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Onyx needs to know where your Steamworks ContentBuilder directory lives before it can display app cards or run uploads. This guide walks you through pointing Onyx to that directory, creating app and depot configurations, and generating the VDF files that SteamCMD reads during a build.

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What is ContentBuilder?

ContentBuilder is a folder that ships inside the Steamworks SDK. It contains the tools and directory structure SteamCMD requires to package and upload game builds. The default path after extracting the SDK is: 
tools/ContentBuilder/
Onyx validates that this folder contains three required subdirectories before accepting it.
ContentBuilder
content
output
scripts
app_1234560.vdf
depot_1234561.vdf
SubdirectoryPurpose
content/Source files mapped into depots
output/Build logs and intermediate output written by SteamCMD
scripts/VDF configuration files read by SteamCMD at upload time
Onyx reads and writes only the scripts/ subdirectory. The content/ and output/ folders are used by SteamCMD directly and are not modified by Onyx.

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Opening the setup dialog

Open the Setup dialog using either entry point:
  • Click the Setup button in the top toolbar, or
  • Click Set Directory on the empty-state panel shown when no app VDFs have been found yet.

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Selecting the ContentBuilder path

1

Click Browse

In the Setup dialog, click Browse. A native file picker opens.
2

Navigate to ContentBuilder

Navigate to your Steamworks SDK installation and select the ContentBuilder folder (e.g. tools/ContentBuilder). Click Select Folder.
3

Validation

Onyx checks that the selected folder contains content/, output/, and scripts/ subdirectories. If any are missing, an error is shown and the path is not saved. Verify you selected the correct ContentBuilder folder and try again.
4

Existing VDFs loaded

Once the path is accepted, any app_*.vdf files already present in scripts/ are listed in the Setup dialog automatically.
If the folder you select does not contain all three required subdirectories (content, output, scripts), Onyx will reject it. Do not select a parent or child of ContentBuilder—select the ContentBuilder folder itself.

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Creating a new app configuration

Each Steam application is represented by one app VDF file. You can create as many app entries as you need.
1

Add an app card

Click New App in the Setup dialog. A new app card appears with an App ID spinbox.
2

Enter the App ID

Set the App ID spinbox to your Steam application ID. This is the numeric ID found in the Steamworks partner dashboard.
3

Add depot cards

Click Add Depot on the app card to add one or more depot entries. Each depot card has:
  • Depot ID — the numeric depot ID assigned in Steamworks.
  • Content root — the absolute path to the folder whose contents will be mapped into this depot (e.g. D:\builds\win64).
4

Add additional depots

Repeat the previous step for every depot that belongs to this app. A single app can have multiple depots.
You can add multiple app cards in a single session. Each app card tracks its own depots independently. Click New App again to add another application.

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Generating VDF files

Once your app and depot cards are configured, click Generate VDFs. Onyx writes two files per app to the scripts/ folder: scripts/app_<APPID>.vdf — tells SteamCMD which depots belong to the app:
app_1234560.vdf
"appbuild"
{
	"appid" "1234560"
	"desc" "Generated with SteamBuildUploader by Silver Demon Studios"
	"buildoutput" "D:\SteamSDK\tools\ContentBuilder\output"
	"contentroot" ""
	"setlive" ""
	"preview" "0"
	"local" ""
	"depots"
	{
		"1234561" "depot_1234561.vdf"
	}
}
scripts/depot_<DEPOTID>.vdf — maps local files into the depot:
depot_1234561.vdf
"DepotBuildConfig"
{
	"DepotID" "1234561"
	"contentroot" "D:\builds\win64"
	"FileMapping"
	{
		"LocalPath" "*"
		"DepotPath" "."
		"recursive" "1"
	}
	"FileExclusion" "*.pdb"
}
The depot VDF maps everything under contentroot recursively and excludes .pdb files by default. To change file mappings or exclusions, edit the generated VDF directly in scripts/.
After generating, the main screen rescans scripts/ and displays an app card for each app_*.vdf file found.

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Deleting app and depot configurations

To remove an app or depot entry from the Setup dialog:
  • Click the Delete button on the app card to remove the app VDF and all its associated depot VDFs from scripts/.
  • Click the Delete button on a depot card to remove only that depot’s VDF file.
Deletion removes the VDF files from disk immediately. This cannot be undone from within Onyx. Back up your scripts/ folder if you need to preserve existing configurations.

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