CSDK 13

Community Source Development Kit 13 (CSDK13) is the community set of tools made by merging together files from the Dota 2 Workshop Tools and fixes made by the community members after Deadlock’s Nurse Harrow (Oct 20th 2026) update.

Reduced CSDK 13 is a stripped down version of the full CSDK 13 (without full game files). It can be used for editing models, sounds, textures, UI, vdata and more.

Installation

Download and open the archive.

Inside the archive is the Reduced_CSDK_13 folder. Unpack it to a vacant location.

Important

Avoid installing the CSDK inside a folder that can be related to OneDrive (Desktop, Documents, etc). Even if you think it’s disabled, it can still sometimes mess up file permissions and cause crashes or stop the CSDK from launching altogether.

Launch csdkcfg.exe to load into the Configuration Tool. See the Addons section down below for instructions on how to use it.

Full Game Files

This step is required to be able to launch the game in bin_server mode, use Material Editor, ModelDoc and create maps in Hammer.

Important

You can safely skip this step and move onto Addons if you don’t plan on using this feature.

To have full game files with your CSDK 13 from main Deadlock, you’ll need to:

Copy over VPK’s files located In Deadlock\game\citadel (including Shader VPK’s)

Copy these 4 folders shown and overwrite any existing files.

Once done, you can move onto Addons section below!

If the above method is no longer Viable then- To have full game files with your CSDK 13 via Manifests, you’ll need to:

Warning

Do not touch the main Deadlock files from Steam during this.

1. Download Depot Downloader. Make sure you own Deadlock on Steam.
2. With Depot Downloader, download these manifests through the command prompt using the following commands:

DepotDownloader -app 1422450 -depot 1422451 -manifest 251439169978540470 -qr -dir "C:\path\to\Reduced_CSDK_13"

DepotDownloader -app 1422450 -depot 1422456 -manifest 7481470845663423297 -qr -dir "C:\path\to\Reduced_CSDK_13"

Replace the path after -dir with the path to the root directory of Reduced CSDK 13.

If you're getting an error...

No manifest request code was returned for depot 1422451 from app 1422450, manifest 251439169978540470
Encountered 401 for depot manifest 1422451 251439169978540470. Aborting.

Unable to download manifest 251439169978540470 for depot 1422451
App 1422450 was not completely downloaded.
The operation was canceled.
Disconnected from Steam

Valve restricts downloading manifests for game versions released before you got access to Deadlock. To resolve this issue, you need to supply DepotDownloader with the required manifest files.

Download the archive from this link and extract it in `Reduced_CSDK_13. Afterwards, re-run the above commands and you should see game files being downloaded.

3. Once all files are downloaded, you’ll now need to create your first addon.

Addons

Launch the CSDK Configuration Tool (launcher) by opening Reduced_CSDK_13/csdkcfg.exe

Warning

It’s required that you Duplicate deadlock_template when making a new addon, This contains essential files in order for tools to function properly.

This can be done by Right-Clicking on deadlock_template>Duplicate

A new box will appear where you can fill in New Addon Name.

Addon names must be all lowercase with no spaces.

Warning

If you have addons with uppercase letters, spaces, or special characters in their name they won’t show up in this launcher. You need to rename your addon folders in content/citadel_addons and game/citadel_addons and press the “Refresh addons list” button to use them in the new launcher.

Creating an addon automatically makes two folders for your project:

• content/citadel_addons/<your_addon_name>: This is where you’ll place all raw source files, so they can be used by the tools. It is the main folder you’ll be working in.

• game/citadel_addons/<your_addon_name>: This is where the compiled versions of your assets will be stored and read by the game.

Tools should automatically compile new files if they are present in content/ and be placed by the game in the game/ directory. Some files like localization files might be the exception. Compiled files usually end in _c (e.g., .vtex_c, .vmdl_c, .vdata_c).

Right clicking on an addon in the list or pressing the gear icon next to the currently selected addon at the bottom will bring up the context menu:

From here you can:

• Explore Content Folder: open the content/citadel_addons/ folder for this addon.
• Explore Game Folder: open the game/citadel_addons/ folder for this addon.
• Delete: delete both Content and Game folders of this addon.
• Duplicate: make a copy of this addon. This is how you make template addons into regular (editable and launchable) addons.
• Compile All Assets: use the Resource Compiler to compile all assets in the Content folder of this addon without launching the tools.
• Create VPK: create a .vpk file from the compiled Game folder of this addon.

Binaries

CSDK13 ships with two sets of binaries: bin, bin_server.

You can select which set of binaries to use for launching the tools in the top-left corner of the launcher:

bin

Regular tool binaries. This mode is able to compile files and maps directly from Hammer.

Warning

Currently SH2_lum is missing, meaning Lightmaps will appear dark.

bin_server

Requires Full Game Files. Allows you to launch Deadlock in server mode with limited tools like Asset Browser, Material Editor, Modeldoc, and the ability to compile some files like VData and Panorama assets.

Warning

Everything else Particle related in tools will crash. Otherwise useful for previewing your mods.

Launch Options

On the right side of the configuration tool are “Launch Options”.

VConsole: Whether to use the VConsole or the in-game console window.

No Addon: This launches the tools with no addon mounted. Should be only used to edit some specific tool assets like toolscenelightrigs.vdata and game_asset_tags.vdata.

Warning

For regular mod-making behavior, it’s advised to create a new addon or duplicate an existing addon. Continuing in “No Addon” might lead to original game/citadel assets being overridden, potential corruption of important data and the addon approach works together with the CS2 Workshop Manager to pack the addons in a VPK, plus it’s much easier and cleaner to organize packs of assets in addons.

Usage

Press the “Launch Tools” button in the bottom right corner to launch the Asset Browser for the currently selected addon.

Important

Steam must be running when launching the tools.