SteamBridge

Note

Still very WIP and only has a CLI, that will be hard to set up without instructions.

SteamBridge is a high-performance, custom Layer 2/Layer 4 virtual tunneling application written in Go. It routes raw Ethernet frames over the Steam P2P network (via the Steamworks SDK), effectively turning the Steam backbone into a zero-configuration, secure Virtual Private LAN for gaming, or if you wish, personal use.

Core Features

• Memory-Safe Hot Path: SteamBridge is engineered to route packets without allocating structs or copying payloads unnecessarily. It uses exact slice windowing and direct bitwise operations to jump headers and inspect frames.

Layer 4 Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) & Firewall

• Stateless Port Filtering: Features a custom DPI engine that parses variable-length IPv4 headers on the fly. It utilizes a bidirectional, thread-safe map to instantly allow or drop game traffic without the overhead of connection tracking, while allowing critical network infrastructure like ARP or ICMP to pass through
• Lock-Free Hot Toggle: Includes a firewall kill-switch, allowing the access control engine to be toggled at runtime

IPAM (IP Address Management)

• Byte-Frugal Handshakes: Custom protocol for an ultra-lightweight 6-byte binary control protocol
• Thread-Safe Leasing: The Host operates a mutex-locked IP pool utilizing bitwise math to generate and manage leased addresses dynamically.
• Deterministic OS Execution: Automatically executes cross-platform OS network commands (netsh on Windows, ip addr on Linux) to configure the local TAP adapter, utilizing a polling state machine to guarantee interface readiness before acknowledging leases.

Architecture

SteamBridge operates by creating a local virtual TAP adapter. Egress traffic from the OS is intercepted, inspected by the DPI engine, multiplexed, and transmitted via ISteamNetworkingSockets. Ingress traffic from remote Steam peers is demultiplexed, verified, and written directly back into the local OS network stack.

🗺️ Roadmap

• TAP device configuration: Automatically set up the tap device(assuming installation is complete)
• Allow for a direct P2P send or BroadCast
• Dynamic IP address management: Have the host allocate IP addresses
• Steam Social Integration: Leveraging the ISteamFriends API and GameRichPresenceJoinRequested_t callbacks to allow users to dynamically trigger IPAM handshakes by simply clicking "Join Game" in the Steam Overlay.
• GUI Dashboard: Transitioning from the CLI to a graphical interface (Wails/Fyne) for seamless peer discovery and visual session management.
• brainstorm more ideas that seem good