• IDA Pro 9.2+ with valid license (9.3sp1 recommended)

macOS / Linux (via Homebrew)

brew install blacktop/tap/ida-mcp        # Latest (IDA 9.3/9.3sp1)
brew install blacktop/tap/ida-mcp@9.2    # IDA 9.2

Windows (via Scoop)

scoop bucket add blacktop https://github.com/blacktop/scoop-bucket
scoop install blacktop/ida-mcp

Windows note: See the Windows platform setup section below for DLL discovery options.

macOS / Linux (via Nix)

nix shell github:blacktop/nur#ida-mcp \
  --extra-experimental-features 'nix-command flakes'

Linux (via Snap)

sudo snap install ida-mcp
sudo snap connect ida-mcp:dot-idapro   # grant access to ~/.idapro (license)

Strict confinement. Requires IDA Pro installed under $HOME (installer default ~/ida-pro-9.3). For IDA in /opt/ or system paths, use Homebrew or Nix.

Direct download — grab the archive for your platform from GitHub Releases.

Build from source

See docs/BUILDING.md.

ida-mcp versions mirror IDA Pro versions (v9.3.x for IDA 9.3, v9.2.x for IDA 9.2). A version mismatch is detected at startup with a clear error message. Scoop and NUR publish the latest version. For older IDA versions, use the matching GitHub Release or the versioned Homebrew cask.

Standard IDA installations in /Applications work automatically:

claude mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

If you see Library not loaded: @rpath/libida.dylib, set DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH to your IDA path:

claude mcp add ida -e DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH='/path/to/IDA.app/Contents/MacOS' -- ida-mcp

Supported paths (auto-detected):

• /Applications/IDA Professional 9.3.app/Contents/MacOS
• /Applications/IDA Home 9.3.app/Contents/MacOS
• /Applications/IDA Essential 9.3.app/Contents/MacOS
• /Applications/IDA Professional 9.2.app/Contents/MacOS

The IDA installer defaults to ~/ida-pro-9.3 — the launcher script auto-detects this:

claude mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

For non-default install locations, set IDADIR:

claude mcp add ida -e IDADIR='/path/to/ida' -- ida-mcp

Resolution order: $IDADIR → ~/ida-pro-9.3 → /opt/ida-pro-9.3 and other RUNPATH fallbacks.

Option A — Install ida-mcp.exe into your IDA directory (simplest, no env setup needed):

# Copy the binary next to ida.dll / idalib.dll
copy ida-mcp.exe "C:\Program Files\IDA Professional 9.3\"
claude mcp add ida -- "C:\Program Files\IDA Professional 9.3\ida-mcp.exe"

Option B — Install via Scoop (auto-detects IDA and sets IDADIR):

scoop bucket add blacktop https://github.com/blacktop/scoop-bucket
scoop install blacktop/ida-mcp
claude mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

Option C — Set IDADIR manually:

# Persistent (survives reboots)
setx IDADIR "C:\Program Files\IDA Professional 9.3"
# Then restart your terminal
claude mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

Windows requires ida.dll and idalib.dll to be discoverable at startup. Placing ida-mcp.exe in the IDA directory is the easiest approach. Otherwise, the IDA directory must be on PATH or pointed to by IDADIR.

Common IDA paths:

• C:\Program Files\IDA Professional 9.3
• C:\Program Files\IDA Pro 9.3
• C:\Program Files\IDA Home 9.3

The binary links against IDA's libraries at runtime. Standard installation paths are auto-detected via baked RPATHs. For non-standard paths:

claude mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

codex mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

gemini mcp add ida -- ida-mcp

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ida": { "command": "ida-mcp" }
  }
}

Once configured, you can analyze binaries through your AI agent:

# Open a binary (returns quickly — analysis runs separately)
open_idb(path: "~/samples/malware")

# These work immediately, no analysis needed
list_functions(limit: 20)
disasm_by_name(name: "main", count: 20)
strings(limit: 10)

# For xrefs/decompile on large binaries, run analysis in background
analyze_funcs(background: true)   # returns task_id
task_status(task_id: "analyze-1") # poll progress

# Decompile (requires Hex-Rays + completed analysis)
decompile(address: "0x100000f00")

# Discover more tools
tool_catalog(query: "find callers")

open_dsc opens a single module from Apple's dyld_shared_cache. On first use it runs idat in the background to create the .i64 (this can take minutes). Subsequent opens are instant.

