steam-client

Steam for Node.js

This is a fork of node-steam's SteamClient. Essentially it's node-steam without the handler modules and with some more features. It should be compatible with all node-steam handler modules, as long as the underlying Steam protocol doesn't change without a third-party module's knowledge.

This exists because of how painfully slow it is to get new things implemented into node-steam, and also because of incompatibilities that can potentially arise between node-steam and third-party handler modules.

Protocol version bumps will always be major module releases. You're highly recommended to pin the major version in your dependencies (e.g. "steam-client": "^1.0.0").

Requires Node.js v4.1.1 or later.

Installation

$ npm install steam-client

Usage

First, require this module.

var Steam = require('steam-client');

Steam is now a namespace object containing:

• CMClient class
• servers property
• Enums

Then you'll want to create an instance of CMClient and any handlers you need (externally), call SteamClient#connect and assign event listeners. Some handlers, such as node-steam-user do this automatically for you.

var steamClient = new Steam.CMClient();
steamClient.connect();
steamClient.on('connected', function() {
    steamClient.logOn({
        "account_name": "username",
        "password": "password"
    });
});
 
steamClient.on('logOnResponse', function(details) { /* ... */});

Constructor

The constructor takes one argument: the protocol to use to connect to Steam. This should be a value from EConnectionProtocol. Default is TCP. UDP support is experimental. There are some pros and cons to each:

• TCP
  • Pro: Operating system manages the connection, so you will automatically disconnect if your app crashes or is killed
  • Con: Less fine control over the connection. It's up to the OS to detect poor network conditions and kill the connection
• UDP
  • Pro: Finer control over the connection. Able to tear down a broken connection faster in cases where the OS wouldn't detect it
  • Pro: Gives you access to the server load of the CM you connected to
  • Con: If your app crashes or is killed without properly logging off or disconnecting, your session will remain active for a minute while Steam waits for it to timeout
  • Con: Currently support for UDP connections in CMClient is experimental
• WebSocket
  • Pro: More secure crypto. Uses TLSv1.2 instead of Valve's proprietary crypto, which has been broken (and fixed) in the past
  • Pro: Runs over TCP, so all the benefits of TCP
  • Pro: CMClient's implementation of Valve's WebSocket protocol sends ping frames to the CM every 30 seconds, which the CM responds to, allowing for faster detection of dropped connections
  • Pro: Runs over port 443, allowing access through nearly all firewalls
  • Con: Currently support for WebSocket connections in CMClient is in beta

Note that UDP connections use Valve-brand UDP, which is essentially TCP over UDP. Consequently, network unreliability is not a concern when using UDP.

Example:

var Steam = require('steam-client');
var client = new Steam.CMClient(Steam.EConnectionProtocol.TCP);

Servers

Steam.servers contains the list of CM servers that CMClient will attempt to connect to. The bootstrapped list is not always up-to-date and might contain dead servers. To avoid timeouts, replace it with your own list before logging in if you have one (see 'servers' event).

SteamID

Since JavaScript's Number type does not have enough precision to store 64-bit integers, SteamIDs are represented as decimal strings. (Just wrap the number in quotes)

Enums

Whenever a method accepts (or an event provides) an ESomething, it's a Number that represents some enum value. See enums.steamd and eresult.steamd for the whole list of them. For each enum, there is an equivalently named property on Steam. The property is an object; for each of the enum's members, there is an equivalently named property on the object with an equivalent value.

Note that you can't easily get the string value from the number, but you probably don't need to. You can still use them in conditions (e.g. if (type == Steam.EChatEntryType.Emote) ...) or switch statements.

Protobufs

Whenever a method accepts (or an event provides) a CMsgSomething, it's an object that represents a protobuf message. It has an equivalently named property for each set field in the specified message with the type as follows:

• (u)int32 and fixed32 fields: Number
• uint64, fixed64 and string fields: String
• bytes fields: Buffer objects
• bool fields: Boolean

See the node-steam wiki for descriptions of protobuf fields.

Handlers

Most of the API is provided by handler classes that internally send and receive low-level client messages using 'message'/send.

