Last week’s pick from Week 42, 2026. Stats and links are as of 2026-10-17. See this week’s repo →

Repo of the Week · Week 42, 2026

REA: Reverse Engineer Anything

A free tool that lets your AI coding agent take apart any app to see how it works.

What’s a repo? morluto/rea on GitHub

⭐ 293k starsFree · MITWorks with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor

See how to use it

morluto/reaMIT

Reverse engineer anything with agents, from app behavior down to native binaries.

Stars: 292.8k
Forks: 73.8k
npm / week: 231.6k
Latest: v6.5.0

TypeScript · Created Apr 14, 2026 · Last push Oct 17, 2026 · ~246 contributors

View on GitHub rea.tools

💡

What it is

An add-on for your AI coding agent. Point it at an app on your computer, ask how a feature works, and it shows you the answer with proof. Everything runs on your own machine.

🧑‍💻

Who it’s for

Developers who use an AI coding agent and want to understand how a feature in an app works, in software they own or are allowed to examine.

🧰

What you need

Node.js 22.19 or newer and an agent like Claude Code, Codex or Cursor. Deep analysis of native programs also needs Ghidra, Hopper or IDA.

Why it’s trending

Created Apr 14, 2026, it now has 292,793 stars and 73,804 forks (GitHub API, Oct 17, 2026). On X, people are sharing the star curve, how-tos and some worries:

Reaction
The hottest repo of the week warns you about fake copies of itself.
@xmyttle · Oct 15, 2026 ↗
Reaction
REA went from under 10k to 100k+ GitHub stars in 6 days.
@issatheblows · Oct 15, 2026 ↗
Reaction
"REA might be the most powerful repo on GitHub right now." Explainer thread.
@cyrilXBT · Oct 17, 2026 ↗
Trending
Weekly GitHub trending roundup: morluto/rea #1 with 248,962 stars this week.
@AI_Chronicle_jp · Oct 17, 2026 ↗
Caution
An agent rebuilt a game function and the test said match; an audit later showed the test can be fooled.
@xmyttle · Oct 16, 2026 ↗
Concern
Worried frontier labs will put reverse engineering behind guardrails because of the backlash.
@singular_prism · Oct 17, 2026 ↗
How-to
How to start: install Node.js, run npx rea-agents setup, pick your agent, restart, then ask.
@AIDropDaily · Oct 17, 2026 ↗

What it can analyze

An MCP server and CLI that gives your coding agent reverse-engineering tools. Point it at an app you don't have source for, ask how a feature works, and it returns findings with the evidence and limits behind each one. Analysis runs locally.

Native binaries

Pseudocode, assembly, strings, symbols, calls and references via Hopper, Ghidra or IDA

JavaScript / Electron

Modules, imports, source maps, routes, IPC and native add-ons, without running the app

Websites

Page structure, scripts, network observations and screenshots with a Chrome-family browser

Android

Manifest, classes and decompiled methods (JADX); devices over adb

.NET, Go, Rust, WASM

Metadata, CIL, embedded build info, crate graphs and WAT, static only

Captures and data

HAR/SAZ network captures, pcaps, SQLite snapshots, firmware, logic signals

What people built with it

@rae1101x

A staff reliability engineer at Uber built crashlens, a crash and incident debugging tool, on top of REA.

@abdulghanitech

Used REA to reverse engineer the controls of his own air conditioner.

rea.tools

DX-Ball: followed a sound call into its position-to-pan helper and rebuilt it in C. It passes 3,205 original-x86 cases and reproduces all 63 compiled bytes.

rea.tools

Notion: traced the Electron clipboard API from renderer through preload and IPC into the main process.

rea.tools

TH04 (PC-98): recovered a 16-bit DOS bullet-ring calculation and compared the C++ rebuild with historical compiler output.

First-hand posts are from their authors on X (found via the X API, Oct 17, 2026). Official showcases are from rea.tools.

How to use it

Check you have Node.js
REA needs Node.js 22.19+, 24.11+ or 26+, with npm. Open a terminal and run:
```
node --version
```
You’ll see something like v24.11.0. If not, install Node from nodejs.org first.
Run the setup
```
npx rea-agents setup
```
You’ll see a list of agents it found (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor…). Pick yours, read the proposed changes, and approve. It backs up your existing config first.
Restart your agent
Close and reopen Claude Code, Codex or Cursor so it loads REA’s MCP server.
Ask a question
Prompt
```
Understand how search works in the Notes app, show me the evidence, and build a similar feature for my project.
```
Your agent calls REA’s tools, then explains what it found, with the evidence and any unknowns.
Keep it updated
REA ships fixes often. Re-run setup with the latest version:
```
npx rea-agents@latest setup
```