# Open a module from the DSC
open_dsc(path: "/path/to/dyld_shared_cache_arm64e", arch: "arm64e",
         module: "/usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib")

# If a background task was started, poll until done
task_status(task_id: "dsc-1")

# Load additional frameworks for cross-module references
open_dsc(path: "/path/to/dyld_shared_cache_arm64e", arch: "arm64e",
         module: "/usr/lib/libobjc.A.dylib",
         frameworks: ["/System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework/Foundation"])

# Incrementally load another DSC dylib into an already-open database
dsc_add_dylib(module: "/usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib")

# Incrementally load a DSC data/GOT/stub region by address
dsc_add_region(address: "0x180116000")

# After dsc_add_dylib/dsc_add_region, confirm analysis readiness
analysis_status()

Requirements:

• idat binary (from IDA installation) must be available via $IDADIR or standard install paths
• The DSC loader and dscu plugin (bundled with IDA 9.x)

run_script executes Python code in the open database via IDA's IDAPython engine. stdout and stderr are captured.

# Inline script
run_script(code: "import idautils\nfor f in idautils.Functions():\n    print(hex(f))")

# Run a .py file from disk
run_script(file: "/path/to/analysis_script.py")

# With timeout (default 120s, max 600s)
run_script(code: "import ida_bytes; print(ida_bytes.get_bytes(0x1000, 16).hex())",
           timeout_secs: 30)

All ida_* modules, idc, and idautils are available. See the IDAPython API reference.

ida-mcp exposes 71 tools (~10k tokens of tools/list payload). Frontier models with 1M context don't notice; smaller models and agents without lazy tool loading do. Filter the surface to only what you need:

No flags = all 71 tools (default). Categories: core, functions, disassembly, decompile, xrefs, control_flow, memory, search, metadata, types, editing, scripting (run tool_catalog to enumerate). Flags override env vars; unknown names rejected at startup.

• Claude Code, Cursor: no action — both clients already lazy-load MCP tool schemas. Claude Code's MCP Tool Search auto-defers when tools exceed 10% of context (Cursor's Dynamic Context Discovery does similar).
• Codex CLI, OpenCode: every session pays the full ~10k tokens. Pick a focused subset:

  ida-mcp --toolsets=core,functions,disassembly,decompile,xrefs

• Gemini CLI: the Gemini API caps at 512 function declarations across all MCP servers. Shrink ida-mcp so it fits alongside others:

  ida-mcp --toolsets=core,functions,disassembly,decompile --read-only

• Small / local models: prefer the smallest workable surface. For triage:

  ida-mcp --toolsets=core,functions --tools=decompile,callees,callers --read-only

Most installed MCP configs run ida-mcp directly without a subcommand. The env vars apply on that path too:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ida-mcp": {
      "command": "ida-mcp",
      "env": {
        "IDA_MCP_TOOLSETS": "core,functions,disassembly,decompile,xrefs",
        "IDA_MCP_READ_ONLY": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Run just measure-tools to see the per-tool char/token breakdown. Filtering doesn't change the numbers reported there (it acts at the protocol boundary), but the difference shows up in your client's context view (/context in Claude Code, equivalents elsewhere).

• docs/TOOLS.md - Tool catalog and discovery workflow
• docs/TRANSPORTS.md - Stdio vs Streamable HTTP
• docs/BUILDING.md - Build from source
• docs/TESTING.md - Running tests

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