Tutorial resources · by ZookeepergameMost817

The AI reverse-engineering toolkit: free tools, agents, courses, and practice labs — organized by what you’re trying to understand

A Reddit resource map that introduces REA as the starting point for agent-assisted reverse engineering, with setup steps, worked investigations, and links to native, .NET, Electron, iOS, and MCP tooling.

ZookeepergameMost817@ZookeepergameMost817

Translated

About this case

The post organizes free reverse-engineering tools by target and leads with REA: it links the REA repository, installation docs, first-investigation guide, and worked showcases such as Notes export, Notion clipboard, DX-Ball, and Aegis. It includes the npx rea-agents setup command, cautions about commercial engines and model-provider data policies, and then lists MCP bridges and analysis tools for native binaries, .NET, iOS, and Electron/JavaScript. It is an educational resource roundup rather than a single case study.

Setup

See the original source for installation instructions.

Original text / README

You don’t need another folder of 150 bookmarks.

You need to know which tool to open when you’re staring at a Windows binary, an Electron app, a firmware image, or an undocumented protocol.

This is a reverse-engineering resource map organized by target—not a random list of repos.

AI agents are part of it. So are disassemblers, debuggers, protocol analyzers, and free courses that teach you how to check the agent’s work.

The rule that ties everything together: evidence.

A convincing explanation is not the same as a verified reconstruction.

01 — Start with REA: connect your agent to the investigation

REA connects coding agents to tools for inspecting native binaries, JavaScript/Electron applications, .NET assemblies, websites, and runtime behavior. Results include supporting evidence and limitations.

Start here:

Setup:

npx rea-agents@latest setup

Review the proposed changes, approve the setup, and restart your agent.

Two important caveats:

REA is open source; commercial analysis engines such as IDA Pro and Hopper still require their own licenses.
REA analyzes targets locally, but tool results go to your agent. Your model provider’s data policy still matters.

02 — Follow a real investigation before inventing your own workflow

Start with one feature, not “explain this entire application.”

Notes export — follow a button through the preload bridge and IPC handler to the CSV writer. Then predict an edge case and test it.
Notion clipboard — follow a clipboard API through Electron’s process boundaries.
DX-Ball — follow a native sound calculation from original instructions to a checked reconstruction.
Aegis — explore an APK investigation focused on TOTP behavior.

The Notes exercise is a particularly good first step: the app is small, the trace is concrete, and you can check the CSV formatter’s behavior directly.

Also worth exploring: CTF Flag Checker, REA Gems, Chrome Dinosaur, and the Notes Evidence Record.

03 — AI reverse-engineering agents and MCP bridges

For connecting an agent to an analysis environment:

Also explore: Revenant, Awesome LLM Reverse Engineering, AgentRE-Bench, SRE-Bench, and Reverse Engineering Agent Skill.

Think of the agent as an investigator’s assistant—not the final authority on what a binary does.

04 — Native binaries

The core toolkit:

Keep these nearby too:

Keystone · GNU Binutils · GDB · LLDB · pwntools · ROPgadget · Detect It Easy · capa · YARA

05 — .NET applications

Start here:

Also explore:

AsmResolver · Harmony · Mono.Cecil · NativeAOT reversing helpers

06 — iOS

Documentation, practice targets, and device tooling:

Also explore:

ios-deploy · class-dump · ipsw · Objection

07 — Electron and JavaScript

For package