Backpack Automatic Refresh Script (2023 edition)

[Abstract]

2 hours ago, zin said:

What is the ‘backpack refresh button’ mentioned in the original post? Is this something that was removed?

 

The (old) original script is a very outdated userscript that clicks the refresh button every few seconds but isn't really faster or better because backpacks can have a refresh attempt only every 3 minutes on backpack.tf. The current script takes advantage of backpack.tf's refresh API which tells us exactly when we can refresh again and when the backpack was last updated.

 

2 hours ago, zin said:

Should I just leave it running in the background?

Yes, it will stop refreshing automatically once it detects your backpack was properly updated at most 3 minutes ago.

 

2 hours ago, zin said:

I don’t understand why your profile is so slow to update.

This is due to Steam being unreliable. You can see your odds of getting a backpack update here: https://next.backpack.tf/almanac/steam-api-health

You can expect the script running at least a few hours on average for backpack.tf to be able to properly update your backpack.

 

2 hours ago, zin said:

My backpack is updated when I view it on the site, but my profile is out-of-date and has been for days.

This is because fallback does not update your last backpack snapshot, which is what backpack.tf uses to determine if you have enough currency to make a buy order. The script ensures your backpack gets updated without errors/fallback.

[zin]

5 hours ago, Abstract said:

 

The (old) original script is a very outdated userscript that clicks the refresh button every few seconds but isn't really faster or better because backpacks can have a refresh attempt only every 3 minutes on backpack.tf. The current script takes advantage of backpack.tf's refresh API which tells us exactly when we can refresh again and when the backpack was last updated.

 

Yes, it will stop refreshing automatically once it detects your backpack was properly updated at most 3 minutes ago.

 

This is due to Steam being unreliable. You can see your odds of getting a backpack update here: https://next.backpack.tf/almanac/steam-api-health

You can expect the script running at least a few hours on average for backpack.tf to be able to properly update your backpack.

 

This is because fallback does not update your last backpack snapshot, which is what backpack.tf uses to determine if you have enough currency to make a buy order. The script ensures your backpack gets updated without errors/fallback.

Thank you. I’ve been running the script for six hours, though, and my profile is still out-of-date, and my backpack is still using fallback, so I still can’t create most buy orders.

What is going on? Why is it taking so long? Any help would be much appreciated!

[zin]

I got a 200 response, which I was excited about, but my backpack is still using fallback. My profile has been out of date for at least three days now, so I still cannot create most buy orders since Backpack.tf thinks I only have 7.55 ref in my backpack.

 

I’ve been running the script for 8+ hours, but sadly, no change. Is this typical? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

 

[Abstract]

4 hours ago, zin said:

I got a 200 response, which I was excited about, but my backpack is still using fallback. My profile has been out of date for at least three days now, so I still cannot create most buy orders since Backpack.tf thinks I only have 7.55 ref in my backpack.

 

I’ve been running the script for 8+ hours, but sadly, no change. Is this typical? Any help would be much appreciated!

The screenshot shows your backpack was last updated a day ago.

As I've said previously, the script is meant to refresh your backpack until it properly updates (last snapshot less than 3 minutes ago). The script won't magically get rid of fallback forever.

 

And yes, 8 hours is normal. You can expect the script to run for at most a day on average. Once again, like I've said, this is due to Steam being unreliable and not something backpack.tf (and this script) has control over.

[shadyfan]

Steam API has been surprisingly stable for the past 2 weeks I think. But the script is now failing to see API's current time or something:

 

Also one thing I think it's missing in the script, is checking if the inventory is private. Not sure if it's possible to check that though.

[Abstract]

4 hours ago, shadyfan said:

[...] the script is now failing to see API's current time or something

It's still able to see the current time, it's just that sometimes for whatever reason the refresh API doesn't update its server time (to indicate what the current time is on the server) for extended periods of time which is why there is a 10 second delay whenever that happens to avoid spamming requests. I could add something to make it wait even longer if it happens too often.

 

4 hours ago, shadyfan said:

Also one thing I think it's missing in the script, is checking if the inventory is private. Not sure if it's possible to check that though.

It's possible, but it would need a Steam API key. Inventory APIs aren't particularly reliable so it's probably better to check things manually for now... I could however add a check to see if a profile is private or not at the very least.

[shadyfan]

Yeah, I see there's currently an issue with the site that happens every few months (inactive listings not being hidden after 5 days), so might be the reason the script doesn't see the current time. But yeah, maybe checking for private profile would be nice as well.