A match share code is a short string — CSGO-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx— that lets anyone load the exact demo of a CS2 match and watch it from any player's point of view. It's the single most useful piece of evidence when you suspect someone's cheating. Here's how to get one.
The fast way: in the CS2 client
- Launch CS2.
- Open the Watch tab from the top menu.
- Go to Your Matches — this lists your recent Premier and Competitive games.
- Find the match and select it. You'll see options to download the demo and to copy the share code.
- Copy it. That string is the whole match, portable to anyone.
Anyone you give that code to can paste it back into the same Watch → Your Matchesscreen (there's a field to load a code) and watch the full demo — including the suspect in first person, which is where cheating actually shows.
Getting codes for matches you weren't in
You can only pull share codes for matches you played in via the client. To retrieve codes programmatically — or for matches across an account you own — you need two things from Steam:
- A Game Authentication Code (match token), generated at your CS2 Game State / match history settings.
- Your most recent known share codeas a starting point, after which Steam's API can walk forward through your match history.
This is the mechanism tools use to pull your history automatically. On CSWatch, linking your match history with that auth code lets the report flow attach the right demo without you copying codes by hand.
Why the share code matters so much
The scoreboard isn't evidence — anyone can have a big game. The demo is the proof. A report with a share code can actually be reviewed; a report without one is just an accusation. As we cover in how to report a cheater in CS2, attaching the share code is what gets a suspect in front of human reviewers instead of disappearing into Valve's silent queue.
And once you have the demo open, you'll want to know what to look for — pre-aim before information, identical flicks, tracking through smoke. That's the how to check if someone is cheating checklist.
Common problems
- No matches listed? Demos are only kept by Valve for a limited window — very old matches drop off and can no longer be downloaded.
- Code won't load? Make sure you copied the whole string including the
CSGO-prefix and all five segments. - Demo download fails?Valve's replay servers occasionally rate-limit or expire a demo — try again later, or it may simply be too old.
The quick version
- In CS2: Watch → Your Matches → select match → copy share code.
- The code is the full demo, watchable from any player's POV.
- For automatic history, link a Game Authentication Code + a recent share code.
- Attach it when you report a suspect on CSWatch so it can be demo-reviewed.