# Rea > Reverse engineering for coding agents: one CLI and MCP server to inspect apps, understand features, and build them your way. - **Type:** MCP server - **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-morluto-rea` - **Verified:** Pending review - **Seller:** [morluto](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/morluto) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Integrations](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/integrations) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [morluto](https://github.com/morluto) - **Source:** https://github.com/morluto/rea ## Install ```sh agentstack add mcp-morluto-rea ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About **English** · [简体中文](README_zh.md) · [日本語](README_ja.md) · [한국어](README_ko.md) · [العربية](README_ar.md) # REA: Reverse Engineer Anything ### One CLI and MCP server for agents to reverse engineer anything **See a feature you like. Understand how it works, down to the binary level.** [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/rea-agents) [](https://github.com/morluto/rea/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](#tool-catalog-for-investigation) [](https://nodejs.org/) [](LICENSE) [Quick start](#quick-start) · [Current status](#current-status) · [Investigation model](#the-investigation-model) · [Tool catalog](#tool-catalog-for-investigation) · [Roadmap](#roadmap) · [How it works](#how-it-works) npm install --global rea-agents && rea setup --- See a feature in an app that you want in your own product? Give the app to your agent—even without its source code. With REA, the agent can investigate the feature, explain how it works, show its evidence, and build a version adapted to your stack and requirements. REA gives agents one consistent way to investigate software. Today that includes deep native analysis and function dossiers through Hopper or bring-your-own Ghidra on Linux, plus an experimental Windows x64 Ghidra P0 for approved native PE applications; execution-free managed PE/CLI triage; reproducible Evidence v2 records; controlled process capture; passive website and Electron observation; bounded JavaScript/source-map reconstruction; and a versioned domain graph for connecting JavaScript application layers without confusing static inference with runtime observation. The longer-term toolkit extends the same agent workflow to APIs, protocols, mobile artifacts, firmware, richer runtime behavior, and differences between versions. Reverse engineering normally makes the operator choose a tool, learn its API, move evidence between programs, and decide what to inspect next. REA gives that work to the agent through commands, skills, structured results, and repeatable investigation workflows. ## Just ask your agent Install the REA skill: ```bash npx skills add morluto/rea ``` Then ask: ```text Use REA to understand how search works in the Notes app, show me the evidence, and build a similar feature for my project. ``` Notes is only an example. Name any app you want to understand, or ask the agent to start with an overview. ## The investigation model Decompile Open an app and recover readable code, strings, names, and other clues about how it works. Understand Follow the code from one part of the app to another until the agent can explain how a feature actually works. Recreate Turn what the agent learned into a feature for your own product, adapted to your stack, interface, and requirements. REA shows how it reached its conclusions. It does not claim to recover original source code or automatically clone an application. ## Why REA | | | | ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Built for agents** | Ask what an app does and let your agent inspect it instead of guessing. | | **CLI and MCP** | Run the same reverse-engineering capabilities from your terminal or agent. | | **Complexity handled** | REA installs and manages the reverse-engineering tools behind the scenes. | | **From insight to code** | Understand a feature, then build your own version in the same coding session. | | **Local by design** | Analysis runs on your supported local host. REA does not upload the app to a hosted analysis service. | | **Keeps context** | Investigate several apps without starting over for every question. | ## Quick start ### Install the CLI — recommended ```bash npm install --global rea-agents rea setup ``` Installing the CLI does not update Homebrew, Node.js, npm, Hopper, or agent configuration. `rea setup` detects what is already present, prints every proposed change, and asks before applying it. REA detects Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, and Devin. It configures the first six when detected; Devin is reported but left unchanged because it has no documented local MCP configuration boundary. Registrations are additive, backup-first, and read back after writing. You can safely rerun setup. An optional curl wrapper installs the same CLI package and starts setup only when a terminal is available: ```bash curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/morluto/rea/main/install.sh | bash ``` Pass installer options after `bash -s --`, for example `--dry-run`, `--no-setup`, or `--version 1.0.0`. The curl wrapper never installs prerequisites or configures integrations itself. See [Installation and setup](docs/installation.md) for its exact mutation boundary. ### With an agent — recommended ```bash npx skills add morluto/rea ``` Ask your agent to set