Authentication Setup

Configure Steam session cookies for pricehistory endpoint

Overview

The pricehistory endpoint requires Steam session cookies to authenticate requests. This is the only endpoint that requires authentication - all other endpoints (priceoverview, itemordershistogram, itemordersactivity) work without authentication.

Without valid cookies, pricehistory requests will fail with HTTP 401/403 errors or return empty data.

Why Authentication is Required

Steam restricts access to historical price data to logged-in users only. The pricehistory endpoint returns years of hourly price and volume data, which Steam considers sensitive market information.

Required Cookies

You need to extract these cookies from your browser while logged into Steam:

sessionid · string · required

Your Steam session identifier. This is the primary authentication token.

Format: 32-character hexadecimal string

Example: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6

steamLoginSecure · string · required

Your Steam login secure token. Contains your Steam ID and authentication signature.

Format: {steamid64}||{auth_token}

Example: 76561198012345678||A1B2C3D4E5F6G7H8I9J0K1L2M3N4O5P6

browserid · string

Browser identifier (optional but recommended).

Format: Long numeric string

Example: 1234567890123456789

steamCountry · string

Steam country code (optional).

Format: {country_code}|{hash}

Example: US|a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Log into Steam

1. Open your web browser
2. Navigate to https://steamcommunity.com
3. Log in with your Steam account
4. Navigate to any market listing page to ensure you’re fully authenticated

Step 2: Extract Cookies

Chrome / Edge / Brave

1. Press F12 to open Developer Tools
2. Click the Application tab (or Storage in some browsers)
3. In the left sidebar, expand Cookies
4. Click on https://steamcommunity.com
5. Find and copy the values for:
   • sessionid
   • steamLoginSecure
   • browserid (optional)
   • steamCountry (optional)

Firefox

1. Press F12 to open Developer Tools
2. Click the Storage tab
3. In the left sidebar, expand Cookies
4. Click on https://steamcommunity.com
5. Find and copy the values for:
   • sessionid
   • steamLoginSecure
   • browserid (optional)
   • steamCountry (optional)

Safari

1. Enable Developer menu: Preferences → Advanced → Show Develop menu
2. Press ⌘ + ⌥ + I to open Developer Tools
3. Click the Storage tab
4. Expand Cookies → https://steamcommunity.com
5. Find and copy the values for the required cookies

Double-click a cookie value to select the entire string, then copy it. Cookie values can be very long.

Step 3: Create .env File

In your project root directory (same location as config.yaml), create a file named .env:

# .env - Steam authentication cookies

# Required cookies
sessionid=your_session_id_here
steamLoginSecure=your_steam_login_secure_token_here

# Optional cookies (recommended)
browserid=your_browser_id_here
steamCountry=your_steam_country_here

Replace the placeholder values with the actual cookie values you extracted:

# .env - Example with real values

sessionid=a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6
steamLoginSecure=76561198012345678||A1B2C3D4E5F6G7H8I9J0K1L2M3N4O5P6Q7R8S9T0
browserid=1234567890123456789
steamCountry=US|a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6

Security: The .env file contains sensitive authentication tokens.

• Never commit it to version control (add .env to .gitignore)
• Keep file permissions restricted (chmod 600 .env)
• Never share these cookies publicly

Step 4: Verify Setup

Add a pricehistory item to your config.yaml:

TRACKING_ITEMS:
  - market_hash_name: "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)"
    appid: 730
    currency: 1
    country: 'US'
    language: 'english'
    polling-interval-in-seconds: 3600
    apiid: 'pricehistory'

Run Hridaya:

python cerebro.py

Successful authentication produces log output showing historical data being fetched and stored.

How It Works

The authentication system (from steamAPIclient.py:fetch_price_history):

1. Loads cookies from .env on each request (supports hot-swapping)
2. Builds cookie dictionary with available values
3. Sends cookies with request along with browser-like headers
4. Steam validates cookies and returns historical data

# From steamAPIclient.py:198-215

# Re-read .env to pick up any hot-swapped cookie values
load_dotenv(override=True)

# Build cookies fresh each call (enables hot-swapping)
cookies = {}
session_id = os.getenv("sessionid")
steam_login_secure = os.getenv("steamLoginSecure")
browser_id = os.getenv("browserid")
steam_country = os.getenv("steamCountry")

if session_id:
    cookies["sessionid"] = session_id
if steam_login_secure:
    cookies["steamLoginSecure"] = steam_login_secure
if browser_id:
    cookies["browserid"] = browser_id
if steam_country:
    cookies["steamCountry"] = steam_country

Hot-swapping: You can update .env values while Hridaya is running. The system reloads cookies on each request, so new values take effect immediately without restart.

