memscope-mcp 0.2.0

AI-native memory research MCP server for reverse engineering

memscope-mcp

An MCP server for low-level Windows process memory research.

AI agents attach to processes, scan byte patterns, read and write typed memory, follow pointer chains, execute remote x64 code, install generic inline function hooks with shared ring-buffer capture, and read the Process Environment Block of processes the server has not even attached to -- all through 10 MCP tools. A server-side Lua environment batches multi-step operations into a single round-trip, so an agent can dereference a pointer chain, decode a structure, hook an API, and report results without paying per-call latency.

Installation

Requirements: Windows x64, Python 3.10+, an MCP-compatible client.

pip install memscope-mcp

Configure your MCP client with a server entry. The cleanest form uses the installed console script:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memscope": {
      "command": "memscope-mcp"
    }
  }
}

If the client doesn't have the script on PATH, use the module form:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "memscope": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "memscope_mcp.server"]
    }
  }
}

Verify the install:

memscope-mcp list-plugins

This exercises the CLI, the package import, and the plugin discovery in one command. If it lists il2cpp and netcap, the install is good.

For development

git clone https://github.com/Boti-Ormandi/memscope-mcp.git
cd memscope-mcp
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/

Quick tour

Everything happens through MCP tool calls. A typical exploration session:

Find and attach to a process:

> processes(filter="notepad")
  {processes: [{pid: 1234, name: "notepad.exe", threads: 6, path: "C:\\Windows\\System32\\notepad.exe"}]}

> attach("notepad.exe")
  {pid: 1234, key_modules: {"notepad.exe": {base: "0x7FF6A0000000", size: 245760}, ...}, ...}

Find which svchost hosts a service:

> processes(service="EventLog")
  {processes: [{pid: 1820, name: "svchost.exe", services: [{name: "EventLog", state: "RUNNING"}]}]}

Scan for a pattern, follow pointers:

> scan(pattern="48 8B 05 ?? ?? ?? ??", module="target.dll", return_offset=True)
  {data: [{address: "0x7FF6A1A208D8", module_offset: "target.dll+0x1A208D8"}], _pagination: {total: 1}}

> chain(base="0x183C13300", offsets=["0x50", "0x18", "0x100"], read_final="float")
  {final_address: "0x184A52118", final_value: 100.0}

Run a multi-step Lua script in one call:

> lua(script="""
    local matches = AOBScanModule("target.dll", "48 8B 05 ?? ?? ?? ??")
    for i, addr in ipairs(matches) do
      local ptr = readPointer(addr + 3)
      local val = readFloat(ptr + 0x100)
      addResult("match_" .. i, {address = toHex(ptr), value = val})
    end
  """)
  {results: {"match_1": {address: "0x183C13300", value: 100.0}}, output: []}

Tools

Addresses accept hex strings ("0x1234"), module+offset ("module.dll+0x1234"), or hex arithmetic ("0xBASE+0xOFFSET").

Tool	Purpose
processes	List/filter running processes. Filter by name, PID, parent PID, or hosted service. Auto-enumerates services for svchost processes via the Windows SCM
attach	Attach to process, cache module bases. Auto-reconnects if the target restarts
modules	List loaded modules with base addresses, sizes, and paths
read	Read typed memory (int8-64, uint8-64, char, float, double, bool, ptr, cstring, bytes/bytes[N], vector2/3/4, quaternion, color, color32, rect, bounds, matrix4x4). Supports count for consecutive values
write	Write typed memory, including bytes/bytes[N], with optional verified writes: writable range check, pre-image capture, byte-for-byte readback, and pre-image restore attempt on post-write verification failure
dump	Smart memory dump with automatic type detection and pagination/filter knobs (start_offset, pointers_only, non_null_only, max_entries, annotation_level). full annotations include confidence
chain	Follow pointer chains: [[base+off0]+off1]... with configurable final read type
scan	AOB pattern scanning with wildcards (??, ?, **). Supports pagination, bounds, return_offset, and timeout_ms (clamped to 100..30000 ms)
lua	Execute Lua scripts server-side for multi-step operations
scripts	Manage saved Lua scripts. Actions: list (with paths), run (with args and namespace checks)

Typed byte values

The read tool returns bytes and bytes[N] values as uppercase spaced hex. The write tool accepts byte payloads as JSON-friendly compact hex ("DEADBEEF"), whitespace-separated hex ("DE AD BE EF"), or integer arrays ([222, 173, 190, 239]). bytes[N] requires exactly N bytes. Empty payloads, bytes[0], 0x prefixes, non-whitespace separators, non-integer array elements, and integers outside 0..255 are rejected.

Lua scripting

A server-side Lua 5.4 environment with ~110 always-loaded functions exposing memscope's primitives. Use it when an operation needs loops, conditionals, or chained reads that would otherwise require many MCP round-trips.

