Issue with Backend Container Crashing due to Steam Web API (500 Error)

[C-Keenan]

Hello,

I'm writing to report an issue I've experienced with the develancacheui_backend Docker container. I've found a temporary workaround that may help you in troubleshooting.

Problem:

The container consistently crashes with a SteamKit2.WebAPIRequestException: 500 (Internal Server Error) during startup. The relevant logs show BackgroundService failed due to this exception when it attempts to call the Steam Web API.

To reproduce the error:

Use a standard Docker Compose setup with the develancacheui_backend image and default settings (where Feature_DirectSteamIntegration is set to true).

My workaround:

I was able to get the service running stably by modifying the docker-compose.yml to explicitly set the Feature_DirectSteamIntegration environment variable to false.

yaml

environment:
  - Feature_DirectSteamIntegration=false

With this change, the service starts correctly and the dashboard appears to be functional. Based on the documentation, this likely forces the backend to use a CSV file for game data instead of querying the live API, which works around the API 500 error.

Why this is useful:

This indicates that the root cause is likely an issue with the Steam Web API endpoint that the backend is calling, or how the backend handles the response from that endpoint. The workaround confirms that the fallback mechanism is functional and allows the service to run even when the API is failing.

I understand that disabling direct integration results in potentially stale game information, but for now, it allows the dashboard to function without crashing.

Thank you for your work on this project. I hope this information is helpful in your investigation.

Best regards, C-Keenan

P.S. If you have any questions or would like the stack trace logs from the error, from my side, please don't hesitate to reach out. I don't exactly monitor GitHub but I will do my best to respond as quickly as possible as I know it is better to be quick and efficient with a fix and logs can help.

[soonic6]

can confirm, with Feature_DirectSteamIntegration=false the server stopps restarting.

[devedse]

Hi, thanks for reporting this, I'll first try to resolve the other issue people are having and then will look into this further.