How to Use Undercut to Analyze and Automate WoW Forever Auction-House Flips

What Undercut Does

Undercut is a free, unofficial Windows tool for the WoW Forever auction house. It analyzes recorded auction scans, estimates what you may keep after fees and deposits, and identifies deals that fit your margin, budget, and likely sales rate.

Unlike a simple list sorted by the largest percentage, Undercut accounts for liquidity and competition. It can buy qualifying listings, repost them at a price likely to sell, and cancel and relist when another seller moves below your price. Its activity is logged so you can review what happened and why.

The project is designed for WoW Forever realm data rather than retail World of Warcraft. Auction-house automation is your responsibility, so review the relevant rules and use the tool at your own risk.

How the Deal Analysis Works

Undercut answers three practical questions before recommending a purchase:

• What would I keep? It subtracts the auction house's cut and the deposit that could be lost, then estimates the remaining amount.
• How many should I buy? It walks through the cheapest listings and stops at your margin, budget, or an estimated quantity beyond what you can sell.
• Will it sell? It estimates demand and calculates how long your inventory may wait behind other auctions listed below your intended price.

A recommendation can therefore look like this: buy 20 items up to 2g 37s and relist near 3g 20s; with roughly 42 sales per day, the estimated wait is 2.1 days and the expected amount kept is about 15g 48s.

Recognize the Three Main Traps

A large margin does not automatically mean a good flip. Undercut flags several common reasons a deal can fail:

• Low demand: an item may show a large percentage gain but sell fewer than once per day, leaving your gold tied up.
• Falling prices: an old normal-price estimate may no longer reflect the current market.
• A large wall of listings: cheap inventory may still be a poor purchase if many days of stock are already ahead of you.

For example, a Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader listing may have a high displayed margin but very low demand. Arcane Crystal may be affected by a declining market, while Black Lotus may have a long queue of existing listings. Use these warnings to avoid evaluating deals by margin alone.

Install the Windows Build

1. Open the project's latest release.
2. Download the Windows build, a single Undercut-setup.exe file.
3. Run the executable. The build is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may display a warning.
4. If SmartScreen appears, select More info, then Run anyway if you trust the download.

The README describes the project as requiring no account and no traditional installer. Windows 11 already includes the WebView2 runtime used by the desktop application.

Use Undercut for a Basic Flip

1. Start the application and load an available auction-house scan.
2. Review the recommended item, purchase quantity, maximum buy price, expected relist price, estimated sales rate, and estimated waiting time.
3. Adjust the margin slider. The gold bars show the listings you would buy, while the line shows where the plan stops.
4. Check the explanation and trap warnings before enabling automation.
5. Set a conservative budget and confirm that the recommended quantity is realistic for your expected sales volume.
6. Enable auto-buy when you are ready. Undercut purchases qualifying listings and records each action.
7. Allow it to repost eligible items. If the market moves and another seller lists below you, Undercut can cancel and relist according to the plan.

The tool is intended to run while the game is open. It does not move your character, fight, quest, or interact with anything outside the auction house.

Take the Shopping List into the Game

Undercut includes an addon panel for the in-game workflow. The panel shows what the bot bought and what remains posted, and it lets you pause auto-buy without leaving the game.

1. Install or load the addon/Undercut addon in the WoW Forever client.
2. Open the auction house and perform the scan used by the project.
3. Use the addon panel to review purchases and posted auctions.
4. Pause auto-buy from the panel whenever you need to stop purchasing.

The addon exports auction data for the application and performs the in-game list parsing and posting checks. It does not eliminate the need to review prices, demand, or market risk.

Build and Run the Project from Source

Source development requires Rust, Node.js 22, and the Tauri prerequisites for your platform. On Windows 11, WebView2 is already available.

Install dependencies

From the repository root, enter the application directory and install its packages:

cd app
npm install

Run the interface in a browser

To inspect the screens without compiling the Rust desktop application, start the development server:

npm run dev

Run the Tauri desktop application

To run the actual desktop app with its Rust backend, use:

npm run tauri dev

Configure a live feed

For a live feed, copy .env.example to .env and provide the required values. The README states that the API secret remains in the environment file and Rust backend rather than being exposed in the application window.

Run the tests

From the repository root, run the Rust workspace tests and then the application tests:

cargo test --workspace
npm --prefix app test

Understand the Project Structure

• crates/flip-core contains the tested flip calculations, fees, listing walk, and trap checks.
• crates/market-data handles market snapshots, Blizzard's data format, and sales estimates.
• app/ contains the Tauri 2 desktop application built with React and TypeScript.
• addon/Undercut contains the in-game panel that shows purchases, posted items, and the auto-buy pause control.
• docs/ contains the concept, competitor comparison, architecture, API notes, and rules documentation.

Advanced Tips for Safer Automation

Use liquidity as a primary filter

Prefer plans with a plausible sales rate and manageable waiting time instead of selecting only the largest margin. An item that sells slowly can lock up more gold than its percentage suggests.

Watch scan freshness

Prices come from recorded auction-house scans, so every calculation is only as current as the last scan. Refresh or obtain a newer scan before committing a large budget.

Treat sales estimates as approximate

The API does not report completed sales directly. Undercut compares snapshots and counts auctions that disappeared while time remained on the clock. Because cancelled auctions can look like sold auctions, a statement such as “about 42 a day” is only a rough guide.

Control quantity and budget

Set a margin and budget that leave room for market changes. The application can stop at your limits or when the estimated inventory exceeds what can sell, but it cannot prevent another seller from listing a large quantity after your purchase.

Review the logs

Every buy and post is logged. Use the log to verify the actual purchase price, posting decision, and reason for a cancellation or relist. If a number appears incorrect, report the item, realm, and expected value through the project's issue tracker.

Limitations and Safety Notes

Undercut cannot guarantee profit. Markets can move, demand estimates can be wrong, and new listings can change the queue immediately after you buy. Use a sensible volume, understand the rules, and accept that auction-house automation may carry account risk.

The project is a free, non-commercial, unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Blizzard Entertainment. Its own code and design are released under the MIT license, while game assets remain subject to their respective rights.

Conclusion

Undercut combines fee-aware flip math, demand estimates, trap detection, and in-game automation for WoW Forever auction-house trading. Start with the Windows release, inspect each recommendation, and use conservative limits. If you are developing the project, the Rust tests, React and TypeScript app, Tauri runner, market-data layer, and addon provide a clear path from recorded scans to a complete workflow.