# Pastel A Matrix bot that posts gaming deals and free game alerts to a specified Matrix room, with a personal watchlist feature via DMs. Deals are sourced from PC/digital storefronts only (Steam, GOG, Humble Store, GreenManGaming, Epic Games Store) — universally accessible regardless of region. ## Data Sources - **CheapShark** — polled every 2 hours for top deals across Steam, GOG, Humble Store, and GreenManGaming - **IsThereAnyDeal** — polled every 2 hours for deals across all tracked stores, with built-in historical low detection (requires API key) - **Epic Games Store** — polled daily for free game promotions CheapShark and IsThereAnyDeal can be used individually or together — configure via the `DEAL_SOURCES` variable. When used as a deal source, IsThereAnyDeal provides historical low flags directly. When only CheapShark is active, IsThereAnyDeal can still optionally enrich deals with historical low info via the `ITAD_API_KEY`. ## Quick Start 1. Copy `.env.example` to `.env` and fill in your Matrix credentials and room ID 2. Build and run with Go 1.25+: ```bash go build -tags goolm -o pastel ./cmd/pastel ./pastel ``` Or run with Docker: ```bash docker build -t pastel . docker run --env-file .env -v pastel-data:/data pastel ``` ## Watchlist Users can DM the bot to set up personal deal alerts. When a matching deal appears, the bot sends a DM notification. | Command | Description | |---|---| | `!search ` | Search for current deals on a game | | `!watch ` | Watch for deals on a game | | `!unwatch <# or game name>` | Remove a game from your watchlist | | `!extend <# or game name>` | Reset the 180-day expiry timer | | `!watchlist` | Show your numbered watchlist | | `!help` | List available commands | - Watches expire after **180 days** to prevent stale entries from accumulating - The bot sends a reminder **7 days before expiry** — reply with `!extend` to keep it - Matching uses normalized substring search, so watching "elden ring" will match "ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree" - Notifications are sent via encrypted DMs (E2EE) - `!unwatch` and `!extend` accept either the game name or a number from `!watchlist` - `!search` is rate-limited to 5 searches per 10 minutes per user ## Obtaining a Matrix Bot Access Token 1. **Create a bot account** on your homeserver (e.g. via Element: register a new account like `@dealsbot:example.com`). 2. **Log in and get the access token** using `curl`: ```bash curl -XPOST "https://matrix.example.com/_matrix/client/v3/login" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "type": "m.login.password", "identifier": { "type": "m.id.user", "user": "dealsbot" }, "password": "YOUR_PASSWORD" }' ``` The response will contain an `access_token` field — copy that value into your `.env` as `MATRIX_BOT_ACCESS_TOKEN`. 3. **Invite the bot** to your deals room, then have the bot **accept the invite** (the bot does this automatically on startup). > **Tip:** After extracting the token you can change the bot account's password without invalidating the token. Store the token securely — anyone with it can act as the bot. ## Configuration All configuration is via environment variables (see `.env.example`): ### Core | Variable | Required | Default | Description | |---|---|---|---| | `MATRIX_HOMESERVER_URL` | Yes | — | Matrix homeserver URL | | `MATRIX_BOT_USER_ID` | Yes | — | Bot's Matrix user ID | | `MATRIX_BOT_ACCESS_TOKEN` | Yes | — | Bot's access token | | `MATRIX_BOT_PASSWORD` | No | — | Bot's password (enables auto-refresh, cross-signing, and device persistence) | | `MATRIX_DEALS_ROOM_ID` | Yes | — | Room ID to post deals in | | `ITAD_API_KEY` | No | — | IsThereAnyDeal API key (required when `itad` is in `DEAL_SOURCES`, optional otherwise for historical low detection) | | `DEAL_SOURCES` | No | cheapshark | Comma-separated deal sources: `cheapshark`, `itad`, or `cheapshark,itad` | | `MIN_DEAL_RATING` | No | 8.0 | Minimum CheapShark deal rating (0-10) | | `MIN_DISCOUNT_PERCENT` | No | 50 | Minimum discount percentage | | `MAX_PRICE_USD` | No | 20 | Maximum sale price in USD | | `SEND_INTRO_MESSAGE` | No | false | Send "The deals must flow." to the room on startup | | `DATABASE_PATH` | No | deals.db | Path to SQLite database file | ## Deployment ### systemd A service file is included for systemd deployments: ```bash # Build and install go build -tags goolm -o pastel ./cmd/pastel sudo mkdir -p /opt/pastel sudo cp pastel /opt/pastel/ sudo cp .env /opt/pastel/ # Install and start the service sudo cp pastel.service /etc/systemd/system/ sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable --now pastel ``` The service runs as a hardened unit with `ProtectSystem=strict`, restricting writes to `/opt/pastel` only. Adjust `WorkingDirectory` in the service file if deploying elsewhere. ```bash # Check status sudo systemctl status pastel # View logs sudo journalctl -u pastel -f ``` ## Preflight Check Run `--check` to validate your configuration and test connectivity to all services before starting the bot: ```bash ./pastel --check ``` This verifies: - **Matrix** — authentication token is valid and bot has joined the target room - **CheapShark** — API is reachable (skipped if not in `DEAL_SOURCES`) - **Epic Games Store** — API is reachable - **Frankfurter** — exchange rate API is reachable - **IsThereAnyDeal** — API key is valid (required when `itad` is in `DEAL_SOURCES`, skipped otherwise if not configured) The command exits with code 0 on success and 1 on failure, so it works in CI and Docker health-checks. ## Threads Deals are posted inside per-category threads to keep the room organized: | Thread | Content | |---|---| | Game Deals | CheapShark deals + ITAD deals with type `game` | | DLC Deals | ITAD deals with type `dlc` | | Epic Free Games | Current and upcoming free games from the Epic Games Store | Thread root messages are created automatically the first time a deal in that category appears. The root event IDs are stored in the database so subsequent deals are posted into the same threads. ## Behavior - **First run**: fetches current deals and records them in the database without posting (avoids spamming the room with existing deals) - **Deduplication**: deals are tracked by game ID + timestamp; duplicates are never reposted - **Pruning**: deals older than 30 days are pruned from the database so they can be reposted if they return - **One message per deal**: each deal is posted individually so messages are independently linkable and dismissible - **Multi-currency pricing**: deal prices are shown in USD, CAD, EUR, and GBP using live exchange rates from the [Frankfurter API](https://api.frankfurter.dev) (ECB data, no API key required). Rates are cached and refreshed twice daily. - **E2EE support**: persistent crypto store via mautrix CryptoHelper for encrypted room and DM support - **Auto-refresh**: when `MATRIX_BOT_PASSWORD` is set, the bot persists device credentials and automatically re-authenticates if the token expires - **Cross-signing**: the bot bootstraps cross-signing on startup so its device is automatically verified - **Presence heartbeat**: keeps the bot shown as online in Matrix clients ## Migrating from the Python Version The Go version is compatible with the existing Python `deals.db`. A migration script is included to convert timestamp formats and create the new watchlist table: ```bash # Build the migration tool go build -o migrate ./cmd/migrate # Migrate (creates a .bak backup automatically) ./migrate deals.db ``` The script: - Creates a backup at `deals.db.bak` - Converts Python's timestamp formats (`YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`, `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS+00:00`) to RFC 3339 - Creates the `watchlist` table All posted deals and the first-run flag carry over — no duplicate posts on switchover.