Steam Sales Analyzer

Interactive Steam sales data analyzer with real-time charts and analysis.

Architecture

steamsales/
├── packages/
│   └── frontend/          # Svelte + Vite frontend
├── src-tauri/             # Tauri Rust backend
└── package.json           # npm workspaces root

The application is built with Tauri, which provides:

• Native system access to download and execute the CLI tool
• Direct file system access to the database
• Cross-platform desktop application (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• No separate backend server required

The app automatically downloads, installs, and manages the steam-financial-cli tool, which fetches and stores Steam sales data in a SQLite database. The frontend loads this database and queries it directly in the browser using sql.js (SQLite compiled to WebAssembly).

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Rust (for building Tauri) - Install from rustup.rs
• System dependencies:
  • macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Linux: libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev, build-essential, curl, wget, libssl-dev, libgtk-3-dev, libayatana-appindicator3-dev, librsvg2-dev
  • Windows: Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools

Note: The CLI tool is automatically downloaded and installed by the application. You don't need to install it manually.

Getting Started

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

2. Development

Run the Tauri development server:

npm run dev

This will:

• Start the Vite dev server for the frontend
• Build and run the Tauri application
• Open the desktop window automatically

3. Set Up Your API Key

1. When the app opens, click "Setup" in the header
2. The setup wizard will:
   • Automatically download the CLI tool for your platform
   • Prompt you to enter your Steam Financial API key (from the Steamworks Partner portal)
   • Initialize the CLI tool with your API key
   • Fetch your sales data automatically
   • Load the database into the application

4. Explore Your Data

Once setup is complete, you can:

• View dashboard statistics
• Explore charts and visualizations
• Filter data by date, app, country, etc.
• Refresh data by clicking "Refresh Data" in the header

Building for Production

Build the Application

npm run tauri:build

This will create platform-specific installers in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/:

• Windows: .msi installer
• macOS: .dmg and .app
• Linux: .deb, .AppImage, and .rpm

Development Commands

# Run Tauri dev mode
npm run dev

# Run web-only dev mode (for testing frontend without Tauri)
npm run dev:web

# Type checking
npm run typecheck

# Linting
npm run lint

Debugging (DevTools)

In debug builds (e.g. npm run dev), the web inspector opens automatically when the app starts.

You can also open it manually:

• macOS: Cmd + Option + I
• Windows / Linux: Ctrl + Shift + I
• Right-click in the window and choose Inspect Element

How It Works

1. Tauri Backend (Rust): Provides native system access to:

   • Download the CLI tool binary for your platform
   • Execute CLI commands (init, fetch)
   • Access the database file from the file system

2. Automatic CLI Management: The Rust backend automatically downloads the appropriate CLI tool binary for your platform (Linux, macOS, or Windows) from GitHub releases.

3. API Key Configuration: Your Steam Financial API key is stored securely by the CLI tool in its configuration.

4. Data Fetching: The Tauri backend executes the CLI tool's fetch command to download your sales data from the Steam Partner API.

5. Database Storage: The CLI tool stores data in a SQLite database file located at ~/.steamsales/steam-financial.db.

6. Frontend: The web application (Svelte) loads the SQLite database file into the browser using sql.js and queries it directly. All data processing happens client-side.

7. Updates: Click "Refresh Data" in the header to fetch the latest data from Steam.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• Svelte 5
• Vite
• TailwindCSS 4
• Chart.js
• sql.js (SQLite in the browser)

Backend (Tauri)

• Rust
• Tauri 2.0
• Native system integration

File Locations

• CLI Binary: ~/.steamsales/cli/steam-financial (or .exe on Windows)
• Database File: ~/.steamsales/steam-financial.db

Troubleshooting

Rust Not Installed

Install Rust from rustup.rs:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

System Dependencies Missing

macOS:

xcode-select --install

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libwebkit2gtk-4.0-dev \
    build-essential \
    curl \
    wget \
    libssl-dev \
    libgtk-3-dev \
    libayatana-appindicator3-dev \
    librsvg2-dev

Windows: Install Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Build Tools

CLI Tool Not Downloading

• Check your internet connection
• Ensure you have write permissions to ~/.steamsales/
• Check the console for error messages

Database Not Loading

• Check that the database file exists at ~/.steamsales/steam-financial.db
• Try clicking "Refresh Data" to fetch data again
• Check the console for errors

API Key Issues

• Verify your API key is correct
• Ensure you have access to the Steam Financial API in the Steamworks Partner portal
• Try re-initializing via the Setup wizard

Notes

• The database file is loaded into browser memory, so very large databases may impact performance
• The CLI tool handles API key management - your key is stored securely by the CLI tool
• Data is fetched on-demand when you click "Refresh Data"
• The setup wizard guides you through the entire setup process automatically
• This is a desktop application - it runs natively on your system, not in a browser