tf2-express

Automated TF2 trading bot with GUI support, built with Python. Prices are by default provided by Prices.TF.

Donate

Donations are not required, but greatly appericated.

• BTC: bc1q9gmh5x2g9s0pw3282a5ypr6ms8qvuxh3fd7afh
• Steam Trade Offer

Features

• GUI for adding and changing items, prices, max_stock + browsing trades
• Supports automated price updates from Prices.TF
• Creates, modifies and deletes listings on Backpack.TF
• Accepts incoming friend requests
• Supports buy/sell message commands (sell_5021_6)
• Sends counter offer when user is trying to take items for free
• Sends counter offer when values are incorrect
• Supports Random Craft Hats [?]
• Bank as many items as you want
• Add items by either name or SKU
• Uses MongoDB for saving items, prices and trades
• Limited inventory fetching to mitigate rate-limits
• Supports arbitraging items from different trading sites [?]
• Supports 3rd party inventory providers [?]

All available options can be found here.

Key dependencies:

• steam.py
• backpack-tf
• tf2-sku
• tf2-data
• tf2-utils

Showcase

Installation

You need to have Python 3.11 or above installed. If you want to run the bot using Docker see Using Docker.

git clone git@github.com:offish/tf2-express.git
cd tf2-express
pip install -r requirements.txt

Note

You need to host a MongoDB server for the bot to work. Download the free community version here. You may also want to install MongoDB Compass to access/modify/delete collections manually.

Setup

Note

Make a copy of config.example.json and name it config.json. Make sure it is in the same folder as the example file. Update credentials and set your preferred options.

Example config:

{
    "bots": [
        {
            "username": "username",
            "password": "password",
            "shared_secret": "Aa11aA1+1aa1aAa1a=",
            "identity_secret": "aA11aaaa/aa11a/aAAa1a1=",
            "options": {
                "use_backpack_tf": true,
                "backpack_tf_token": "token",
                "enable_arbitrage": false,
                "inventory_provider": "steamsupply",
                "inventory_api_key": "mySteamSupplyApiKey",
                "accept_donations": true,
                "decline_trade_hold": true,
                "enable_craft_hats": true,
                "save_trade_offers": true,
                "owners": [
                    "76511111111111111",
                    "76522222222222222"
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

Note

As of v3.0.0 tf2-express only supports running one bot instance at a time. It will use the first entry in bots in the config.

Options

• username is the username for the Steam account you want to use the bot with. This will also be the of the MongoDB database.
• use_backpack_tf whether to list items on Backpack.TF or not.
• backpack_tf_token can be found on here (copy Access Token, not API key)
• pricing_provider is the provider for pricing. Prices.tf is the default.
• inventory_provider is the provider for inventory. The default is Steam Community, but you can use a third party provider like Steam.Supply or Express-Load [?]
• inventory_api_key is the API key for the inventory provider. You don't need to set this if you are using the default inventory provider.
• backpack_tf_user_agent user agent to show on next.backpack.tf.
• accept_donations whether to accept donations or not.
• auto_counter_bad_offers whether to counter offers with wrong values or not.
• decline_trade_hold whether to decline trade hold or not.
• auto_cancel_sent_offers whether to auto cancel our sent offers or not after some time.
• cancel_sent_offers_after_seconds how long to wait before auto cancelling sent offers.
• max_price_age_seconds how old a price can be before it is fetched again.
• enable_arbitrage whether to enable arbitrage or not [?]
• enable_craft_hats whether to enable random craft hats or not [?]
• save_trade_offers whether to save trade offers in the MongoDB database or not.
• groups is a list of group IDs to join.
• owners is a list of owner Steam ID64s. The bot will accept offers from owners no matter what.

Running

# tf2-express/
python main.py # start the bot
python panel.py # start the gui

Now you can visit the GUI at http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Logs will be available under logs/express.log. Level is set to DEBUG, so here you will be able to see every request etc. and more information than is shown in the terminal.

Warning

Do NOT share your logs or config files with anyone before removing sensitive information. This might leak your API_KEY and more.

Updating

# tf2-express/
git pull
pip install --upgrade -r requirements.txt
# update packages like bptf, tf2-utils, tf2-data and tf2-sku
# which the bot is dependant on

Using Docker

First configure the bot like shown in Setup. Then change the timezone in the Dockerfile, it is set to use Oslo time by default.

make build # will build the tf2-express docker image and install dependencies
make run # will start mongodb and tf2-express

The GUI does not start automatically. To start the GUI run this:

make gui

The GUI will then be available at http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Explanation

Random Craft Hats

If a craftable hat does not have a specific price in the database, it will be viewed as a Random Craft Hat (SKU: -100;6), if enable_craft_hats is enabled.

Caution

This applies to any craftable unique hat, which includes hats such as The Team Captain, Earbuds, Max Heads etc. If these do not have their own price in the database, they will be priced as a Random Craft Hat, if this option is enabled. Be careful when using this option, as it can lead to unwanted trades.

Simply open the GUI and add "Random Craft Hat" or -100;6 to the pricelist. Set the buy and sell price to whatever you want. Random Craft Hats cannot get automatic price updates.

Arbitrage

"Arbitraging is the process of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets". In this case, it is used to buy items from one trade site and sell to another for profit. tf2-express can act on deals from tf2-arbitrage and send or receive offers.

Important

As of tf2-express v3.0.0 arbitrage is currently broken.

3rd Party Inventory Providers

Steam can rate-limit inventory fetch requests if they are called too often. This can be avoided using a third party provider like SteamApis, Steam.Supply, Express-Load or your own. This is especially useful if you are running multiple bots.

Note

If you want to use Express-Load you can use the promo code offish to receive free credits and try out their API for free.

Testing

# tf2-express/
pytest

Every test should succeed except for the version check. The version needs to be incremented to pass this test.

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2020-2025 offish (confern)

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.