What is a CS2 inspect link?

A CS2 inspect link is a steam://rungame URL that opens an in-game item preview when clicked. It uses the csgo_econ_action_preview command to tell Steam (and the CS2 client) which exact item to show. The link encodes either a pointer to a real item owned by a user/market listing, or a self-contained payload describing the item.

What's the difference between an "S" link and an "M" link?

S links (owner-bound) point at a specific item in a player's Steam inventory — owner SteamID + asset ID. M links point at a Steam Market listing — listing ID + asset ID. Both require Valve's servers to resolve the item. Self-encoded (hex blob) links contain the item description directly in the URL and don't need a server round-trip — these are what gen-code generators produce.

What does an inspect-link decoder actually extract?

Paint kit (the finish ID — e.g. AK-47 Redline = paint 282), float value (the 0.0-1.0 wear seed), pattern seed (the 0-1000 pattern index — what makes a Case Hardened blue or a Doppler phase 4), stickers and their wear, keychain (CS2-only), name tag, and "low/high rank" metadata on rare items. Decoders use the @csfloat/cs2-inspect-serializer protobuf library to parse the binary payload.

What is a "gen code" and what is it for?

A gen code is a !gen-style chat command (or generator-mode string) used by community CS2 servers running plugins like WeaponPaints, AcsLoader, or CS2 SkinChanger. It describes an item — paint kit, float, seed, stickers — in plain text the plugin can parse and apply to your inventory on that server, even if you don't actually own the skin. Different plugins use slightly different syntax; a gen-code generator outputs all the common variants.

Are inspect links safe to click?

Yes. The steam:// protocol only triggers the in-game item preview, not any action on your account. You can't lose anything by clicking an inspect link. The decoder at cs2apps.com/inspect/ runs the protobuf parse entirely in your browser — no server round-trip, no API call, no logging — so even pasting suspicious-looking links is harmless.

CS2 Inspect Link Format Explained (Decoder + Gen Codes)

Every CS2 item has a unique inspect link — a steam://rungame URL that opens an in-game preview when you click it. The format encodes enough information for Valve’s servers to look up the exact item (or, in the self-encoded variant, carries the item description in the URL itself). This guide covers the protocol, what decoders actually pull out of an inspect link, what gen codes are for, and how the pieces fit together when you’re trying to identify or replicate a specific skin.

Anatomy of an inspect link

A CS2 inspect link looks like one of three patterns:

steam://rungame/730/76561202255233023/+csgo_econ_action_preview%20S<steamid>A<assetid>D<verifyhash>
steam://rungame/730/76561202255233023/+csgo_econ_action_preview%20M<listingid>A<assetid>D<verifyhash>
steam://rungame/730/76561202255233023/+csgo_econ_action_preview%20<hexpayload>

The leading 730 is the Steam app ID for Counter-Strike. The big number that follows (76561202255233023) is a fake "host" SteamID Valve uses purely for protocol routing — it isn’t tied to any real user. The interesting part is everything after the +csgo_econ_action_preview command, which comes in three flavours.

The three link types

1. Owner-bound (“S” links)

Format: S<steamid64>A<assetid>D<verifyhash>. The link points at a specific item in a specific player’s Steam inventory. To resolve it, Valve’s GC (Game Coordinator) looks up assetid X in player Y’s inventory and returns the item data. The D parameter is a verification hash that prevents you from guessing inventories that don’t exist — the GC rejects mismatched hashes.

These are what you get when you right-click a friend’s inventory item and copy the inspect link. They break if the owner trades the item away (the asset ID becomes invalid).

2. Market-bound (“M” links)

Format: M<listingid>A<assetid>D<verifyhash>. Points at an active Steam Market listing instead of a private inventory. These are what Steam Market exposes when you click "Inspect in game" on a listing page. They break the moment the listing sells or is delisted.