up REA. It will check your supported host, explain anything it needs to install, ask for approval, and guide you through system prompts. After setup, restart the agent if it asks you to load the full REA toolset. Review the setup plan, approve it if appropriate, then describe the app or feature you want to understand. Hopper can run in its free demo mode; if it shows a first-run prompt, choose the demo or enter an existing license. ### From Terminal — no installation ```bash npx -y rea-agents@latest setup npx -y rea-agents@latest doctor npx -y rea-agents@latest analyze /Applications/Notes.app ``` Review the setup plan before confirming it. Restart a configured agent so it loads REA. ### From Terminal — install the `rea` command ```bash npm install --global rea-agents rea setup rea doctor rea analyze /Applications/Notes.app ``` Update that global installation in place: ```bash rea upgrade ``` REA checks npm for the latest release and verifies that the running package is the global installation it will replace. Source, local, and `npx` copies report the manual `npm install --global rea-agents@latest` command instead of updating an unrelated global package. Choose either the no-install commands or the global installation. You do not need both. `npm install rea-agents` without `--global` installs `rea` only into the current project's `node_modules/.bin`; it does not add `rea` to your shell `PATH`. Use the `npx` commands above for one-off runs or `--global` when you want a shell-visible `rea` command. ### Requirements - macOS 12 or newer - Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 41+, or 64-bit Arch Linux - Windows x64 for the experimental, Ghidra-only native PE P0 boundary - Node.js 22.19+ or 24.11+ (including newer releases) - npm; REA does not require or install a particular npm version Deep binary operations use [Hopper](https://www.hopperapp.com/), a separate desktop application with its own license, or a caller-selected Ghidra provider. Ghidra supplies read-only inventory, function metadata, decompilation, assembly, resolved calls, typed references, xrefs, CFG, and function dossiers; GUI state and mutations remain unavailable through that provider. Setup reuses an existing Hopper installation or an operator-supplied Ghidra installation. It never downloads Ghidra or installs Java. If neither provider is ready, interactive setup proposes Hopper; unattended Hopper installation requires `rea setup --yes --install-hopper`. If something is not working, run: ```bash npx -y rea-agents@latest doctor ``` `rea doctor --json` is read-only and distinguishes unsupported hosts, missing dependencies, a missing local analysis engine, configuration drift, and healthy checks. Paid-license activation is optional: on Linux, REA runs the supported Hopper demo build on a private Xvfb display and selects Hopper's offered demo mode for each analysis session. ### Linux installation and troubleshooting On macOS, approved setup downloads Hopper's official DMG, verifies it, and installs the app into `~/Applications` without Homebrew or administrator privileges. Hopper may show its demo or license prompt when first opened; no manual drag-and-drop is required. On Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 41+, and 64-bit Arch Linux, approved setup downloads the pinned official Hopper 6.4.2 package, restricts downloads to Hopper's public origin, verifies the published size and checksum, and invokes `apt-get`, `dnf`, or `pacman` to install Hopper and the Xvfb, Python, X11, and XTEST packages used by demo sessions. When REA is not already running as root, `pkexec` presents the system authorization prompt. REA never invokes `sudo`. Demo sessions run on an isolated 1280×1024 Xvfb display. REA verifies the exact supported Hopper binary, its owned process ancestry, the expected dialog geometry, and bridge state before selecting `Try the Demo`; any mismatch fails closed. The normal Linux launcher is `/opt/hopper/bin/Hopper`. If Hopper was installed elsewhere: ```bash export HOPPER_LAUNCHER_PATH=/absolute/path/to/Hopper rea doctor --json ``` If doctor reports a missing analysis engine even though the file exists, inspect shared-library resolution with: ```bash ldd /opt/hopper/bin/Hopper | grep 'not found' ``` Install the missing distribution packages and rerun `rea setup`. Linux demo automation requires `Xvfb`, Python 3, `libX11.so.6`, and `libXtst.so.6`; approved setup installs those direct runtime dependencies and does not interact with the user's desktop display. Hopper's free demo supports analysis with vendor-defined limits, and a paid license is optional. The curl installer places the `rea` command in `~/.local/bin` on Linux; add that directory to future shell `PATH` values if it is not already present. REA defaults `HOPPER_LAUNCHER_PATH` to `/Applications/Hopper Disassembler.app/Contents/MacOS/hopper` on macOS and `/opt/hopper/bin/Hopper` on Linux. Explicit configuration always takes precedence. ### Ghidra read-only analysis provider The Ghidra adapter supports the exact official Ghidra 12.1.2 release with a 64-bit full JDK 21 on Linux x64. It also provides an experimental Windows x64 P0 limited to approved native x86-64 PE applications. Download and extract those projects yourself, then configure absolute paths: ```bash export GHIDRA_INSTALL_DIR=/absolute/path/to/ghidra_12.1.2_PUBLIC export JAVA_HOME=/absolute/path/to/jdk-21 # optional when java and javac resolve from PATH rea doctor --json rea setup