REA GitHub Tutorial: Reverse Engineer Anything with Claude Code (Full Setup + Fixes)

REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) is the viral GitHub repo that gives AI coding agents like Claude Code the tools to look inside an installed app — without the source code. I installed it on Windows, pointed it at VS Code, and wrote down every error I hit along the way.

🎥 Prefer video? Watch the full walkthrough here: [ Walkthrough ]

REA is an MCP server plus a set of workflow instructions (a "skill") for your AI agent. Instead of guessing how an app works from screenshots, the agent can call REA's analysis tools — 207 of them in version 6.7.0 — to inspect the real files.

My favourite part: findings come with a confidence level. In my test, the Electron fuse check came back as "confidence": "observed" from the shipped artifact, with the file's SHA-256 attached as proof.

Prerequisite: Node.js 22.19+, 24.11+ or 26+.

npx rea-agents setup Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode The wizard asks which agent you use and registers REA for you.

On Windows, setup deliberately doesn't edit your agent's config, so register it yourself:

node -v npm install -g rea-agents @ 6.7.0 rea doctor claude mcp add --scope user rea -- cmd /c rea mcp Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode Then fully restart Claude Code and run /mcp — you should see rea · connected.

cmd /c matters on Windows: rea is a.cmd launcher that Claude Code can't start directly.

⚠️ Install only from the official repo — github.com/morluto/rea — or the npm package rea-agents. Copycat repos are a real risk with tools like this.

I gave Claude Code this prompt (static analysis only — nothing launched or modified):

Fuses are on/off switches baked into the executable at build time. REA read all nine. Highlights:

These are design trade-offs, not bugs — but they're exactly why Electron apps are interesting to study.

From product.json: the update server, the Extension Marketplace, a GitHub-hosted MCP server gallery, Settings Sync, an A/B experimentation service, Bing-powered settings search, a voice service, and a CDN hosting AI agent SDKs. Telemetry is on by default, with an opt-out.

Main process, workbench window, shared process, extension host, pty host (terminal), file watcher, and a newer agent host. That's why one frozen extension doesn't freeze your editor — extensions run in their own process.

Pro tip: when anything breaks, run rea doctor first. It's read-only and tells you exactly what's missing.

As an app developer, I'll use it to check my own release builds (what really ships in my APK), learn how good open-source apps solve a feature, and audit what the tools I install connect to.

From REA's README: it's for lawful research, education, interoperability, software preservation — and software you own or are authorized to examine. Learn from apps; don't copy paid ones.

Watch the full video: Full Detailed Video

What should I reverse engineer next? Drop it in the comments 👇

I'm Rajiv — I make videos about AI tools that actually work on The Code Street.