Steam MCP Server

A feature-rich Model Context Protocol server that gives AI assistants full access to your Steam game library. Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows. 14 consolidated tools covering 66 actions — most work from local files with no API key needed. Optional Steam Web API key unlocks online data like achievements, friends, and full library access.

Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any MCP-compatible client.

What can it do?

Ask your AI assistant things like:

• "What games do I have installed?"

• "Search for ck3" → finds Crusader Kings III via abbreviation matching

• "How much disk space is Steam using?" → full breakdown by game

• "Find orphaned data I can clean up" → identifies leftover compatdata/shadercache

• "What Proton version should I use for this game?"

• "Install Hollow Knight" → looks up the appid and tells Steam to install it

• "Pick a random game for me to play"

• "Show my full play history" → all-time playtime across your entire library

• "Import my Lutris games as Steam shortcuts"

• "Show my achievements for Hades" → unlock status, completion %, global stats

• "Who's online right now?" → friends list with online status and current games

• "What's on my wishlist?"

• "Show me reviews for Elden Ring"

• "How long to beat Hollow Knight?"

Related MCP server: FoundryVTT MCP Server

Installation

npm (recommended)

npx @praeses/steam-mcp

No install needed — just add it to your MCP client config (see below).

Global install

npm install -g @praeses/steam-mcp

Then use steam-mcp as the command instead of npx @praeses/steam-mcp.

Configure with Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "steam": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@praeses/steam-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "STEAM_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure with Claude Code

Add a .mcp.json in your project root, or add to ~/.claude.json for system-wide access:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "steam": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@praeses/steam-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "STEAM_API_KEY": "your-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note: The STEAM_API_KEY is optional. Most tools work without it. Only a few actions (achievements, friends, owned games, wishlist, profile) require it. Get your key at steamcommunity.com/dev/apikey.

Category filtering

To reduce context window usage further, enable only specific tool categories via the STEAM_TOOLS env var:

{
  "env": {
    "STEAM_TOOLS": "core,manage,compat"
  }
}

Available categories and their tools:

When unset, all categories are enabled (14 tools, ~3,200 tokens of context).

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+

• Steam installed in the default location:

  • Linux: ~/.local/share/Steam/

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/

  • Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\

Proton/Wine tools (compatibility tracking, prefix inspection, crash logs) are Linux-only. All other tools work cross-platform.

Tools

Each tool uses an action parameter to select the operation. 14 tools cover 66 actions total.

games — Game discovery and browsing

library — Library folders and stats

steam_status — Steam client status

proton — Proton/Wine compatibility (Linux)

storage — Disk management

game_control — Game actions

game_config — Configuration and tweaks

player — Player data (most actions require API key)

workshop — Steam Workshop

shortcuts — Non-Steam game shortcuts

deals — Pricing and wishlist

insights — Analytics and history

game_info — Game content and metadata

diagnostics — Log parsing

Key Highlights

• Minimal context footprint — 14 tools, ~3,200 tokens (down from 66 tools / ~8,000 tokens in v1)

• Cross-platform — Linux, macOS, and Windows (Proton tools are Linux-only)

• No API key needed for most actions — reads directly from Steam's local files

• Smart search — "ck3" finds "Crusader Kings III", "ror2" finds "Risk of Rain 2"

• Full play history — playtime for every game you've ever played, not just installed ones

• Storage analysis — shows exactly where disk space goes (installs + compatdata + shadercache + workshop)

• Orphan detection — finds GBs of leftover data from uninstalled games

• Multi-library — supports multiple Steam library folders including external drives

• Category filtering — enable only the tool groups you need via STEAM_TOOLS env var

• Custom VDF parsers — both text and binary formats, no external dependencies

Development

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/Praeses0/steam-mcp.git
cd steam-mcp
npm install
npm run build

Commands

npm run dev      # Run with tsx (auto-reload)
npm run build    # Compile TypeScript
npm test         # Run tests

Architecture

src/
├── index.ts                 # Server entry, category-based tool registration
├── vdf/
│   ├── parser.ts            # Text VDF recursive descent parser + serializer
│   ├── binary-parser.ts     # Binary VDF parser (shortcuts.vdf)
│   ├── binary-writer.ts     # Binary VDF writer (shortcut management)
│   └── types.ts             # VdfValue, VdfObject types
├── steam/
│   ├── paths.ts             # Cross-platform Steam dir resolution, user detection
│   ├── manifests.ts         # App manifest reading with mtime caching
│   ├── library.ts           # Library folder operations + disk info
│   ├── userdata.ts          # localconfig.vdf read/write
│   ├── compat.ts            # Proton/Wine compatibility tracking
│   ├── workshop.ts          # Workshop manifest reading
│   ├── shortcuts.ts         # Binary shortcuts.vdf read/write
│   ├── api.ts               # Steam Web API client
│   ├── api-types.ts         # Shared API response types
│   ├── wishlist.ts          # Wishlist data fetching
│   ├── logs.ts              # Steam log parsing
│   └── types.ts             # Domain types
├── tools/                   # 14 consolidated MCP tools (one file per tool)
└── util/
    ├── format.ts            # formatBytes, formatPlaytime, formatTimestamp
    ├── cache.ts             # FileCache<T> with mtime invalidation
    └── fs.ts                # Shared filesystem utilities

License

MIT