SteamHttpCacheView - a tool for viewing Steam httpcache files

[TheOddsBodkins]

Steam client keeps a cache of some of its on-line content in the httpcache folder so that it doesn't need to re-download the content when it's needed again. The httpcache folders contains files such as game icons, game tiles, background screenshots, achievement icons, user avatars and more.

SteamHttpCacheView:
I programmed an application called SteamHttpCacheView that can read the contents of the httpcache folder and display the list of all files currently stored in the cache. With SteamHttpCacheView you can also extract the selected cache files to a different folder, delete files from the cache, open the original URL in a browser, copy items from the list to the clipboard or save them into a file.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/vaultec/software.php#steamhcv
Screenshot 1[koti.mbnet.fi], Screenshot 2[koti.mbnet.fi]

Steam httpcache Folders:
Steam uses two httpcache folders, one for the main client and one for the Big Picture mode. You can switch between Main cache and Big Picture cache by selecting a cache folder from the View menu.

Main cache folder location:
<Program Files>\Steam\appcache\httpcache

Big Picture cache folder location:
<Program Files>\Steam\tenfoot\config\httpcache

Some Useful Cache Files:
cdn.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/<AppID>/header.jpg
- Grid View images (Game tiles banners)

cdn.store.steampowered.com/gamedetailsheader/<AppID>/header_t_*
- Detail View background images

media.steampowered.com/steamcommunity/public/images/apps/<AppID>/*
- Game icons, achievement icons, small game tile images...

media.steampowered.com/steamcommunity/public/images/avatars/*
- Steam user avatars, friend avatars, avatars for players you played with...
- To get the best quality avatars, add '_full' before the extension in the URL.

cdn.steamcommunity.com/economy/emoticon/*
- Steam emoticons from friend and group chats

Big Picture cache:
cdn.store.steampowered.com/fulldetailsheader/<AppID>/*
- High quality game screenshots without the color tint

cdn2.steampowered.com/v/gfx/apps/<AppID>/*
- Game screenshots, large game banners...

Note: Replace the <AppID> in the URL with Steam Application ID number of that game you like.

System Requirements:
SteamHttpCacheView works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (Windows 8 not tested), it does not require admin rights to run.


Note: The httpcache does not contain files from the Steam's built-in web browser or in-game overlay browser. However, you can also view these cache files by using another program called ChromeCacheView[www.nirsoft.net].

[TheOddsBodkins]

Version 1.01 released

This update addresses a problem where the 'File Size' column was empty for some files.

Full list of changes:

• The value for 'File Size' column is now taken from the actual file data size when the 'Content-Length' is not present in the response headers.
  
• Last modified time of the extracted files are now set according to the Last Modified time shown on the list.
  
• Changed the message shown when the cache folder is not found or cannot be accessed.
  
• Fixed a bug where closing the application by selecting 'Exit' from the menu would not work.
  
• Fixed a problem that prevented Enter shortcut key from working.

[Skars]

Very useful application, also thanks for the information about the file paths related to each content, now I can download stuff straight from the browser.

I would like to know if is possible to make steam grid / list / detail view content, permanent, like the banners, small images and icons available offline, or to set them with my own content

Every time I open the client, steam download headers and icons again, which takes time to download.

I know that I can set custom images for Grid View even for official steam games, in that part your topic is very helpful, but for icons and list view, just can't make them permanent or custom.

If is possible to set custom images for Grid View, steam may have a file that save file path for that custom content, so maybe in that file should also be possible to write icons and list view images path for custom files.

Thank you!

[TheOddsBodkins]

Thank you. I'm glad someone likes it.

Steam shouldn't re-download the grid / list / detail view content unless it's expired or if its location was moved. The Grid View images expire a week after the download, but all the other content should have expire times up to ten years in the future. If the images are modified, the location of the image is usually also changed so the client knows to re-download it.

However, the httpcache does have size limits, I don't know what the total size limit is on disk, but the cache should have a 10k limit on individual cache files. So maybe your cache is full and that's why Steam keeps re-downloading the content.

Technically it is possible to use custom content for all the views by modifying the cache files, but as far as I know there is no Steam supported way to do so.

I have been considering about writing a program that could replace all the images in the cache with custom content, but I'm hesitant to do so as, while completely harmless, it may be disapproved by Valve. :)

[Skars]

I don't believe it will be disapproved anyway, as a long always published as a mod. Grid view image can now have custom image set by the user, straight by the steam interface, So custom icons and list view images should not be a problem at all.

The only issue is that is not possible to change icons and list view images permanently, as they will be auto updated if the cache is modified, and it is considered an unique file, which is not a good idea to set as "read-only".


in the past steam used to have all the content offline, meaning that they were downloaded once. I think the change happened because the need to update headers and game covers as they add features, like cards, mods or DLC tags over images.

Maybe the tag image (DLC, MOD, ETC) should be an alpha image overlaid, so the user could set a custom image below it without compromise the tag.

Despite of that, almost everything on steam was/still able to be modified, so such a tool I don't see as a threat to steam approach.

One another comment about your software, is that, at least for me, the software start with auto search, taking long time to load if my cache file is huge (about 10k files in it), which limit is possibly the cause of my headers/thumbs cache being download so frequently. As you said.

I've deleted and let steam re download everything and its now fine, but I'm sure that is not permanent.

Remember about Valve games files, for example, counter strike install files, which could be changed client side by installing similar files with same name in a clone path to use custom content? I wonder if that would be possible to the steam client itself (actually, it is possible to skins, when installed a skin, it is read by the software before official skin, without rewriting it).

So, maybe replacing content inside the cache could not be much useful if not be able to be permanent, but as the example used, it maybe could be masked with clone files, which path is read before the official one, so steam will download/display online content only of non customized files.

Ty

[TheOddsBodkins]

Version 1.05 released

This update adds support for viewing Picture cache folder without needing to manually change the cache folder path. You can switch between Main cache and Big Picture cache by selecting a cache folder from the View menu.

Full list of changes:

• Added support for viewing Picture cache folder without manually changing the cache folder path.
  
• Added support for saving the list to a HTML file.
  
• Cache folder access error messages are now displayed on top of the list view.
  
• Select Cache Folder dialog now remembers the last used custom directory.
  
• Filename extension is now detected by the Content-Type header and added to the filename if it is missing.
  
• Illegal characters in filenames are now replaced with an underscore character when extracting cache files.
  
• Improved cache loading speed when refreshing the list.
  
• Fixed a bug where sorting the list by date could fail if the date format included 'era' indicator.
  
• Fixed bug where date sorting failed to get the actual two digit year range for date formats that use two digit years.