rea providers --json ``` Doctor distinguishes missing configuration, a bad installation root, the wrong Ghidra or Java version, a JRE without `javac`, a missing `support/analyzeHeadless`, and an unsupported platform or architecture. Approved setup only copies the verified non-secret paths into detected MCP registrations; it does not modify the Ghidra installation or install/download Ghidra or Java. On Windows, set the same variables in PowerShell and run `rea doctor --json`; automated `rea setup` and Hopper installation remain unavailable. The P0 target boundary rejects DLLs, managed PE files, non-x86-64 images, mutable/hostile inputs, and non-PE formats. See the [Windows Ghidra P0 operations guide](docs/windows-ghidra-p0.md) for registration, exact limitations, CI evidence, and acceptance gates. REA loads its packaged Java `HeadlessScript` with `-scriptPath`, copies and digest-verifies the target in an ephemeral runtime, enables `-readOnly` and `-deleteProject`, caps auto-analysis at 300 seconds with two CPUs and a 2 GiB Java heap, and authenticates every request. Linux uses a mode-0600 Unix socket. Windows P0 uses token-authenticated IPv4 loopback and a token-free endpoint record because Node path-based IPC does not connect to Java AF_UNIX sockets on Windows. The bridge verifies Ghidra's imported-byte SHA-256 before serving any operation. The Ghidra adapter declares 18 direct and enhanced operations. Its ten inventory operations are `list_documents`, `list_procedures`, `list_strings`, `list_names`, `list_segments`, `address_name`, `procedure_address`, `resolve_containing_procedure`, `search_procedures`, and `search_strings`. It also admits `procedure_info`, `procedure_pseudo_code`, `procedure_assembly`, `procedure_callers`, `procedure_callees`, `procedure_references`, `xrefs`, and `analyze_function`. These capabilities enable the shared Swift/Objective-C inventory workflows, `binary_overview`, `batch_decompile`, `get_call_graph`, `find_xrefs_to_name`, `trace_feature`, and complete function dossiers. Default-space addresses are lowercase `0x` hexadecimal. Other spaces, including `EXTERNAL`, use `:0x`. Symbol results identify primary, dynamic, external, type, and source facts; procedures distinguish external functions and thunks; strings identify charset, missing-terminator state, byte length, and value truncation; memory-block ends are exclusive and permissions come directly from Ghidra. The bridge serves operations only after auto-analysis completes. Each Program owns one persistent `DecompInterface`; a bounded 32-request FIFO serializes Ghidra API access, and every decompile has a 30-second native deadline. Reference results preserve Ghidra's call/jump/data/read/write/indirect/computed/external facts, while unresolved targetless flows remain explicitly unknown. Synthetic entry-point references without actionable memory sources are omitted. Pseudocode and assembly are provider-specific observations, not original source or Hopper-equivalent text. An analysis timeout, scan or inventory safety limit, request timeout, or oversized response fails explicitly instead of returning a partial result labeled complete. `npm run verify:ghidra` compiles source-owned x86-64 debug and stripped ELF, AArch64 ELF, x86-64 PE, and x86-64 Mach-O fixtures. Against real Ghidra 12.1.2 it validates every admitted operation, direct and indirect calls, imports/exports/thunks, typed references, strings/xrefs, multi-block CFG, cancellation, deadlines, concurrency, malformed inputs, and complete process/project cleanup. Set `REA_CC`, `REA_CLANG`, or `REA_LLD_LINK` only when the corresponding compiler command is not on `PATH`. `npm run verify:ghidra:windows` uses a deterministic source-owned native x86-64 PE application and requires all 18 operations, target/snapshot/import digest linkage, authenticated loopback transport, and cleanup on a controlled Windows x64 Ghidra 12.1.2 runner. This proof does not establish Job Object ownership, private DACLs, or reparse-point-safe authority. To remove only REA-owned MCP registrations and the managed skill: ```bash rea uninstall rea uninstall --purge-data # also removes only ~/.rea/cache and ~/.rea/state ``` Uninstall preserves Hopper, Node.js, evidence, captures, external evidence roots, unrelated skills, and other MCP servers. It refuses malformed client configuration and never follows purge-data symlinks. ### CLI or agent? | If you want to… | Use | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Ask an agent to investigate an app and build a feature | Install the skill, then talk to your agent | | Inspect or decompile one part of an app from the Terminal | `rea analyze` or `rea decompile` | | Validate, canonicalize, or compare Evidence v2 bundles | `rea evidence-import`, `rea evidence-export`, or `rea compare` | | Run or resume a persistent two-version artifact analysis | `rea investigate-versions` | | Map a local JavaScript/Electron application without executing it | `rea analyze-javascript-applica … ## Source & license This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [morluto](https://github.com/morluto) - **Source:** [morluto/rea](https://github.com/morluto/rea) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** yes - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: flagged — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-morluto-rea - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/morluto - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.