IDA Chat Plugin

AI-powered chat interface for IDA Pro — powered by Claude

Screenshots • Features • Requirements • Installation • Usage • Authentication • Uninstalling • License

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🖼️ Screenshots

See the plugin in both light and dark mode before you even install it.

Light Chat	Dark Chat
Light Settings	Dark Settings

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✨ Features

• Dockable panel — open from View > IDA Chat inside IDA
• AI binary analysis — ask anything about your binary; Claude responds with code and explanations
• Automatic script execution — Claude writes and runs IDA Python scripts against your open binary without any copy-paste
• Script approval gate — optional per-request approval before any script runs, with risk classification
• Context-aware prompts — cursor position, current function name, and selected text are automatically attached to every message
• Multi-session workspace — maintain multiple named conversations per binary; switch, rename, delete, and export from the sidebar
• Persistent history — sessions saved to ~/.ida-chat/ scoped per binary, fully resumable across IDA restarts
• Markdown rendering — formatted responses with syntax-highlighted code blocks and collapsible long outputs
• HTML transcript export — export any session as a single-file HTML transcript with the same visual language as the live chat UI
• Model selection — choose between Claude Sonnet, Opus, Opus 1M, and Haiku from the settings panel

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📋 Requirements

Requirement	Version
IDA Pro	9.0 or later
hcli	Latest
Claude	API key, OAuth, or system auth via Claude Code
Python	For source checkouts, use the same major.minor version as IDA's embedded Python

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🚀 Installation

Choose one of these two paths:

Option A: Install the released plugin with hcli (recommended)

This is the easiest path if you just want to use the plugin.

1. Install or update hcli.

2. Install the plugin:

   hcli plugin install https://github.com/tanu360/ida-chat-plugin

3. Start IDA Pro.

4. Open any binary.

5. Open View > IDA Chat.

6. Complete the setup wizard:

   • choose an authentication mode
   • choose the model you want to use
   • save settings

After that, the chat panel is ready to use.

Option B: Run directly from this source checkout

Use this only if you are developing the plugin or testing local changes.

1. Put this repository at:

   ~/.idapro/plugins/ida-chat
   

2. Create the local environment.

   On macOS or Linux:

   uv sync --python python3 --extra dev

   On Windows:

   uv sync --python python --extra dev

3. If you do not use uv, create the environment manually.

   On macOS or Linux:

   python3 -m venv .venv
   .venv/bin/python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

   On Windows:

   python -m venv .venv
   .venv\Scripts\python -m pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Start IDA Pro.

5. Open a binary.

6. Open View > IDA Chat.

7. Complete the setup wizard on first launch.

Important notes for source checkouts:

• The repo .venv must use the same Python major.minor version as your IDA build.

• The plugin loads runtime dependencies from this repo's .venv when opened from source.

• If the wrong Python version is used for .venv, the plugin may fail to load dependencies inside IDA.

• If python3 on macOS/Linux or python on Windows points to the wrong version, use the Python executable that matches your IDA build instead.

• To check IDA's embedded Python version, open the IDA Python console and run:

  import sys
  print(f"{sys.version_info.major}.{sys.version_info.minor}")

The runtime dependencies used by the chat and markdown rendering live in requirements.txt.

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💡 Usage

1. Open a binary in IDA Pro (any supported format — PE, ELF, Mach-O, etc.)
2. Open View > IDA Chat to show the chat panel
3. Complete the setup wizard on first run — takes about 30 seconds
4. Type your question and press Enter

First-Time Setup Wizard

On first launch, the plugin will ask you to choose:

1. An authentication method
2. A model
3. Whether generated scripts should require approval before execution

If you are not sure which auth mode to pick, start with System if Claude Code is already working on your machine.

The plugin automatically captures the binary context (current function, cursor address, selection) and passes it to Claude with every message — no manual copy-paste needed.

Example Prompts

Goal	Prompt
Explore functions	"List the main functions in this binary"
Analyze current address	"Analyze the function at the current address"
Find issues	"Find potential vulnerabilities in this binary"
Understand code	"Explain what this function does"
Clean up disassembly	"Rename variables in sub_401000 to be more descriptive"
Cross-references	"What calls this function and from where?"

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Windows / Linux	macOS
Send message	Enter	Enter
New line	Shift+Enter	Shift+Enter
Stop generation	Esc	Esc
Message history	↑ / ↓	↑ / ↓

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🔑 Authentication

Three authentication modes are supported, configurable from the setup wizard or settings panel:

Mode	Description
System	Reuses existing Claude Code credentials — no extra setup needed if you already use Claude Code
API Key	Anthropic Console API key — get one at console.anthropic.com
OAuth	Browser-based login via claude setup-token

The System auth mode is recommended if you already have Claude Code installed.

Which Auth Mode Should You Pick?

• System: best default if Claude Code already works on your machine
• OAuth: best if you want browser-based sign-in without copying API keys
• API Key: best if you prefer explicit Anthropic key-based setup

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🗑️ Uninstalling

hcli plugin uninstall ida-chat

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Copyright © 2026 Hex-Rays SA — support@hex-rays.com