Tool Updated 3 days ago

Ship private or paid Deadlock mods with automatic updates

Selling mods, or sharing them with a small group? Frogtech Mod Loader can install them from your own private repository. Each person gets a key, sees only the mods that key unlocks, and gets your updates automatically. This guide sets it up on Cloudflare's free tier in about half an hour.

How it works

Your repository file (repo.json) and your mod zips live on a small server you control.
A buyer adds your repository in the loader with their key. The loader sends the key with every request, as Authorization: Bearer <key>, and only ever to your server's address.
Your server checks the key, lists only the mods it unlocks, and only hands out those downloads.
You raise a version in repo.json: every buyer gets the update, usually within the hour.

A buyer adds your repository with their key and sees what it contains before confirming.

1. Set up storage and keys

1
Make a free Cloudflare account, then install Wrangler, its command-line tool, and sign in:
```
npm install -g wrangler
wrangler login
```
2
Create a storage bucket for your files:
```
wrangler r2 bucket create my-mods
```
3
Create a key store, and note the id it prints:
```
wrangler kv namespace create KEYS
```

2. The server

Save this as worker.js. It checks the key, filters repo.json to the mods that key owns, and serves only those downloads.

worker.js

// worker.js: a private Frogtech Mod Loader repository on Cloudflare Workers
export default {
  async fetch(request, env) {
    const url = new URL(request.url);
    const key = (request.headers.get('Authorization') || '').replace(/^Bearer /, '');
    // KEYS (KV): each buyer's key -> the ids of the mods they own, like ["cool_hud"]
    const owned = key ? JSON.parse((await env.KEYS.get(key)) || 'null') : null;
    if (!owned) return new Response('Key not accepted', { status: 401 });

    if (url.pathname === '/repo.json') {
      // FILES (R2): repo.json and the mod zips; each buyer only sees their mods
      const repo = await (await env.FILES.get('repo.json')).json();
      repo.mods = repo.mods.filter((m) => owned.includes(m.id));
      return Response.json(repo);
    }
    const m = url.pathname.match(/^\/dl\/([a-z0-9_-]+)_v[0-9.]+\.zip$/);
    if (m && owned.includes(m[1])) {
      const file = await env.FILES.get(url.pathname.slice(1));
      if (file) return new Response(file.body, { headers: { 'content-type': 'application/zip' } });
    }
    return new Response('Not found', { status: 404 });
  }
};

Next to it, a wrangler.toml that connects the bucket and the key store:

wrangler.toml

name = "my-mods"
main = "worker.js"
compatibility_date = "2026-10-01"

[[r2_buckets]]
binding = "FILES"
bucket_name = "my-mods"

[[kv_namespaces]]
binding = "KEYS"
id = "<the id from step 1>"

Then deploy it. Your repository is now at https://my-mods.<you>.workers.dev/repo.json.

wrangler deploy

3. Upload a mod

1
Zip your mod (with its pak01_dir.vpk inside) as <id>_v<version>.zip, for example cool_hud_v1.0.zip.
2
Get its checksum. On Windows use certutil -hashfile cool_hud_v1.0.zip SHA256 instead.
```
sha256sum cool_hud_v1.0.zip
```
3
Write repo.json with the checksum, like below.

Upload the zip and repo.json:

wrangler r2 object put my-mods/dl/cool_hud_v1.0.zip --file cool_hud_v1.0.zip --remote
wrangler r2 object put my-mods/repo.json --file repo.json --remote

repo.json

{
  "format": 1,
  "name": "My Private Mods",
  "mods": [
    { "id": "cool_hud", "name": "Cool HUD", "version": "1.0",
      "url": "https://my-mods.<you>.workers.dev/dl/cool_hud_v1.0.zip",
      "sha256": "<from sha256sum>", "tags": ["HUD"] }
  ]
}

Tip: The download links point at your own server (the /dl/ path), so the loader sends the key there too. Links on other hosts never receive the key.

4. Give someone access

1
Make a long random key:
```
openssl rand -hex 24
```

Store which mods that key unlocks:

wrangler kv key put --namespace-id <id> "<key>" '["cool_hud"]' --remote

3
Send the buyer the key and this link, which opens the loader's Add repository dialog:
```
frogmod://repo/add?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmy-mods.<you>.workers.dev%2Frepo.json
```

To take access away, delete the key. Their loader then shows "Key not accepted" and stops updating your mods.

wrangler kv key delete --namespace-id <id> "<key>" --remote

Shipping an update

Upload the new zip with the higher version in its name:

wrangler r2 object put my-mods/dl/cool_hud_v1.1.zip --file cool_hud_v1.1.zip --remote

2
Change that mod's version, url and sha256 in repo.json, and upload it again:
```
wrangler r2 object put my-mods/repo.json --file repo.json --remote
```

That's it: every buyer's loader installs it the next time Deadlock is closed.

Selling keys

Any shop that can send you a webhook or let you deliver a code works: Ko-fi, Patreon, Gumroad or your own site. Make a key when someone buys, store it as in step 4, and send it to them. For free mods you don't need any of this: our GitHub template hosts a public repository for free.

The repository format GitHub template (free mods)Frogtech Mod Loader