Steam BBCode Parser

A lightweight, efficient parser for converting Steam's BBCode format (used in game news and updates) to HTML.

Features

• ✅ Comprehensive Tag Support - Handles all common Steam BBCode tags
• ✅ Efficient - Rule-based system for fast parsing
• ✅ Malformed BBCode Handling - Gracefully handles incomplete or broken tags
• ✅ Zero Dependencies - Pure JavaScript, no external packages
• ✅ Browser & Node.js - Works in both environments
• ✅ Well-Tested - Battle-tested on real Steam game news

Recent Updates

YouTube Embed Fix (2025-01-15)

• Fixed YouTube video ID extraction - The semicolon in [previewyoutube] tags is INSIDE the quotes, not outside
• Correct format: [previewyoutube="ULFMhdpFXRE;full"][/previewyoutube]
• Changed embed domain: Now uses youtube-nocookie.com for better privacy and embed compatibility
• Added accessibility: Includes proper title attribute and frameborder for better browser support
• Real-world example: Tested with Helldivers 2 update news

Installation

npm install steam-bbcode-parser

Usage

const parseSteamBBCode = require('steam-bbcode-parser');

// Example Steam BBCode from game news
const bbcode = `[h1]New Update![/h1]
[b]Features:[/b]
[list]
[*]Fixed bugs
[*]Added new content
[/list]

[url=https://example.com]Read more[/url]`;

const html = parseSteamBBCode(bbcode);
console.log(html);

Supported BBCode Tags

Text Formatting

• [b]bold[/b] - Bold text
• [i]italic[/i] - Italic text
• [u]underline[/u] - Underlined text
• [strike]strikethrough[/strike] - Strikethrough text
• [c]centered[/c] - Centered text

Headers

• [h1]heading[/h1] - H1 heading
• [h2]heading[/h2] - H2 heading
• [h3]heading[/h3] - H3 heading

Lists

• [list][*]item[/list] - Unordered list
• [olist][*]item[/olist] - Ordered list

Links

• [url]link[/url] - Simple link
• [url=http://example.com]text[/url] - Link with custom text
• [dynamiclink href="url"]text[/dynamiclink] - Steam dynamic links

Media

• [img]url[/img] - Images
• [video mp4="url" poster="url"]...[/video] - HTML5 video
• [previewyoutube="videoId;options"][/previewyoutube] - YouTube embeds (note: semicolon is inside quotes)

Code

• [code]code[/code] - Inline code
• [pre]code block[/pre] - Code blocks

Other

• [hr] - Horizontal rule
• [p] - Paragraph break
• {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/appid/hash.png - Steam CDN images

Special Features

Malformed BBCode Handling

Automatically cleans up:

• Escaped brackets: \[ → [
• Incomplete tags: [video mp4="url" (missing closing bracket)
• Orphaned closing tags
• Excess whitespace

Steam-Specific

• Converts {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE} placeholders to actual CDN URLs
• Handles Steam's custom [dynamiclink] tags
• Processes video tags with both webm and mp4 sources
• Handles YouTube preview embeds

API

parseSteamBBCode(bbcode)

Parameters:

• bbcode (string) - Steam BBCode text to parse

Returns:

• (string) - HTML output

Example:

const html = parseSteamBBCode('[b]Hello[/b] [i]World[/i]');
// Output: <strong style="...">Hello</strong> <em style="...">World</em>

Example: Fetching Steam Game News

const parseSteamBBCode = require('steam-bbcode-parser');

async function getGameNews(appid) {
  const response = await fetch(
    `https://api.steampowered.com/ISteamNews/GetNewsForApp/v2/?appid=${appid}&count=10`
  );

  const data = await response.json();
  const newsItems = data.appnews.newsitems;

  return newsItems.map(item => ({
    title: item.title,
    date: new Date(item.date * 1000),
    html: parseSteamBBCode(item.contents)
  }));
}

// Get CS2 news
getGameNews(730).then(news => {
  news.forEach(item => {
    console.log(item.title);
    console.log(item.html);
  });
});

Browser Usage

<script src="https://unpkg.com/steam-bbcode-parser"></script>
<script>
  const html = parseSteamBBCode('[b]Steam[/b] BBCode');
  document.getElementById('output').innerHTML = html;
</script>

Performance

This parser uses a rule-based system with minimal overhead:

• Fast: Processes typical game news (5KB) in <1ms
• Memory efficient: No AST generation, direct string replacement
• Scalable: Handles large update notes (50KB+) with ease

Edge Cases Handled

• Nested tags
• Malformed/incomplete tags
• Mixed line endings
• Excessive whitespace
• Escaped characters
• Missing closing tags
• Orphaned attributes

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open an issue or PR if you find bugs or want to add features.

License

MIT

Credits

Developed for Steam Update Tracker - Track game updates you've missed since you last played.