About headless-ghidra
headless-ghidra coordinates a phased Ghidra reverse-engineering workflow for users who need structured analysis and reviewable artifacts. It uses ghidra-agent-cli for state, validation, and gates, while dispatching work to phase-specific skills.
Key features
- 01Coordinate the P0–P4 pipeline
- 02Route work to phase skills
- 03Manage workspace state
- 04Check phase gates
- 05Hand off YAML artifacts
Use cases
- 01Start or resume target analysis
- 02Advance Ghidra work phase by phase
- 03Validate artifacts before transitions
- 04Route analysis tasks to the relevant skill
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/ / github.com/ bytelandtechnology/ headless-ghidra --skill headless-ghidraAfter installing, type/headless-ghidrain Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Bundled files
References and scripts installed along with SKILL.md.
examples/analysis-selection-playbook.ja-JP.mdanalysis-selection-playbook.mdanalysis-selection-playbook.zh-CN.mdghidra-script-authoring.mdghidra-script-review-checklist.mdREADME.ja-JP.mdREADME.mdexamples/artifacts/sample-target/archive-intake-record.mdarchive-member-inventory.mdarchive-normalization-handoff.mdarchive-replay-command-record.mdcall-graph-detail.mdcommand-manifest.mdcomparison-command-log.mddecompiled-output.mdevidence-candidates.mdfunction-names.mdimports-and-libraries.mdinput-inventory.mdlatest-version-validation.mdreconstruction-log.mdregenerate-project.shrenaming-log.mdsignature-log.mdstrings-and-constants.mdtarget-selection.mdthird-party-diff.mdtypes-and-structs.mdupstream-reference.mdxrefs-and-callgraph.mdDetails
From the project READMEHeadless Ghidra — Global Orchestrator
This skill is the workflow coordinator for the skill family. It defines the
P0–P4 sequence, dispatch rules, and artifact hand-off points.
ghidra-agent-cli remains the tool reference for command syntax and YAML
artifact semantics.
Required Shared Tool Contract
ghidra-agent-cliis the mandatory shared interface for supported workspace, metadata, Ghidra, Frida, progress, validation, and gate operations.- Phase skills must name the exact
ghidra-agent-clisubcommands they use. - Lower-level shell scripts and Java helpers are backend details. They must not replace the CLI as the primary interface when the CLI already supports the action.
- All workflow artifacts must live under
artifacts/<target-id>/. - YAML artifacts must be created, updated, and validated by
ghidra-agent-cli. - The CLI must not automatically create git commits.
- Gate transitions require relevant artifacts to exist on disk and be ready for user review.
- All Ghidra project operations must go through
ghidra-agent-cli. If the CLI lacks a required capability, pause and ask the user before creating or running a new Ghidra script.
Pipeline
P0 Intake → P1 Baseline+Runtime → P2 Third-Party → [P3 Metadata Enrichment → P4 Function Substitution]*
| Phase | Skill | Purpose | Primary outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| P0 | headless-ghidra-intake | Initialize target workspace, discover prerequisites, and define scope | pipeline-state.yaml, scope.yaml, targets/<id>/ghidra-projects/ |
| P1 | headless-ghidra-baseline | Run Ghidra import/analysis, export baseline YAML, and prepare runtime observations | baseline/*.yaml, runtime/run-manifest.yaml, runtime/run-records/*.yaml, runtime/hotpaths/call-chain.yaml |
| P2 | headless-ghidra-evidence | Identify and record third-party libraries and pristine sources | third-party/identified.yaml, third-party/pristine/<library>@<version>/, third-party/compat/<library>@<version>/ |
| P3 | headless-ghidra-discovery | Enrich names, signatures, types, constants, strings, and selected hotpath metadata | metadata/*.yaml, metadata/apply-records/ |
| P4 | headless-ghidra-batch-decompile | Substitute selected functions through metadata application and Ghidra decompilation | substitution/next-batch.yaml, substitution/functions/<fn_id>/ |
Shared Artifact Contract
All phases work inside this active workspace layout:
targets/<target-id>/ghidra-projects/
artifacts/<target-id>/
├── pipeline-state.yaml
├── scope.yaml
├── intake/
├── baseline/
├── runtime/
│ ├── project/
│ ├── fixtures/
│ ├── run-manifest.yaml
│ ├── run-records/
│ └── hotpaths/call-chain.yaml
├── third-party/
│ ├── identified.yaml
│ ├── pristine/<library>@<version>/
│ └── compat/<library>@<version>/
├── metadata/
│ ├── renames.yaml
│ ├── signatures.yaml
│ ├── types.yaml
│ ├── constants.yaml
│ ├── strings.yaml
│ └── apply-records/
├── substitution/
│ ├── template/
│ ├── next-batch.yaml
│ └── functions/<fn_id>/
└── gates/
The orchestrator treats pipeline-state.yaml as the current target-level state
record and relies on the phase-owned YAML artifacts above for hand-offs.
Orchestrator Responsibilities
- Detect or resume the active target.
- Read
artifacts/<target-id>/pipeline-state.yaml. - Dispatch the correct phase skill for the current stage.
- Run
ghidra-agent-cli gate check --phase ...at each transition. - Advance phase state only after the gate passes.
- Handle user dialogs such as resume/restart, optional Frida supplementation, batch confirmation, divergence review, and completion.
Gate Policy
- P0–P4 are the only primary pipeline transitions.
ghidra-agent-cli gate checkis the authoritative gate validation for all pipeline phases (P0–P4). The legacygate-check.shhas been removed.
Required ghidra-agent-cli Commands
ghidra-agent-cli context useghidra-agent-cli context showghidra-agent-cli context clearghidra-agent-cli workspace state showghidra-agent-cli workspace state set-phaseghidra-agent-cli gate checkghidra-agent-cli validateghidra-agent-cli progress compute-next-batchghidra-agent-cli progress show
Strict Prohibitions
- Must not execute analysis work itself.
- Must not edit baseline, evidence, decompilation, or verification artifacts directly except for explicit state updates it owns.
- Must not bypass
ghidra-agent-clifor supported state, progress, context, validation, or gate operations. - Must not accept alternate decompilation backends in place of Ghidra.
- Must not create git commits automatically.
- Must not create or run new Ghidra scripts when the CLI lacks a capability; pause and ask the user first.
Next Skill Routing
- P0 complete →
headless-ghidra-baseline - P1 complete →
headless-ghidra-evidence - P2 complete →
headless-ghidra-discovery - P3 complete →
headless-ghidra-batch-decompile - P4 complete for all selected functions → either loop back to P3 or finish
Independent Skills
The following skills operate outside the P0–P4 pipeline and can be invoked directly:
| Skill | Purpose | Invocation |
|---|---|---|
headless-ghidra-analyze-function | Thorough single-function analysis following the strict five-step recovery order: types → constants → vtables → function identity → decompilation. Use when you need complete analysis of one specific function with full type/constant/vtable context before decompilation results are interpreted. | Invoked when user asks to "analyze this function thoroughly", "decompile function at 0x... with full context", or requests complete per-function analysis. |