Harbinger
Harbinger is a command-line-interface (CLI) tool included in the Aura SDK by The Phoenix Project Software. It was created in 2025 as a quick and simple way of uploading Add-ons to the Steam Workshop for Half-Life: Cross Product Multiplayer.
Warning
Can't find Half-Life: Cross Product - Aura SDK in your Steam Library? Get Harbinger & Spectra here - https://github.com/phoenixprojectsoftware/Aura-SE/tree/master/Tools
Before getting started with creating Workshop add-ons, you should know the fundamentals of Half-Life 1 modding concepts - how they work and how directories are set up.
Aura's Workshop System allows you to modify and mount nearly any type of file except for the server & client DLLs.
Your files - maps, gamemodes, etc - should be kept & prepared in the Cross Product install directory at zamnhlmp_workshop/<ADDONNAME>. Replace <ADDONNAME> with whatever you want.
You will need to create a text file called addoninfo.txt. In the Aura SDK there is a template there for you which should look like the below:
"AddonInfo"
{
"Title" "Your Title"
"Author" "Your Name or Alias"
"Description" "A short description of your addon"
"Tags"
{
"maps" "1"
"mp3" "1"
"sounds" "1"
"HUD" "1"
"mapcycles" "1"
"trackerscheme" "1"
"resources" "1"
"sprays" "1"
"locs" "1"
"gamemodes" "1"
"playermodels" "1"
"viewmodels" "1"
"ctf" "1"
"dom" "1"
}
}
AddonInfo.txt sets the metadata and filtering tags for the in-game addon manager. These are not the metadata published to Steam.
The tags are Boolean data types -- 1 = on, 0 = off. Therefore, you should switch the tags off and on depending on what content is in your addon. For example, if my addon contains playermodels and nothing else, every tag would be set to 0 except playermodels.
For your addon to be accepted, a thumbnail is required. This is used on Steam and in-game. Within the Aura SDK is a template thumbnail with the required dimensions where are 640 X 360.
To create your thumbnail you can use any graphic design software you want that can export in PNG format.
Once you have created your thumbnail, name it thumb.png and place it in your addon folder. There is one more step to do which is to convert it to a TGA.
For your convenience we have created a tool called Spectra which you can find in the Aura SDK. In a Terminal, use the following format:
Spectra input.png output.tga
You can copy your PNG to the Spectra folder, and once the conversion is done, you can copy both files back to your addon folder.
Important
As well as the PNG, the TGA file MUST be called thumb.tga, or it will not appear in-game.
Your big moment is finally here. Time to get your add-on out there.
Open a Terminal/CMD in the Harbinger folder. Typing Harbinger into the terminal presents you with the options the tool provides.
Steam Workshop Uploader for Aura
Usage:
Harbinger [OPTION...] positional parameters
--title arg Workshop item title
--desc arg Workshop item description
--folder arg Folder to upload
--preview arg Preview image (PNG/JPG)
--tags arg Comma-separated list of tags
--visibility arg Visibility (private/friends/public)
--id arg PublishedFileId to update
--changelog arg Update changelog text
-h, --help Print help
As you can see, the method of using Workshop Man is pretty self-explanatory. In order, set your title, description, content folder, preview image, tags, and visibility. You can set the ID and Changelog ONLY if you are updating an existing add-on you have write access to.
A little tip - you can drag the Workshop content folder from your file explorer into the Terminal/CMD window to easily get the path there.
Example usage:
Harbinger create --title "My Addon" --desc "Hello!" --folder "C:\Path\To\Folder" --preview "C:\Path\To\Folder\thumb.png" --visibility private
After that, go to your Workshop Content page,, and your addon should appear!