Cookie Lifespan

Steam session cookies typically expire after:

• sessionid: ~2 weeks of inactivity
• steamLoginSecure: ~1 year or until you log out

Signs Your Cookies Expired

1. pricehistory requests start failing with errors
2. Empty response data ({"success": false})
3. HTTP 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden responses

Refreshing Expired Cookies

1. Log out of Steam in your browser
2. Log back in
3. Extract the new cookie values (follow Step 2 above)
4. Update your .env file
5. No need to restart Hridaya (hot-swapping will pick up new values)

Security Best Practices

These cookies give full access to your Steam account. Treat them like passwords.

Protect Your Cookies

1. Never share your .env file or cookie values
2. Add to .gitignore:
   echo ".env" >> .gitignore
   
3. Restrict file permissions:
   chmod 600 .env  # Owner read/write only
   
4. Use a dedicated Steam account (optional but recommended for automated systems)
5. Rotate regularly: Log out and back in periodically to refresh tokens

What Someone Can Do With Your Cookies

• Access your Steam profile
• View your inventory
• Make trades (if Steam Guard is disabled)
• Access your market activity
• View your purchase history

For production systems, consider using a dedicated Steam account with:

• Strong password
• Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator enabled
• No valuable inventory items
• Limited trading/market permissions

Troubleshooting

Error: “pricehistory request failed”

Cause: Missing or invalid cookies

Solution:

1. Verify .env file exists in project root
2. Check that sessionid and steamLoginSecure are set
3. Re-extract cookies (they may have expired)
4. Ensure you’re logged into Steam in your browser

Error: Empty response data

Cause: Expired session

Solution:

1. Log out of Steam
2. Log back in
3. Extract fresh cookies
4. Update .env

Error: “success”: false

Cause: Invalid item or authentication issue

Solution:

1. Verify the market_hash_name is correct
2. Check that the item exists on Steam market
3. Confirm cookies are valid (try accessing market in browser)

Cookies work in browser but not in Hridaya

Cause: Additional security headers required

Solution: The system already includes proper headers (steamAPIclient.py:226-229):

headers = {
    'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) ...',
    'Referer': f'https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/{appid}/{market_hash_name}'
}

If still failing:

1. Check your firewall isn’t blocking requests
2. Ensure your IP isn’t rate-limited by Steam
3. Try using a VPN if your region is restricted

Alternative: Using Developer Tools Network Tab

If you’re having trouble finding cookies:

1. Open Developer Tools (F12)
2. Go to Network tab
3. Navigate to a Steam market listing page
4. Find a request to pricehistory
5. Click on it → Headers → Request Headers
6. Copy the entire Cookie header value
7. Parse out the individual cookie values:
   Cookie: sessionid=abc123; steamLoginSecure=xyz456||token; ...
   

Example .env Template

Copy this template and fill in your values:

# .env - Steam Authentication Configuration
# DO NOT COMMIT THIS FILE TO VERSION CONTROL

# ============================================
# REQUIRED COOKIES
# ============================================

# Steam session ID (32-char hex string)
sessionid=

# Steam login secure token (format: steamid64||token)
steamLoginSecure=

# ============================================
# OPTIONAL COOKIES (Recommended)
# ============================================

# Browser ID (long numeric string)
browserid=

# Steam country (format: COUNTRY|hash)
steamCountry=

# ============================================
# NOTES
# ============================================
# - Extract cookies from browser DevTools while logged into steamcommunity.com
# - Cookies expire after ~2 weeks of inactivity
# - Changes take effect immediately (no restart needed)
# - Keep this file secure - it contains authentication tokens

Next Steps

API Endpoints

Learn about all four Steam API endpoints

Config Reference

Complete configuration parameter reference

Quickstart

Get started with basic configuration