---
slug: "radare2"
source_type: "readme"
source_url: "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/radareorg/radare2-mcp@main/README.md"
repo: "https://github.com/radareorg/radare2-mcp"
source_file: "README.md"
branch: "main"
---
# Radare2 MCP Server
[](https://github.com/radareorg/radare2-mcp/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
[](https://github.com/radareorg/radare2)
An MCP server to use **radare2** with AI agents such as OpenCode, Mai, VSCode, Claude, CLION, ...
## Features
This implementation provides:
- 💻 Fully written in C using the native r2 APIs
- 🧩 Works from the CLI, as an r2 plugin and as an MCP server
- 🔍 Seamless binary analysis with radare2
- 🔗 Connect to any local or remote r2/iaito session via r2pipe
- 🔒 Supports readonly mode, sandbox lock and restrict tools
- 🔩 Fine grained tools configuration
- 🔁 Direct stdin/stdout communication model
- 🌐 HTTP MCP server mode with optional `X-Session-ID` multiplexing
- 🛠️ Optional raw access to run r2 commands or r2js scripts
## Installation
### Using r2pm
The simplest way to install the package is by using `r2pm`:
```bash
$ r2pm -Uci r2mcp
```
The `r2mcp` executable will be copied into r2pm's bindir in your home directory. However, this binary is not supposed to be executed directly from the shell; it will only work when launched by the MCP service handler of your language model of choice.
```bash
$ r2pm -r r2mcp
```
That's the common mcpServer JSON configuration file:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"radare2": {
"command": "r2pm",
"args": ["-r", "r2mcp"]
}
}
}
```
### Codex
To install the codex plugin just run the following command:
```bash
make codex-plugin-install
```
This will create a personal marketplace in your home and copy the files from dist/codex-plugin inside.
### Using Docker
Alternatively, you can build the Docker image:
```bash
docker build -t r2mcp .
```
Update your MCP client configuration file (see below) to use the Docker image to use:
- `"command": "docker"`
- `"args": ["run", "--rm", "-i", "-v", "/tmp/data:/data", "r2mcp"]`.
## Configuration
### HTTP Server Mode
Use `-H [address:]port` to run r2mcp as an HTTP MCP server instead of using
stdin/stdout. A bare port binds only to `127.0.0.1`; use `0.0.0.0:port`
explicitly to make the server reachable from the network:
```bash
r2mcp -H 8765
```
```bash
# Public binding; protect this with -a or -A.
r2mcp -H 0.0.0.0:8765 -A
```
Per-session HTTP state is enabled with `-X max[:idle_seconds]` and routed by
the `X-Session-ID` request header:
```bash
r2mcp -H 8765 -X 8:600
```
HTTP bearer authentication is enabled with `-a `. Clients must send
`Authorization: Bearer ` on every `GET` and `POST` request:
```bash
r2mcp -H 8765 -a my-secret-token
```
Use `-A` or `-a random` to generate a random token at startup. The generated
token is printed once on stderr:
```bash
r2mcp -H 8765 -A
```
The same token setting can be supplied with `R2MCP_AUTH_TOKEN`; set it to
`random` to generate one.
`-X` requires radare2 ABI 91 or newer because older radare2 headers do not
expose the HTTP request header API. With older ABIs, `-H` still works as a
single shared HTTP server, but `-X` is ignored. Bearer authentication also
requires this header API.
### r2 Core Plugin Mode
The r2 core plugin exposes the `r2mcp` command inside an existing radare2
session. Starting HTTP mode from r2 reuses the current `RCore`, so MCP tools
operate on the file and analysis state already loaded in that session:
```bash
r2 -e r2mcp.port=8765 -c 'r2mcp start' /bin/ls
```
Useful subcommands:
- `r2mcp start` or `r2mcp http` starts the HTTP MCP server in the background.
- `r2mcp stop`, `r2mcp restart`, and `r2mcp status` manage the background server.
- `r2mcp logs on|off` and `r2mcp logs file ` control plugin debug logs.
- `r2mcp approve on|off` and `r2mcp approve url ` control supervisor approvals.
- `r2mcp yolo on|off` disables approvals and exposes dangerous run tools.
- `r2mcp config` lists the `r2mcp.*` eval keys.
The plugin registers eval keys for the same server options exposed by the CLI:
`r2mcp.port`, `r2mcp.log`, `r2mcp.logfile`, `r2mcp.auth`, `r2mcp.approve`, `r2mcp.svc`,
`r2mcp.yolo`, `r2mcp.mini`, `r2mcp.permissive`, `r2mcp.run`,
`r2mcp.readonly`, `r2mcp.ignore_analysis`, `r2mcp.prompts`,
`r2mcp.prompts.dir`, `r2mcp.sandbox`, `r2mcp.sandbox.grain`,
`r2mcp.content`, `r2mcp.enabled`, `r2mcp.disabled`,
`r2mcp.session_tools`, `r2mcp.sessions`, `r2mcp.sessions.max`,
`r2mcp.sessions.timeout`, `r2mcp.decompiler`, and `r2mcp.baseurl`.
When loading the plugin manually with `-i`, set these keys after the plugin is
loaded, for example with `-c 'e r2mcp.port=8765'`, because radare2 processes
early `-e` options before ad hoc plugin initialization.
### Claude Desktop Integration
In the Claude Desktop app, press `CMD + ,` to open the Developer settings. Edit the configuration file and restart the client after editing the JSON file as explained below:
1. Locate your Claude Desktop configuration file:
- macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
2. Add the following to your configuration file:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"radare2": {
"command": "r2pm",
"args": ["-r", "r2mcp"]
}
}
}
```
## VS Code Integration
To use r2mcp with GitHub Copilot Chat in Visual Studio Code by [adding it to your user configuration](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers#_add-an-mcp-server-to-your-user-configuration) (see other options [here](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/chat/mcp-servers#_add-an-mcp-server)):
1. Open the Command Palette with `CMD + Shift + P` (macOS) or `Ctrl + Shift + P` (Windows/Linux).
2. Search for and select `Copilot: Open User Configuration` (typically found in `~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/mcp.json` in macOS).
3. Add the following to your configuration file:
```json
{
"servers": {
"radare2": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "r2pm",
"args": ["-r", "r2mcp"]
}
},
"inputs": []
}
```
## Zed Integration
You can use r2mcp with Zed as well by [adding it to your configuration](https://zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp):
1. Open the command palette: `CMD + Shift + P` (macOS) or `Ctrl + Shift + P` (Windows/Linux).
2. Search of `agent: open configuration` or search of `settings`.
3. Add your server as such:
```json
"context_servers": {
"r2-mcp-server": {
"source": "custom",
"command": "r2pm",
"args": ["-r", "r2mcp"],
"env": {}
}
}
```
Note: you will need another LLM agent, such as Claude, Gemini or else to be able to use it.
## For Developers
### Build from Source
#### Linux/macOS
To test the server locally, you can build and install it with make:
```bash
make install
```
This will compile the server and place the `r2mcp` binary in `/usr/local/bin` on macOS.
#### Windows
For Windows, just use meson and ninja like it's done in the CI:
```cmd
meson b
ninja -C b
```