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Headless IDA MCP Server

headless-ida-mcp-server

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cnitlrt-headless-ida-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "path/to/headless-ida-mcp-server",
        "run",
        "headless_ida_mcp_server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

This MCP server uses IDA Pro’s headless mode to analyze binaries and expose a suite of management tools over MCP. It lets you run analyses, inspect and manipulate functions and variables, and interact with IDA headlessly from an MCP client for automated workflows and integrations.

How to use

You run the MCP server in headless mode and connect with an MCP client to perform analyses, manage functions and variables, and automate IDA workflows. Start the server, then use an MCP client to connect and issue commands that control analysis tasks, retrieve results, and orchestrate multiple analyses in a pipeline.

How to install

Prerequisites: You need Python 3.12 or higher and IDA Pro with headless support (idat). Prepare your environment and install the server locally with the following steps.

# 1) Clone the project
git clone https://github.com/cnitlrt/headless-ida-mcp-server.git
cd headless-ida-mcp-server

# 2) Install dependencies
uv python install 3.12
uv venv --python 3.12
uv pip install -e .

Additional

Configuration is done by creating a local environment file and setting the path to IDA Pro’s headless executable, along with server network options.

# 1) Copy the example environment file
cp .env_example .env

# 2) Set environment variables in .env
IDA_PATH=/path/to/idapro/idat
PORT=8888
HOST=127.0.0.1
TRANSPORT=sse