Why HagiCode is not available on Steam

HagiCode was submitted to Steam, but Steam retired the app after review and confirmed that it would not be distributed on the platform.

Read this FAQ if you want a direct explanation of what blocked the Steam release and what we can currently share about other distribution channels.

What Steam said in the final review

Steam’s final reply gave two clear decisions:

• Steam primarily accepts games.
• Non-game software is only accepted when it fits specific categories such as animation, audio/video production, design, photo editing, education, finance, player tools, or SteamVR tools.

After a further review, Steam said HagiCode was not a good fit for Steam because of its content, features, requirements, and incompatibility with Steam’s AI management rules. Steam also retired the app entry and said it cannot be reused.

How that relates to HagiCode’s product model

Steam did not provide a rule-by-rule technical checklist in the final message, but the earlier review discussion and our own reply make the practical blockers clear.

HagiCode is not a fully self-contained offline desktop application. Its current product model depends on an external AI toolchain and a user-prepared working environment:

• Some runtime dependencies are installed on demand from official package registries instead of being fully bundled into the app.
• HagiCode works by scheduling Agent CLI tools and processing their output rather than by shipping a native built-in AI engine.
• Major Agent CLI tools such as Claude Code and Codex cannot be legally prepackaged and redistributed by us, because they are commercial third-party software with their own license and copyright restrictions.
• Users also need their own valid subscriptions, service access, and provider-side availability for the compatible AI tools they choose to use.

In practice, this means HagiCode currently asks the user to bring external tools, external service access, and installable dependencies that live outside the Steam package itself. That operating model is materially different from the kind of self-contained software package Steam usually expects, and Steam explicitly concluded that it was not compatible with the platform’s AI management rules.

Why we did not bundle everything into the app

This was not an omission in the build. It was a deliberate design and compliance choice.

For foundational dependencies such as hagiscript, OpenSpec, Skills, and PM2, we use official installation sources and on-demand installation so users can receive current fixes and updates instead of waiting for a full app repackaging cycle.

For Agent CLI tools, bundling was not an option. Redistributing third-party commercial CLI software inside our own application package would create copyright and license problems. Because of that, HagiCode only provides the management surface and installation entry points, while users install and authorize the compatible external tools through their official supported methods.

What this means for users

At the moment, HagiCode is not coming to Steam in its current form. The reviewed Steam app entry has already been retired, so this is not just a pending re-review state for the same app record.

If you were waiting for a Steam release, please treat Steam as unavailable rather than delayed.

Other distribution channels

We are preparing other distribution channels that are better aligned with HagiCode’s current product shape and dependency model.

At this stage, those channels are still in preparation, so there is no separate public release channel to announce in this FAQ yet. Once they are ready, we will publish the release information through our official documentation and related official communication channels.