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Claude 6fdbc9f9a0 Reduce exchange rate refresh to twice daily

Be respectful of the free Frankfurter API — ECB rates only update once
a day anyway, so a 12-hour cache TTL is more than sufficient.

https://claude.ai/code/session_01LPpSZFfyh6vdV5HGFWjoQX

2026-02-28 00:56:21 +00:00

2.3 KiB

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Pastel

A Matrix bot that posts gaming deals and free game alerts to a specified Matrix room.

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
Epic Games Store — polled daily for free game promotions
IsThereAnyDeal (optional) — flags deals that are at an all-time historical low price

Quick Start

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your Matrix credentials and room ID
Run with Docker:

docker build -t pastel .
docker run --env-file .env -v pastel-data:/data pastel

Or run directly with Python 3.12+:

pip install -r requirements.txt
python -m gaming_deals_bot

Configuration

All configuration is via environment variables (see .env.example):

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_DEALS_ROOM_ID`	Yes	—	Room ID to post deals in
`ITAD_API_KEY`	No	—	IsThereAnyDeal API key for historical low detection
`MIN_DEAL_RATING`	No	80	Minimum CheapShark deal rating (0-100)
`MIN_DISCOUNT_PERCENT`	No	50	Minimum discount percentage
`MAX_PRICE_USD`	No	20	Maximum sale price in USD
`DATABASE_PATH`	No	deals.db	Path to SQLite database file

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 (ECB data, no API key required). Rates are cached and refreshed twice daily.