Steamworks: Find the Shipping App Id
This chapter names the app players already run. The next chapter creates an achievement set on a different app id. Opening the shipping app first is how a draft becomes a live configuration.
Why this matters now
Steam achievement sets landed in the <strong>October 15, 2026</strong> client beta. You configure them on the <a href="https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/achievements/ach_guide">partner site</a>, not with a new SDK. The first time you open Achievements on a live game, the base set already holds every achievement you ship.
<strong>You will do:</strong> write down the shipping app id and confirm you can open a second app that is not that number.
<strong>Time:</strong> about <strong>8 minutes</strong>.
Prerequisites
- A Steamworks partner login
- The store build’s app id
Write the number
- Open the Steamworks partner site and find the app your store page uses.
- Copy the numeric app id. That is the shipping id.
- Look for a second app you can throw away: a private test app, or an app that has never been released.
- If the only id you can open is the shipping one, stop. Do not click <strong>Create New Set</strong> tonight.
<strong>Check:</strong> the two numbers are different, or you have written that you only have one app and you will not continue.
Common mistakes
- Treating the store page’s name as the app id. The id is the number.
- Opening Manage Achievements on the live game “just to look” and then saving.
- Using a friend’s app id because your lab app felt empty.
Where to go next
- <strong>One draft set:</strong> <a href="/guides/steamworks?chapter=steamworks-achievement-sets-developer-only-draft-on-a-lab-app-preflight-2026-preflight">Developer-only achievement set on a lab app</a>
- <strong>What the beta changed:</strong> <a href="/blog/what-steam-achievement-sets-beta-changed-for-indies-2026">Steam achievement sets for indies</a>
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<strong>The shipping app id is the one you do not experiment on.</strong> Write it down before you open Create New Set.