IDA Library Python Module

⚠️ This is a dev pre-release version. APIs may change without notice and pre-release versions may be deleted at any time.

The IDA Library Python module enables running IDA Pro as an independent Python package outside the IDA UI environment, allowing for programmatic binary analysis and reverse engineering tasks.

Prerequisites

The idapro Python module needs to know where IDA Pro is installed. The location is stored in a per-user config file (%APPDATA%\Hex-Rays\IDA Pro\ida-config.json on Windows, ~/.idapro/ida-config.json on Linux/macOS).

• If IDA was installed via HCLI: the install path is configured automatically — no further setup is required.

• Otherwise: run the py-activate-idalib.py activation script that ships with IDA once. It auto-detects the install directory from its own location and writes it to the per-user config. The script normally lives in <IDA install dir>/idalib/python/:

  Linux/macOS:

  python3 "/path/to/ida/idalib/python/py-activate-idalib.py"
  

  Windows:

  python "C:\Program Files\IDA Professional 9.3\idalib\python\py-activate-idalib.py"
  

  You can also pass -d <ida-install-dir> to point at a specific IDA installation explicitly.

Usage Example

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
IDA Pro Python Library Usage Example
This example demonstrates how to analyze a binary file using IDA Pro Python library.
"""

import argparse
import importlib.metadata

# You need to import first idapro module
import idapro

# After idapro module was loaded, you can simply import IDA Python modules
import ida_entry
import ida_nalt
import idaapi
import idc
import idautils
import ida_ida
import ida_funcs
import ida_name
import ida_bytes
import ida_typeinf

# Read versions, configured IDA pro kernel and python package
kern_major, kern_minor, kern_build = idapro.get_library_version()
idapro_version = importlib.metadata.version('idapro')
kernel_path = idapro.get_ida_install_dir()

# Parse input arguments
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=f"IDA Library usage example, idapro version: {idapro_version}, "
    f"kernel version: {kern_major}.{kern_minor}.{kern_build}, kernel libraries path: {kernel_path}")
parser.add_argument(
    "-f",
    "--input-file",
    help="Binary input file to be loaded",
    type=str,
    required=True,
    default=None
)
args = parser.parse_args()

# Print banner with components versions
print(f"{parser.description}\n")

# Open database
if idapro.open_database(args.input_file, True) == 0:
    # Extract minimum/maxim addresses
    min_ea = ida_ida.inf_get_min_ea()
    max_ea = ida_ida.inf_get_max_ea()
    print(f"Addresses range: {hex(min_ea)} - {hex(max_ea)}")

    # Print entry point
    entry_point = ida_entry.get_entry_ordinal(0)
    if entry_point != idaapi.BADADDR:
        entry_addr = ida_entry.get_entry(entry_point)
        print(f"Entry point: {hex(entry_addr)}")

    # Print some metadata
    print(f"Metadata:")
    print(f" path: {idaapi.get_input_file_path()}")
    print(f" module: {idaapi.get_root_filename()}")
    print(f" base: {hex(idaapi.get_imagebase())}")
    print(f" filesize: {hex(ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_size())}")
    print(f" md5: {ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_md5()}")
    print(f" sha256: {ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_sha256()}")
    print(f" crc32: {hex(ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_crc32())}")

    # Iterate functions
    for func_ea in idautils.Functions():
        f = ida_funcs.get_func(func_ea)
        print(f"Function - name {f.name}, start ea {hex(f.start_ea)}, end ea {hex(f.end_ea)}")

    for seg_ea in idautils.Segments():
        name = idc.get_segm_name(seg_ea)
        print(f"Segment - name {name}")

    # Iterate types
    til = ida_typeinf.get_idati()
    if til:
      max_ord = ida_typeinf.get_ordinal_limit(til)
      current_index = -1
      current_named_type = None

      while current_index < max_ord - 1:
          current_index += 1
          tinfo = ida_typeinf.tinfo_t()
          if tinfo.get_numbered_type(til, current_index):
              print(f"Type - id {tinfo.get_tid()}")

      while True:
          if current_named_type is None:
              current_named_type = ida_typeinf.first_named_type(til, ida_typeinf.NTF_TYPE)
          else:
              current_named_type = ida_typeinf.next_named_type(til, current_named_type, ida_typeinf.NTF_TYPE)

          if not current_named_type:
              break

          tinfo = ida_typeinf.tinfo_t()
          if tinfo.get_named_type(til, current_named_type):
              print(f"Type - name {tinfo.get_type_name()}, id {tinfo.get_tid()}")

    # Iterate comments
    for ea in idautils.Heads(min_ea, max_ea):
        cmt = idc.get_cmt(ea, 0)
        if cmt:
            print(f"Comment - value {cmt}")

    # Iterate strings
    for s in idautils.Strings():
        print(f"String - value {s}")

    for ea, name in idautils.Names():
        print(f"Name - value {name}")

    # Iterate basic blocks
    for func_ea in idautils.Functions():
        func = ida_funcs.get_func(func_ea)
        if func:
            fc = idaapi.FlowChart(func)
            for b in fc:
                print(f"Basic block - start ea {hex(b.start_ea)}, end ea {hex(b.end_ea)}")

    # Iterate binary instructions
    for ea in idautils.Heads(min_ea, max_ea):
        if ida_bytes.is_code(ida_bytes.get_flags(ea)):
            disasm = idc.generate_disasm_line(ea, 0)
            print(f"Instruction - ea {hex(ea)}, asm {disasm}")

    # Close database discarding the changes
    idapro.close_database(False)

Type Hints

This package automatically installs type stubs for all IDA Python modules, providing IDE support with autocompletion and type checking for IDA Python modules.

Type hints are installed automatically during package installation!

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'idapro'

• Ensure you have run py-activate-idalib.py (or installed IDA via HCLI) so the install path is registered
• Verify IDA Pro is properly installed

License Issues

• Ensure you have a valid IDA Pro license
• Check that IDA can run normally in GUI mode first

Type hints not working

• Restart your IDE after installation
• Check that .pyi files exist in your site-packages directory

API Reference

For detailed API documentation, refer to:

• IDA Python documentation at https://python.docs.hex-rays.com/
• Built-in help: help(idapro) after importing
• IDA Pro SDK documentation https://docs.hex-rays.com/developer-guide/c++-sdk

Advanced Usage

Overriding the IDA install directory with IDADIR

To override the configured install directory for a single session or script — for example to test a specific IDA build, switch between multiple installed versions, or in CI — set the IDADIR environment variable before importing idapro:

Linux/macOS:

export IDADIR="/path/to/your/ida/installation"

Windows:

set "IDADIR=C:\Program Files\IDA Pro 9.1"

Example paths:

• macOS: /Applications/IDA Professional 9.1.app/Contents/MacOS/
• Windows: C:\Program Files\IDA Pro 9.1\
• Linux: /opt/ida-9.1/

Important: Set IDADIR only for the current shell session or inside the script that uses idapro - do not set it as a persistent/global environment variable (e.g. via ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or Windows System Properties). A globally exported IDADIR can interfere with the IDA GUI and other IDA tools on your system.