Ghidra
NSA-developed software reverse engineering suite with disassembler and decompiler.
HN commenters like it for decompiling binaries, firmware and old games into C code,123 especially when LLM agents drive it through MCP or headless mode.456 The most common caveat is that its decompiler output is not always reliable,78 and static analysis breaks down on self-modifying or heavily dynamic code.9
Why people recommend it
Works with AI agents · 3
Commenters pair it with LLMs via MCP or headless mode to automate reverse engineering.
“or I use Ghidra, with MCP and it can autonomously search for whatever you tell it to”
“I'll second this. I used opencode + opus 4.6 + ghidra”
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“claude code just downloads ghidra and builds this stuff”
Binary decompilation · 3
It recovers C code and logic from executables and firmware, such as camera key managers and seed-key algorithms.
“Works well. I used this tool once to disassemble and understand how key manager works on Vivotek cameras.”
“I'll second this. I used opencode + opus 4.6 + ghidra”
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“a firmware-customization project involving a ghidra MCP”
Game preservation · 3
Its decompilations have been used to port or rewrite old games for the browser.
“it decompiled it via ghidra”
“replicating all the functionality from a Ghidra decompilation of the binary”
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“I even implemented vmx128 (custom 360-specific CPU instructions) into Ghidra and m2c”
Extensible · 2
Users add plugins and even custom CPU instructions to it.
“I even implemented vmx128 (custom 360-specific CPU instructions) into Ghidra and m2c”
Rust support · 1
One user found recent versions much better at handling Rust binaries.
“pleasantly surprised how much better it is today wrt rust binaries”
Caveats and dissent
Decompiler reliability · 2
Decompiler output can be wrong, forcing users back to reading assembly.
“At this point static analysis like IDA and Ghidra stopped working.”
“there's not much in the way of unaddressed Ghidra jank”
Static analysis limits · 1
It stops being useful for self-modifying or JIT code, where a stepping debugger is needed.
“At this point static analysis like IDA and Ghidra stopped working.”
Not always fitting · 1
One user found it was not the right tool for reverse engineering a Dreamcast game.
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Ghidra by NSA 4 mentions
- What was your "Oh Shit" moment with GenAI? 2 mentions
- Cisco gives engineer unlimited AI tokens to rewrite legacy code 1 mention
- 500B tokens later: Letting AI agents decompile a first-person shooter 1 mention
- REA Reverse – Engineer Anything 1 mention
- Photopea creator weighs in on Photosuite project 1 mention
Data: ghidra.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 17
“it decompiled it via ghidra”
“At this point static analysis like IDA and Ghidra stopped working.”
“there's not much in the way of unaddressed Ghidra jank”
“claude code just downloads ghidra and builds this stuff”
“replicating all the functionality from a Ghidra decompilation of the binary”
“There are also things like Ghidra that the NSA made.”
“or I use Ghidra, with MCP and it can autonomously search for whatever you tell it to”
“a firmware-customization project involving a ghidra MCP”
“I took a look at the Ghidra ones (because I use Ghidra)”
“a plugin for Ghidra”
“that you'd heard Ghidra was a big deal”
“via headless ghidra”
“it wasn't really the right tool for the job”
“I'll second this. I used opencode + opus 4.6 + ghidra”
“Works well. I used this tool once to disassemble and understand how key manager works on Vivotek cameras.”
“pleasantly surprised how much better it is today wrt rust binaries”
“I even implemented vmx128 (custom 360-specific CPU instructions) into Ghidra and m2c”