This module has no handlers built-in. You may use handlers from node-steam, or you may alternatively use standalone handlers (such as node-steam-user).

CMClient

Properties

connected

A boolean that indicates whether you are currently connected and the encryption handshake is complete. 'connected' is emitted when it changes to true, and 'error' is emitted when it changes to false unless you called disconnect. Sending any client messages is only allowed while this is true.

loggedOn

A boolean that indicates whether you are currently logged on. Calling any handler methods except for methods to log on is only allowed while logged on.

steamID

Your own SteamID while logged on, otherwise unspecified. Must be set to a valid initial value before sending a logon message.

remoteAddress

v2.1.0 or later is required to use this property

If we've initiated a connection previously, a string containing "ipv4:port" for the server we're connecting/connected to. Also contains the address of the last host we were connected to if we're currently disconnected.

Methods

bind([localAddress][, localPort])

• localAddress - The local IP address you want to use for the outgoing connection
• localPort - The local port you want to use for the outgoing connection

Override the address and/or port that will be used for the outgoing connection. Takes effect the next time you connect.

setHttpProxy(proxyUrl)

• proxyUrl - A string containing the URL of your HTTP proxy

If you want to connect via an HTTP proxy, set the proxy URL using this method before connecting. HTTPS proxies are not supported at this time. Example: http://user:pass@1.2.3.4:8080

connect([server][, autoRetry])

• server - If you want to connect to a specific CM server, provide an object here containing host and port properties. Default is a random value from the servers property.
• autoRetry - true if you want to automatically retry connection until successful, or false if you want an error event if connection fails. Default true.

Connects to Steam. It will keep trying to reconnect (provided autoRetry is not false) until encryption handshake is complete (see 'connected'), unless you cancel it with disconnect.

You can call this method at any time. If you are already connected, disconnects you first. If there is an ongoing connection attempt, cancels it.

disconnect()

Immediately terminates the connection and prevents any events (including 'error') from being emitted until you connect again. If you are already disconnected, does nothing. If there is an ongoing connection attempt, cancels it.

logOn(details)

• details - An object containing your logon parameters

Send a logon message to the CM. You must first be connected and set steamID to a valid initial value. You will receive the response in the logOnResponse event.

send(header, body, callback)

• header - An object containing the message header. It has the following properties:
  • msg - A value from EMsg
  • proto - A CMsgProtoBufHeader object if this message is protobuf-backed, otherwise header.proto is falsy. The following fields are reserved for internal use and shall be ignored: steamid, client_sessionid, jobid_source, jobid_target. (Note: pass an empty object if you don't need to set any fields)
• body - A Buffer or ByteBuffer containing the rest of the message
• callback (optional) - if not falsy, then this message is a request, and callback shall be called with any response to it instead of 'message'/send. callback has the same arguments as 'message'/send.

Events

error

• err - An Error object. May contain an eresult property.

Connection closed by the server. Only emitted if the encryption handshake is complete, otherwise it will reconnect automatically (unless you disabled autoRetry). loggedOn is now false.

connected

• serverLoad - The load value of the CM server you're connected to. Only available if you're connecting using UDP. It's unclear at this time what scale this value uses.

Encryption handshake complete. From now on, it's your responsibility to handle disconnections and reconnect (see error). You'll likely want to log on now.

logOnResponse

• response - An object with the properties in CMsgClientLogonResponse

Logon response received. If eresult is EResult.OK, loggedOn is now true.

servers

• servers - An array containing the up-to-date server list

CMClient will use this new list when reconnecting, but it will be lost when your application restarts. You might want to save it to a file or a database and assign it to Steam.servers before logging in next time.

Note that Steam.servers will be automatically updated after this event is emitted. This will be useful if you want to compare the old list with the new one for some reason - otherwise it shouldn't matter.

loggedOff

• eresult - A value from EResult

You were logged off from Steam. loggedOn is now false.

message

• header - An object containing the message header
• body - A Buffer containing the rest of the message
• callback - If set, then this message is a request and Steam expects a response back from you. To respond, call this callback instead of using send().

Emitted when you receive a message from the CM.