---
title: "Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) Explained"
url: "https://reamcp.dev/en/cases/reverse-engineer-anything-rea-explained-b3b7fe"
source: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-mG1D8ix4"
source_type: "resource"
author: "Leonardo Grigorio | Build & Ship with AI"
author_handle: "leonardogrig"
stars: 0
category: "Tools & integrations"
categories: ["tools-integrations"]
tags: ["claude-code", "electron", "ghidra", "mcp", "reverse-engineering"]
added: "2026-10-15T02:14:23.295Z"
updated: "2026-10-14T06:00:19.000Z"
locale: "en"
content_locale: "en"
---

# Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) Explained

A short explainer on REA, the MIT-licensed add-on that plugs into Claude Code, Codex or Cursor: one npx setup command, decompiler integration (Ghidra, Hopper, IDA), browser recording for websites, and direct reading of Electron app JavaScript, illustrated with REA's Notion and DX-Ball showcases, plus cost, limits and the disclaimer that output grants no rights to the original program.

## Description

Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) is a free, MIT-licensed add-on that lets Claude Code, Codex or Cursor look inside apps you didn't write. This is what it returns on a real target, what it costs and where it stops, in under five minutes.

The video covers the morluto/rea repository: one npx command that plugs REA into your agent, a decompiler (Ghidra, Hopper or IDA) for compiled apps, browser recording for websites, and direct reading of the JavaScript inside Electron apps like Notion. Two REA showcases are walked through: tracing Notion's clipboard path, and rebuilding a DX-Ball sound-pan function that passes 3,205 test cases and matches all 63 compiled bytes. It also covers tool pricing, output size in a third-party test, server-side limits, and REA's disclaimer that its output gives you no rights to the original program. Sources include the REA repo, its Notion and DX-Ball showcases and the disclaimer.

## Original README

Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) Explained

Reverse Engineer Anything (REA) is a free, MIT-licensed add-on that lets Claude Code, Codex or Cursor look inside apps you didn't write. This is what it returns on a real target, what it costs and where it stops, in under five minutes.

The morluto/rea repo got single-digit stars a day through September, then picked up just over 50,000 GitHub stars on October 12 and is past 200,000 now. The jump followed posts by Replit CEO Amjad Masad and Matthew Berman ("Software is done.", about 3.5 million views). The video covers what is actually in the repo: one npx command that plugs REA into your agent, a decompiler (Ghidra, Hopper or IDA) for compiled apps, browser recording for websites, and direct reading of the JavaScript inside Electron apps like Notion.

Two of REA's own showcases are walked through. On Notion, the agent traces how text and HTML reach the clipboard, from the page through the notion:clipboard:write channel to the main process. On DX-Ball, a 1996 Windows game, the rebuilt sound-pan function passes 3,205 test cases against the original and matches all 63 compiled bytes, though the game isn't playable yet.

REA and Ghidra are free. Hopper starts at 99 euros and IDA Pro at 1,099 euros a year. REA publishes no typical token cost; it runs on your agent's plan, and in Kingy AI's test a 1,648-byte example produced about 907 KB of output. Server-side logic stays out of reach, and REA's disclaimer says its output gives you no rights to the original program. What you get is a map of one feature that keeps what the agent saw, what it inferred and what it still doesn't know apart.

Questions this video answers:
- What is Reverse Engineer Anything (REA)?
- Why did REA get over 200,000 GitHub stars?
- Does REA work with Claude Code and Codex?
- What does REA return when you point it at an app?
- How much does REA cost, and do you need to pay for IDA or Hopper?
- Can REA make a copy of an app you pay for?

Chapters:
0:00 What REA is
0:14 Why it blew up
0:43 How it works
1:47 Notion and a 1996 game
2:44 What it costs
3:18 Can it copy an app?

Sources:
- REA repo and README: https://github.com/morluto/rea
- REA Notion showcase: https://rea.tools/showcase/notion/
- REA DX-Ball showcase: https://rea.tools/showcase/dx-ball/
- REA disclaimer: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/morluto/rea/main/DISCLAIMER.md
- Hex-Rays IDA pricing: https://hex-rays.com/pricing
- Kingy AI's hands-on REA test: https://kingy.ai/blog/reverse-engineer-anything-ai-rea-guide/

Setup command shown on screen: npx rea-agents setup

I didn't run REA myself for this video. The Notion and DX-Ball results are REA's own showcases, the CSV and output-size numbers are Kingy AI's test, and the Preview rebuild is MindStudio's informal write-up. Star counts are from GitHub and Trendshift on October 14, 2026.

#ReverseEngineering #ClaudeCode #Codex