3. Self-encoded (hex payload)

Format: a long uppercase hex string after the command. The payload is a serialised CEconItemPreviewDataBlock protobuf containing every relevant field directly — paint kit, float, seed, stickers, keychain, custom name, low/high rank. No server round-trip needed; the CS2 client renders the preview from the payload alone.

Self-encoded links are what skin-changer plugins and gen-code generators emit. They’re also what a decoder shows you when you paste any S/M link — once Valve’s GC resolves the link, the response is the same protobuf, just delivered via the GC instead of inline.

What a decoder extracts

The protobuf carries roughly a dozen fields that the in-game renderer uses. The ones worth caring about for trading, pattern hunting, and lookup:

paint_index — the finish ID. Each CS2 finish has a stable integer (AK-47 Redline = 282, AWP Asiimov = 279, M4A4 Howl = 309). Combined with the weapon defindex, this tells you exactly what skin it is.
paint_wear — the float value, 0.00 to 1.00, that maps to a wear bucket (Factory New / Minimal Wear / Field-Tested / Well-Worn / Battle-Scarred). The exact decimal matters for high-tier FN items — a 0.001 Asiimov can trade for 3x what a 0.05 of the same skin does.
paint_seed — the pattern index, 0 to 1000. This is what makes a Case Hardened blue gem, a Marble Fade FFI, a Crimson Web full web, or a Doppler a specific phase. The seed is the input to the deterministic shader that generates the pattern.
stickers — an array of (sticker_id, slot, wear, scale, rotation) for each applied sticker. Wear is the scratch progress, 0.0 fresh through 1.0 fully scratched.
keychain — CS2-only. (sticker_id, slot 0, wear unused, pattern). The 2024 keychain update added a new bottom-of-grip charm slot.
customname — name tag string, if any. Free text, capped length.
low_rank / high_rank — metadata Valve adds to certain rare items (medals, tournament drops). Surfaces things like "1 of 5" stickers.

Our decoder

The cs2apps.com/inspect/ decoder runs the official @csfloat/cs2-inspect-serializer protobuf library entirely in your browser. Paste any inspect link (S, M, or hex) and it extracts every field above. Zero API calls — the parse is fully local. Useful when you want to look up a pattern index without exposing the link to a third-party site.

For S and M links the decoder shows you the parsed owner/listing routing without resolving the actual item (resolution requires the Steam GC, which would mean an API call). Self-encoded hex links resolve fully locally.

Gen codes — what they are and aren’t

On community CS2 servers (often surf, KZ, retake, or DM servers) admins frequently install skin-changer plugins that let players preview or apply any skin to their inventory for that server session only. Real Steam inventory isn’t touched; the skin only renders on that server. Common plugins: WeaponPaints, AcsLoader, CS2 SkinChanger.

Each plugin takes a different chat-command syntax to apply a skin. WeaponPaints uses something like !ws ak 282 0.01 661 (weapon code, paint index, float, seed). AcsLoader uses !skin ak47 282 0.01 661. SkinChanger uses !apply weapon_ak47 282 0.01 661. A gen-code generator like ours produces all the variants in parallel so you can paste whichever the server expects.

Use cases

Pattern hunting. Decode an inspect link to read the paint_seed and cross-reference it against a pattern database. Is this Case Hardened a tier-1 blue gem? Which Marble Fade tier is this seed?
Float verification. Listed-for-sale floats sometimes don’t match the actual item — Steam Market shows the bucket but not the decimal. Decoding the inspect link before buying tells you the precise float you’d receive.
Sticker rarity. Identify which stickers are applied at which slots and how scratched they are. Useful when buying for craft potential.
Plugin server testing. Generate a gen code for an inspect link so you can preview an expensive skin on a community server without owning it.

What an inspect link can’t do

Inspect links are read-only. They can’t transfer ownership, trigger trades, log you into Steam, or do anything to your account. The steam:// protocol is a one-way command from your browser to your local Steam client — and the only command being issued is "render this item preview." Even sketchy-looking links are inert. Paste freely.