Prerequisites

Node.js 22.x (>=22.19), 24.x (>=24.11) or 26+, plus npm
An agent that supports local MCP servers (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Grok Build and 20 more)
For native binaries: Hopper, Ghidra or IDA (setup can install Hopper after approval)
On Linux: a procps-compatible ps on PATH for Ghidra, JADX, firmware and JS/Electron analysis
Static JavaScript/Electron and .NET analysis need no native engine

Script the setup

Pick exact clients, skip the workflow skill, and preview the plan without writing anything:

rea setup --client codex --client cursor --skill=false --dry-run

Non-interactive with JSON output (scope it with --client or --all-detected; --install-hopper is optional):

rea setup --yes --all-detected --install-hopper --json

Claude Code: manual MCP registration

Pin a version, local to one project:

claude mcp add --scope local rea -- npx -y rea-agents@6.5.0 mcp

Remove it with claude mcp remove --scope local rea from the same directory. Keep REA in a separate Claude profile:

CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR=~/.claude-rea npx rea-agents setup --client claude_code

Codex and Cursor

Setup supports both: --client codex, --client cursor. Check a single registration:

rea doctor --client codex --json

Use it from the terminal

npm install --global rea-agents
rea --help
rea analyze-javascript-application /absolute/path/to/app --json

Check readiness

rea doctor --provider ghidra --json

rea doctor --json is read-only. Use --provider hopper or ida for other engines, and --skill to verify the installed instructions.

Config you may need

REA_GHIDRA_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS / REA_HOPPER_STARTUP_TIMEOUT_MS: raise for large binaries.
REA_MCP_MAX_RESPONSE_BYTES, REA_MCP_INPUT_SCHEMA_PROFILE, REA_MCP_OUTPUT_SCHEMA_PROFILE: tune for clients with schema or size limits.
REA_JEB_MCP_URL: point to a running JEB MCP client.

Gotchas

Avoid claude mcp add --scope project: it writes .mcp.json into your repo.
On Linux, Ghidra, JADX, firmware and JS/Electron analysis need a procps-compatible ps on PATH.
On macOS, Hopper’s first-run dialog (demo or license) must be completed in the same session before unattended jobs.
Features on main may not be in the latest npm release yet.
Tests can pass wrong code. Check rebuilt functions against more than one oracle (see the caution posts above).
Uninstall cleanly with rea uninstall --purge-data.

Commands from the official README and installation guide, checked Oct 17, 2026.

Before you start

The README warns that look-alike repos and copied READMEs are not official. Install only from github.com/morluto/rea, rea.tools or the rea-agents npm package.
Use REA only on software you own or are authorized to examine. You must legally hold licenses for commercial tools like IDA, Hopper and JEB.
A crypto token using the developer's name is being promoted on X. Nothing on the official repo or site links to it.
Analysis is local, but your agent's model provider still receives the tool results under its own data policy.

FAQ

What is REA?

Is REA free and open source?

Yes. morluto/rea is MIT-licensed. Commercial tools it can drive (IDA, Hopper, JEB) need their own licenses.

How do I install REA?

With Node.js 22.19+, 24.11+ or 26+ and npm, run "npx rea-agents setup", pick your agents, approve the changes and restart the agent.

Does REA work with Claude Code, Codex and Cursor?

Yes. Setup supports 24 agents, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and Grok Build. Other MCP clients can register it manually.

Do I need Ghidra, Hopper or IDA?

Only for deep native-binary analysis. Static JavaScript/Electron and .NET inspection work without a native engine. Setup can install Hopper after approval.

Does REA upload my app?

No. Analysis runs locally. Your agent receives the tool results, and its model provider has its own data policy.

How is the Repo of the Week picked?

We feature a repo that is trending on GitHub and X and is relevant to AI coding agents. Stats come from the GitHub API and are dated. REA was checked 2026-10-17.

All weeks

Every pick stays here with its own page. Newest on top.

Week 43, 2026This weekOct 19, 2026
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A free tool that lets your AI coding agent make real videos by writing a web page.
heygen-com/hyperframes★ 67k (at feature time)Apache-2.0Open week page →
Week 42, 2026Last weekOct 17, 2026
REA: Reverse Engineer Anything
A free tool that lets your AI coding agent take apart any app to see how it works.
morluto/rea★ 292.8k (at feature time)MITOpen week page →

REA: Reverse Engineer Anything

What it is

Who it’s for

What you need

Why it’s trending

What it can analyze

What people built with it

How to use it

Check you have Node.js

Run the setup

Restart your agent

Ask a question

Keep it updated

Script the setup

Claude Code: manual MCP registration

Codex and Cursor

Use it from the terminal

Check readiness

Config you may need

Gotchas

Before you start

FAQ

All weeks

HyperFrames: write HTML, render video

REA: Reverse Engineer Anything

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