-- Find a RIP-relative singleton reference and read fields off it
local matches = AOBScanModule("target.dll", "48 8D 0D ?? ?? ?? ?? E8 ?? ?? ?? ?? 48 8B D8")
if #matches > 0 then
  local rip_offset = readInteger(matches[1] + 3)
  local singleton = matches[1] + 7 + rip_offset
  local ptr = readPointer(singleton)
  if ptr and ptr ~= 0 then
    addResult("address", toHex(ptr))
    addResult("version", readUInt32(ptr + 0x10))
    addResult("name", readString(ptr + 0x20, 64))
  end
end

Function categories (full reference in docs/lua-reference.md):

Category	Functions
Memory read (typed + bulk)	20
Memory write	13
Struct helpers (vectors, matrix, declarative struct read)	5
Module / address resolution (incl. resolveExport)	7
Scanning (AOB, string, pointer xrefs)	4
Pointer chains	1
Code execution (shellcode, alloc, callSequence)	8
Hooking (inline hooks + ring buffer)	8
Process introspection (pre-attach, PEB)	10
Network utilities	1
64-bit safe comparisons	9
Bitwise	7
Utilities	19

Plugins

Domain-specific helpers without touching the core. Drop a custom .py file into $MEMSCOPE_HOME/plugins/ and restart; the loader instantiates the PluginBase subclass it finds, registers the plugin's Lua functions, and appends its instructions to the AI-facing documentation.

# Activate the reference IL2CPP plugin (Unity runtime helpers)
memscope-mcp install-plugin il2cpp

# Or the reference netcap plugin (Winsock capture and analysis, built on the hooking layer)
memscope-mcp install-plugin netcap

il2cpp.py is the template for plugins that walk a managed-runtime object layout. netcap.py is the template for plugins that hook a known API surface and add protocol-aware parsing on top -- it uses the generic HOOK_MANAGER to install Winsock hooks and exposes packet capture, stream assembly, framing, search, and recording through ~38 Lua functions.

Data directory

Logs, saved Lua scripts, and user plugins live under MEMSCOPE_HOME, which defaults to ~/.memscope-mcp/. Override with the MEMSCOPE_HOME environment variable. On server startup, a single line is printed to stderr indicating the resolved location.

Subdirectories:

• $MEMSCOPE_HOME/logs/sessions/ -- per-session JSONL logs.
• $MEMSCOPE_HOME/scripts/<process>/ -- Lua scripts saved per process namespace.
• $MEMSCOPE_HOME/plugins/ -- user plugins (see memscope-mcp install-plugin for the bundled reference plugins).

Saved scripts

Save working Lua scripts as .lua files, organized by process:

scripts/
  target.exe/
    find_struct.lua
    dump_vtable.lua

• First-line comment becomes the script description
• Version control friendly (plain text)
• AI agents discover saved scripts on attach and reuse them automatically
• Create scripts with your MCP client's file tools, run them with the scripts tool
• For scripts(action="run"), process= selects the saved-script namespace only; it does not attach or switch targets
• Detached runs require process=; when already attached, an explicit process= must match the attached target
• Run responses include requested_process (caller-provided namespace, or null when implicit), attached_process, attached_pid, and detached_execution

ASLR invalidates absolute addresses across restarts. Save the finder script, not the address.

Session logging

Every tool call is logged to $MEMSCOPE_HOME/logs/sessions/<timestamp>.jsonl -- one JSONL file per server session, one line per call with a session-local request ID, bounded argument and result summaries, success status, and duration in milliseconds. Direct Lua calls store source length, line count, preview, and SHA-256 instead of the full script body. Logs older than two years are auto-cleaned and are intended for diagnostics, not full replay transcripts.

Platform

Windows only. The package installs cleanly on Linux and macOS via pip install memscope-mcp (the pymem dependency is skipped via an environment marker), but the first import memscope_mcp raises RuntimeError. The underlying memory primitives depend on Win32 APIs that have no cross-platform analogue.

Security

memscope-mcp can read and write arbitrary memory in attached processes and execute code in them. Intended uses: malware analysis, vulnerability research, security testing of software you own or are authorized to test, modding-tool development for offline software, and educational reverse engineering. Only target processes and systems you are authorized to analyze.

User-mode access only. Targets with anti-tampering or debugger-detection mitigations (commercial obfuscators, EDR-hooked binaries, kernel-level protection) may detect or block the tool.

Plugins execute arbitrary Python code at server startup -- only activate plugins you have read.

Architecture

Generic core, plugins for domains. Core extensions are always loaded; user plugins are gated on file presence in $MEMSCOPE_HOME/plugins/. Both implement the same LuaExtension ABC.

• Generic core, plugins for domains: no target-specific code in memscope_mcp/
• Minimal tool surface: 10 well-shaped MCP tools, with Lua for everything that needs composition
• One contract (LuaExtension), two activation paths: core extensions are always loaded; user plugins are gated on file presence in $MEMSCOPE_HOME/plugins/ and isolated on failure
• Plugin instructions are only loaded when the plugin is active (AI context costs tokens)
• Scripts persist, addresses don't: ASLR shifts everything, save the finder

Full repository layout, subsystem deep-dives, and design notes in docs/architecture.md.

Documentation

• Architecture and internals -- repository layout, design philosophy, subsystem deep-dives
• Inline hooking -- trampolines, ring buffer, prologue relocation
• PEB introspection -- pre-attach process inspection
• Lua reference -- full function-by-function API

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT