11 Free steamcmd SteamGuard and Depot Owner Validation Tools Before October setlive (2026)
<span style="font-weight: 600;">October 2026 fest upload nights</span> stall when contractors run <span style="font-style: italic;">steamcmd</span> under a personal Steam login while depots belong to the studio partner—teams burn founder hours watching the queue when the real error is <span style="font-style: italic;">DepotOwnedByOtherAccount</span>. This bookmark stack separates <span style="font-weight: 600;">partner identity</span> from <span style="font-weight: 600;">healthy SteamPipe waits</span>, pins SteamGuard hygiene off shared VMs, and gates <span style="font-style: italic;">depot_owner_receipt_v1.json</span> / <span style="font-style: italic;">steam_partner_ok</span> before <span style="font-style: italic;">setlive</span>.<br><span style="color: #6366f1; font-weight: 600;">Beginner start:</span> SteamPipe upload docs + Steam Guard FAQ; <span style="color: #059669; font-weight: 600;">Developer path:</span> GameMaker partner preflight P1–P6 + jq receipt gate.
Steamworks — Uploading to Steam (SteamPipe)
Platform DocsOfficial ContentBuilder + steamcmd upload contract—app/depot IDs and upload roles before any fest setlive.
Beginner first: confirm you are App Admin before blaming the queue
Valve Developer Community — SteamCMD
Official ReferenceCLI login & command reference—install paths, +login, and why cached config.vdf sessions matter on contractor laptops.
Pro tip: never share personal SteamGuard codes onto CI runners
Steam — Steam Guard FAQ
Platform HelpAccount security hygiene—mobile authenticator and recovery so partner logins stay usable without pastebing MFA to Slack.
Use for: facilitator README “CI machine user” rules
Steamworks — Managing Users & Permissions
Official DocsPartner admin ladder—prove the upload actor is App Admin on the App ID that owns the depot rows.
Receipt proof: screenshot under release-evidence/steam/
jq
CLI ToolOwnership receipt gate—require steam_partner_ok / depot_upload_allowed before promotion jobs.
CI check: jq -e .steam_partner_ok
JSON Schema
ValidationReceipt schema—validate depot_owner_receipt_v1.json (partner login, app/depot IDs, admin screenshot path).
Gate: reject personal `@gmail` actor on studio apps
Ninety-second P1–P6 gate—Steamworks admin screenshot, config.vdf match, IDE session, dry-run build_app.
Developer path: run before first October depot night
Failure router—partner identity and depot ownership listed separately from healthy SteamPipe waits.
Pair when: steamcmd returns an immediate ownership error
GamineAI — SteamPipe queue observability tools
Site ResourceQueue-truth cousin—use only after partner identity passes; do not timestamp a bad login as queue delay.
Order: this list → wall-clock stack
BUILD_RECEIPT milestone—promote gm_steam_partner_receipt_v1.json after partner sanity P1–P6.
Cousin schema: depot_owner_receipt_v1 (Help #27 forward)
Broader Steamworks spine—Users & Permissions, Guard, SteamCMD, Input metadata, and setlive go/no-go beside this ownership bookmark stack.
Order: this list for identity · hub for festival + branch context