MCP server · Security

IDA Headless MCP server

Lets your AI open and inspect compiled programs with IDA Pro, without you clicking around the IDA window.

This is a helper that connects your AI assistant to IDA Pro, a well known tool for looking inside compiled programs. Instead of opening IDA yourself and clicking through menus, you ask your AI in plain words and it drives IDA for you. It is handy for security analysts, reverse engineers, and anyone curious about how a program was built.

What is an MCP server? The 30-second version

On its own, your AI can only chat. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to another tool. This one connects your AI to IDA Pro, a program that reads compiled files like .so, .exe, or game libraries. Once it is running, your AI can ask IDA to open a file, look at its functions, and show you the results in the chat.

What this MCP server does

You point your AI at a compiled file on your computer. Your AI asks this helper to open that file in IDA and run its automatic analysis. The helper starts a small IDA worker in the background, does the work, and keeps the session open for follow up questions. You can then ask for things like the entry point, a list of functions, or the decompiled code of a specific function. When you are done, the session closes and the database is saved.

Flow diagram: you ask your AI “Open this game file and show me what it does”, on your own computer the IDA Headless MCP server works with IDA Pro on your PC, and you get back answers in the chat.

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What you can do with it

Open a compiled binary and start an IDA analysis session
List the functions inside a binary
Show the decompiled code of a function
Find the entry point of a program
Import Unity game metadata with Il2CppDumper
Import Flutter or Dart app metadata with unflutter
Keep several binaries open at the same time in separate sessions

What it gives back to you

You get answers in the chat, usually as lists, addresses, function names, and blocks of decompiled code. For metadata imports you get counts, like how many functions and structs were created. Sessions also report a session id you can reuse for follow up questions. Everything stays in the chat, so you can copy what you need.

Before you start

What you need

IDA Pro 9.0 or newer, or IDA Essential 9.2 or newer, installed and activated
idalib set up with the project's setup script
Go 1.21 or newer and Python 3.10 or newer on your machine
Optional: Il2CppDumper for Unity games, or unflutter for Flutter apps

Good to know

It reads the binary files you point it at and writes IDA database files on your disk, so only open files you are allowed to inspect.

Install it with your AI

Add IDA Headless MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed

You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.

Sign in to get the install prompt

Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check IDA Headless MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.