Real-time CS2 skin market data, budget optimization, and loadout building — powered by C++17
SkinAPI is a REST API that pulls live CS2 skin pricing from the Steam Community Market and exposes search, price lookup, budget optimization, and full loadout building through a clean JSON interface. The frontend provides a responsive dark-themed UI with grid/list views and client-side filtering.
Search CS2 skins by weapon name with live Steam Market data. Filter results by price range, wear condition (FN/MW/FT/WW/BS), and StatTrak status. Toggle between grid and list views.
Enter a dollar budget and a weapon — the optimizer fetches available skins and runs a 0/1 knapsack algorithm to select the combination that maximizes total value without exceeding your budget. Uses dynamic programming for budgets up to $500, with a greedy fallback for larger inputs.
Pick T or CT side and set separate budgets for primary weapons, secondary weapons, knife, and gloves. A round-robin interleaving algorithm ensures variety across weapon types — you won't get five AK-47 skins when you wanted a diverse loadout.
| Layer | Technology | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Backend | C++17 | Server, algorithms, API logic |
| HTTP Framework | Crow | Routing, CORS, JSON responses |
| HTTP Client | libcurl | Steam Market API requests |
| JSON | nlohmann/json | Parsing and serialization |
| Build | CMake 3.20+ | Cross-platform builds |
| Frontend | Vanilla JS / HTML / CSS | UI with no framework dependencies |
┌─────────────┐ HTTP ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│ Browser │ ◄──────────────► │ Crow HTTP Server │
│ (index.html │ │ port 8080 │
│ app.js) │ ├──────────────────────────────────┤
└─────────────┘ │ /search → fetchQuery() │
│ /price → fetchURL() │
│ /budget → knapsackOptimize() │
│ /loadout → fetchSlotOptions() │
├──────────────────────────────────┤
│ libcurl + rate limiter │
└────────────┬─────────────────────┘
│ HTTPS
┌────────────▼─────────────────────┐
│ Steam Community Market API │
└──────────────────────────────────┘
- CMake 3.20+
- C++17 compiler (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)
- libcurl development headers
Windows (MSYS2/MinGW)
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -G "MinGW Makefiles"
cmake --build .
./cs-skin-api.exeLinux / macOS
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
./cs-skin-apiThe server starts on http://localhost:8080. Open index.html in a browser to use the UI.
Returns server status.
{ "status": "ok", "message": "CS Skin API is alive" }Search for CS2 skins by name with optional price range filtering.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
q |
string | Yes | Weapon or skin name |
min |
float | No | Minimum price in USD (default: 0) |
max |
float | No | Maximum price in USD (default: 999999) |
Example: GET /search?q=AK-47+Redline&min=10&max=100
Response
{
"total_count": 8,
"results": [
{
"name": "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)",
"hash_name": "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)",
"sell_listings": 803,
"sell_price": 4823,
"sell_price_text": "$48.23",
"sale_price_text": "",
"icon_url": "https://community.akamai.steamstatic.com/economy/image/...",
"market_url": "https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/730/..."
}
]
}Get price overview for a specific skin.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
name |
string | Yes | Market hash name of the skin |
Example: GET /price?name=AK-47+Redline+(Field-Tested)
Response
{
"name": "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)",
"lowest_price": "$45.00",
"median_price": "$48.23",
"volume": "342"
}Select the optimal combination of skins within a budget using a 0/1 knapsack algorithm.
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
budget |
float | Yes | Maximum budget in USD (max $10,000) |
query |
string | Yes | Weapon or skin name to search |
Request / Response
Request:
{
"budget": 100.00,
"query": "AK-47 Redline"
}Response:
{
"budget": 100.00,
"total_spent": 88.17,
"remaining": 11.83,
"skins_found": 42,
"skins_selected": 2,
"algorithm": "knapsack_dp",
"skins": [
{ "name": "AK-47 | Redline (Field-Tested)", "price": "$48.23", "price_cents": 4823, "listings": 803 },
{ "name": "AK-47 | Redline (Battle-Scarred)", "price": "$39.94", "price_cents": 3994, "listings": 64 }
]
}Build a full loadout for T or CT side with per-slot budgets.
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
side |
string | Yes | "T" or "CT" |
weapons_budget |
float | Yes | Budget split between primary and secondary |
knife_budget |
float | No | Budget for knife slot (0 = skip) |
gloves_budget |
float | No | Budget for gloves slot (0 = skip) |
Request / Response
Request:
{
"side": "T",
"weapons_budget": 100.00,
"knife_budget": 50.00,
"gloves_budget": 30.00
}Response:
{
"side": "T",
"weapons_budget": 100.00,
"knife_budget": 50.00,
"gloves_budget": 30.00,
"slots": {
"primary": [{ "name": "AK-47 | Redline (FT)", "price": "$48.23", "price_cents": 4823, "listings": 803 }],
"secondary": [{ "name": "Glock-18 | Fade (FN)", "price": "$42.10", "price_cents": 4210, "listings": 12 }],
"knife": [{ "name": "Gut Knife | Doppler (FN)", "price": "$49.99", "price_cents": 4999, "listings": 5 }],
"gloves": [{ "name": "Sport Gloves | Arid (FT)", "price": "$28.50", "price_cents": 2850, "listings": 8 }]
}
}cs-skin-api/
├── src/
│ └── main.cpp # API server, knapsack algorithm, Steam fetcher
├── index.html # Frontend UI
├── app.js # Client-side logic and API calls
├── style.css # Dark theme styling
├── CMakeLists.txt # Build configuration
├── third_party/
│ └── crow_all.h # Crow HTTP framework (single header)
└── assets/ # Screenshots and demo GIFs
├── search-demo.gif
├── budget-demo.gif
└── loadout-demo.gif