Why doesn't SetLive put my Steam build live on the default branch?

"SetLive" in a SteamPipe app_build script only works for beta branches. Steam refuses to set the default branch live automatically: that last step is always a click on the app's Builds page in Steamworks.

json

"AppBuild"
{
  "AppID" "1000"
  "Desc" "CI build"
  "SetLive" "staging"   // a beta branch, never "default"
  "Preview" "0"         // "1" = dry run: logs and manifest only, nothing uploaded
  "Depots" { "1001" "depot_build_1001.vdf" }
}

bash

steamcmd +login <account> +run_app_build ../scripts/app_build.vdf +quit

So my pipeline uploads every build straight to a private staging branch, I play it there, and promoting it to default stays a deliberate manual step. That is a feature, not a gap: CI can never ship to all players by itself. Also note that the account setting builds live on a released app needs Steam Guard via a phone or the mobile app.

Source: Steamworks: Uploading to Steam

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