sftui // Steam Friends List TUI

August 14, 2025 · View on GitHub

A beautiful, real-time command-line interface for viewing* your Steam friends list. Monitor your friends' online status, current games, and last seen times directly from your terminal.

*yes, read only for now™.. I am working on interactiveness, see issues.

The first terminal is terminator with transparent background, and disabled title/scroll bars. Second is konsole, again with disabled bars. Third is default gnome-terminal.

Features

tldr: it's the steam friends list with less features and more bugs but in the terminal... :)

✨ Rich Console Interface - Beautiful terminal UI powered by Spectre.Console with colors and interactive elements

🔄 Real-time Updates - Instantly see changes as your friends come online, go offline, or start/stop playing games

👁️ Last Seen Tracking - View when offline friends were last online

🔐 Secure Authentication - QR code authentication with encrypted token storage - authenticate once, use repeatedly

🌐 Cross-platform - Works seamlessly (I hope) on Windows, macOS, and Linux

⚡ Lightweight - Minimal resource usage with efficient real-time Steam API integration

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Steam Account: Steam Mobile app installed on phone (for initial authentication)
Operating System: Windows 10+, macOS 10.15+, or Linux (most distributions)
Network: Internet connection for Steam API access
Terminal: Modern terminal with Unicode support (Windows Terminal, iTerm2, gnome-terminal, etc.)
.NET 9.0 Runtime or later *

* only if you plan to build from source, as the releases are self contained

Installation

Option 1: Download Release (Recommended)

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page
- Windows: win-x64.zip
- macOS: osx-x64.zip
- Linux: linux-x64.gz
Extract the sftui executable to your desired location
Run sftui

Option 2: Build from Source (Cross-Platform)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/AdamWHY2K/steam_friends_list_tui.git
cd steam_friends_list_tui

# Build for your current platform
dotnet build -c Release

Usage

# Windows (PowerShell/Command Prompt)
sftui.exe
sftui.exe --debug

# macOS/Linux
./sftui
./sftui --debug

# Using dotnet run (from source)
dotnet run
dotnet run -- --debug

Authentication

The application uses Steam's official QR code authentication system for secure, convenient access:

First-time Setup

Launch the application - a QR code will be displayed in your terminal
Open the Steam Mobile app on your phone
Navigate to the Steam Guard screen
Scan the QR code displayed in the terminal
Your authentication tokens will be encrypted and saved for future use

Subsequent Usage

The app automatically uses your saved authentication tokens
No QR code scanning required unless tokens expire or become invalid
Automatic re-authentication prompts when needed

Security Features

🔒 Tokens are automatically encrypted using machine-specific keys
📁 Stored in secure application data directory with restricted permissions
🚫 Tokens cannot be transferred between devices
🗑️ Manual token clearing: delete auth_tokens.json in the sftui data folder

Keyboard Controls

Key	Action
`↑/↓/j/k`	Navigate friends list
`Page Up/Down`	Fast scroll
`Home/End`	Jump to top/bottom
`Ctrl+C/ESC/Q`	Quit application

Privacy & Data

No data collection: This application does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data
Local authentication: All authentication tokens are stored locally and encrypted
Steam API only: Uses official Steam APIs - no third-party services involved
Open source: Full source code available for audit and verification

Technical Details

Built With

.NET 9.0 - Modern, cross-platform runtime
SteamKit2 - Robust Steam API library
Spectre.Console - Rich terminal UI framework
QRCoder - QR code generation for authentication
DotNetEnv - Environment configuration

Architecture

Clean, modular C# codebase with separation of concerns
Event-driven Steam API integration for real-time updates
Secure token management with encryption and proper file permissions
Responsive terminal UI with efficient rendering

Support the Project

If you find this project useful, please consider:

🥺 Buying me a coffee to support ongoing development
⭐ Starring the repository
🐛 Reporting bugs or suggesting improvements
🔀 Contributing code or documentation
💬 Sharing with friends who might find it useful

Made with ❤️ for the Steam nerds ^{^{^{^{^{^{^{^{it's me, i am the steam nerd}}}}}}}}