How to list your trading bot on SteamTradeIndex and keep it live

SteamTradeIndex is a directory of Steam trading bots. Traders use it to compare live rates and stock, so the most important thing for a bot owner is accurate, fresh data. This guide covers the whole path from sign up to staying visible.

Sign in with Steam, open your dashboard and choose to add a bot. You will give it a name, a category (card, gem, crypto, holiday or misc), your bot's Steam profile link and a short description. New listings are reviewed before they go live.

2. Your free 14 day trial

As soon as your bot is approved it goes live with a free 14 day trial. After the trial, a bot listing is paid with TF2 keys: one key keeps a bot listed for 10 days. Banner slots are priced weekly: 2 TF2 keys for 7 days (small banner) or 3 keys for 7 days (main page hero), and the first 14 days are free. Details are on the advertise page.

3. Connect your bot with an API key

Instead of typing rates by hand, let your bot software send them. In the dashboard, open API keys, choose which bot the key is for and generate it. A key made for one bot always updates that bot, so you never need a bot ID. You can show and copy the key again whenever you need it.

The API documentation lists every field. The most common call is updateBot, where you send your rates, gem prices and status. If your software is built like the popular open source level up bots, a small helper script can read the rates straight from your bot's own settings file and push them on a schedule, so the numbers on the site are always the real ones.

4. Stock

You have two options for stock. Either send it yourself through the API, or leave it out and the site reads your public Steam inventory. Your inventory must be public for that to work. Very large inventories are better pushed from your software.

5. Stay visible

Push whenever something changes, and also on a regular heartbeat of 25 to 55 minutes.
A bot that uses the API and has not been heard from for 2 hours is hidden from the directory until it reports again. Traders do not want dead bots, so this keeps the whole list trustworthy.
Send botStatus as offline or maintenance if you are going down on purpose, so the listing reflects it straight away.

Questions about setup? Reach out on the contact page and we will help you connect your bot.