If the tools do not launch, check the environment variables on your computer and change VProject to the directory where gameinfo.txt residesInstallation of source code and launcher
The following instructions are appropriate if you need to download Source code. If you only need the authoring tools, they probably do not apply to you.
Source 2013
See: Source SDK 2013.
Legacy branches
Click here to install the Source SDK For future reference, or if that doesn't work:
- Open the Steam window.
- Go to the Library.
- Change the list to Tools.
- Find and double-click on the Source SDK item.
- Read over the dialog box and click Download and Install / Next to continue
- The Source SDK will then be downloaded to your computer via Steam.
Running
Once Steam has finished downloading you can launch the SDK from the Tools tab. You can also create a desktop shortcut by right-clicking on the SDK in the Tools tab and clicking Create desktop shortcut from the context menu that appears.
When you first run the SDK it will spend a long time extracting its downloaded archive to loose files on your disk. This will not happen again until the SDK is next updated.
After that, you will be able to select a game and run any of the tools provided by the launcher. However, you will run into problems unless the game you want to work with is fully up to date. You can make sure it is by launching the game and quitting once you get to the main menu.
Where do I go from here?
If you want to learn about how to create content for the Source Engine in general, the main page of the Source SDK documentation is a good place to start.
Bugs and Issues
- Read the Source SDK Release Notes for information about the latest SDK release.
- See the Source SDK FAQ for answers to general SDK questions.
- For level design and Hammer editor issues, see the Level Design FAQ.
