MCPyGhidra

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes Ghidra reverse-engineering capabilities to LLM clients. Built on pyghidra-decaf.

MCPyGhidra exposes binary analysis capabilities via MCP: decompilation, disassembly, symbol lookup, cross-references, type inspection, binary patching, and scriptable analysis.

Related project: If you use IDA Pro rather than Ghidra, see MCPyIDA for an equivalent MCP server for IDA Pro.

Prerequisites

• Ghidra a recent release (tested with Ghidra 11.x+; download)
• Java a compatible JDK (bundled with Ghidra)
• Python 3.10–3.13
• pyghidra-decaf (installed via PyPI alongside mcpyghidra)
• MCP Python SDK 1.x (installed automatically; pinned <2). SDK 2.0 changed the transport contract; 2.x support is planned but not available yet.

Installation

pip install mcpyghidra

Then configure your Ghidra installation:

export GHIDRA_INSTALL_DIR=/path/to/ghidra_12.0_PUBLIC

For detailed setup, see docs/installation.md.

Quick Start

Headless Mode

Launch the MCP server in headless mode for non-interactive analysis:

export GHIDRA_INSTALL_DIR=/path/to/ghidra
mcpyghidra-headless /path/to/firmware.elf

The server prints a JSON readiness signal to stdout:

{"status": "ready", "host": "127.0.0.1", "port": 6050, "binary": "/path/to/firmware.elf"}

Then configure your MCP client to connect to http://127.0.0.1:6050/mcp.

With an MCP Client

Point any MCP-compatible client at the running server:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ghidra": {
      "type": "streamable-http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:6050/mcp"
    }
  }
}

See docs/mcp-client-config.md for client-specific examples.

What's Exposed

MCPyGhidra exposes 26 tools organized into categories:

• Listing & context: list entries, inspect binary metadata, resolve functions
• Analysis: decompile, disassemble, cross-references, control-flow graphs
• Types: type enumeration and detailed inspection
• Modification: rename symbols, update variables, set comments, patch instructions
• Scripting: Python code execution with back-to-client RPC callbacks
• Search: binary pattern and instruction sequence matching

See docs/tools-reference.md for full details.

Troubleshooting

• GHIDRA_INSTALL_DIR not set — point it at your Ghidra install: export GHIDRA_INSTALL_DIR=/path/to/ghidra_12.0_PUBLIC.
• Client can't connect — confirm the server is running and reachable at the Streamable HTTP endpoint http://127.0.0.1:6050/mcp.
• Server startup hangs — analyzing large binaries can take minutes; try a small binary (e.g. mcpyghidra-headless /bin/ls) to verify the setup.

See docs/installation.md and docs/quickstart.md for the full troubleshooting guides.

Documentation

• Installation & Setup
• Quickstart Guide
• Connecting MCP Clients
• Tools Reference
• Running Modes (Headless & GUI)
• RPC Callbacks (Advanced)
• Documentation Hub

Development

This project uses uv for environment and package management.

Setup

curl -sSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | bash
git clone https://github.com/nightwing-us/mcpyghidra.git
cd mcpyghidra
uv venv
uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

Testing

uv run pytest --tb=short

Type Checking

uv run mypy

Linting

uv run ruff check src tests
uv run ruff format src tests

Related Projects

MCPyGhidra and MCPyIDA are maintained in parallel as sister projects with intended feature parity — MCPyGhidra targets Ghidra and MCPyIDA targets IDA Pro.

• MCPyIDA — equivalent MCP server for IDA Pro
• pyghidra-decaf — Python-native Ghidra plugin development framework (underpins MCPyGhidra)

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE for details.

Copyright © 2026 Nightwing Group, LLC.