Hex-Rays Ida Mcp

What is Hex-Rays Ida Mcp about?

Enables AI agents to communicate with IDA Pro through the Model Context Protocol, allowing natural‑language queries and commands to drive reverse‑engineering workflows. The server works in headless mode and, when paired with the optional GUI plugin, can operate on live IDA GUI instances.

How to use Hex-Rays Ida Mcp?

1. Prerequisites: Install Git, uv (or pip), IDA 9.4+ with idalib and Python 3.11+. Ensure other IDA MCP servers are disabled.
2. Install the server: uvx ida-mcp (or pip install ida-mcp).
3. Optional GUI plugin:

   uvx ida-hcli plugin install https://github.com/HexRaysSA/ida-mcp
   # or, if hcli is already installed
   hcli plugin install https://github.com/HexRaysSA/ida-mcp
   

   Without this plugin the server runs headlessly.
4. Configure the MCP client (example for any MCP‑compatible client):

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "ida": {
         "command": "uvx",
         "args": ["--exclude-newer=1s", "ida-mcp", "--agent=my-agent"]
       }
     }
   }
   

5. Run your agent harness and ask natural‑language questions, e.g., Reverse /path/to/sample.elf for me or What do I have open in the IDA GUI?.

Key Features

• Direct integration with IDA Pro (9.4+).
• Supports both headless operation and GUI‑aware interaction via a lightweight plugin.
• Simple installation via uvx (or pip).
• Works with any MCP‑compatible client (Claude Code, Codex CLI, Copilot CLI, Pi, etc.).
• Agent label (--agent) for metrics and session differentiation.

Use Cases

• Automating binary analysis and reverse‑engineering through natural language.
• Building custom AI‑driven debugging or decompilation assistants.
• Integrating large‑language‑model agents into security audit pipelines that require interactive IDA sessions.
• Providing headless analysis services in CI/CD environments.

FAQ

Q: Do I need the GUI plugin for all use cases? A: No. The server works without it in headless mode; the plugin is only required to let agents query the open IDA GUI.

Q: Which Python version is required? A: Python 3.11 or newer, as bundled with IDA 9.4+.

Q: Can I use this with other MCP servers? A: Other IDA MCP servers must be disabled to avoid agent confusion.

Q: How do I update the server? A: Re‑run uvx ida-mcp --upgrade or reinstall via pip install -U ida-mcp.

Q: Is this production‑ready? A: It is marked as an experimental prerelease; use it for testing and development rather than critical production workloads.

Hex-Rays IDA MCP

⚠️ Experimental prerelease ⚠️

Official Hex-Rays IDA MCP Server.

Installation

Requirements

• Installed in your PATH
  • Git
  • uv
• IDA 9.4 or higher with idalib and Python 3.11+
• Other IDA MCP servers must be disabled to reduce agent confusion

IDA GUI Plugin

To support IDA GUI instances when using Hex-Rays IDA MCP, install the plugin:

uvx ida-hcli plugin install https://github.com/HexRaysSA/ida-mcp
# or if you have hcli installed:
hcli plugin install https://github.com/HexRaysSA/ida-mcp

Note: Without the GUI plugin, IDA MCP will only work headlessly.

Claude Code

# Add Hex-Rays marketplace
claude plugin marketplace add HexRaysSA/claude-marketplace
# Install plugin
claude plugin install ida-mcp@HexRaysSA
# Update to latest version
claude plugin update ida-mcp@HexRaysSA

Codex CLI

# Add Hex-Rays marketplace
codex plugin marketplace add HexRaysSA/codex-marketplace
# Install plugin
codex plugin add ida-mcp@HexRaysSA

GitHub Copilot CLI

# Add Hex-Rays marketplace
copilot plugin marketplace add HexRaysSA/copilot-marketplace
# Install plugin
copilot plugin install ida-mcp@HexRaysSA
# Update to latest version
copilot plugin update ida-mcp

Pi

# Install extension
pi install git:github.com/HexRaysSA/ida-mcp@latest
# Update to latest version
pi update --extensions

oh-my-pi

# Install extension
omp plugin install github:HexRaysSA/ida-mcp#latest
# Update to latest version
omp plugin upgrade

Other agents

Configure a regular stdio MCP server in your MCP JSON configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ida": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--exclude-newer=1s",
        "ida-mcp",
        "--agent=my-agent"
      ]
    }
  }
}

uvx resolves the latest stable ida-mcp release from PyPI, so this configuration does not need to be updated for each release.

--agent=my-agent is a human-chosen label (like claude-code, cursor, my-custom-agent, etc.) used to differentiate sessions in a metrics dashboard.

We tested the following clients, but any MCP client should work similarly:

• Antigravity
• LM Studio

Example Usage

Start your agent harness and ask it something like:

Reverse /path/to/sample.elf for me

To test the GUI integration, open something in IDA and ask your harness:

What do I have open in the IDA GUI?

Developers: IDA Nexus

The IDA MCP project is built on IDA Nexus, which allows multiple clients to seamlessly share and operate on IDA databases.

You can build your own tools on top of the ida-nexus library, see the documentation for more information.