ipsw-skill
Apple firmware and binary reverse engineering skills using the ipsw CLI tool
Open source Open in the app JSON README (API)
About
Apple firmware and binary reverse engineering skills using the ipsw CLI tool
Details
- Kind
- Plugins
- Topic
- Developer tools
- Publisher
- blacktop
- Origin
- gemini
- Category
- ferramentas
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Stars
- 83
- Forks
- 12
- Last push
- 2026-05-04T04:24:05Z
- Repository state
- ativo
- License
- MIT
- Added
- 2026-08-30 14:13:39
- Updated
- 2026-08-30 14:13:39
- Origin id
blacktop/ipsw-skill
README
# ipsw-skill
An AI agent skill for Apple firmware and binary reverse engineering using the [ipsw](https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw) CLI tool.
Supports **Claude Code**, **Codex CLI**, **Gemini CLI**, and **Pi (pi-coding-agent)**.
## What This Skill Provides
This skill empowers AI agents to assist with:
- **Downloading/extracting firmware** - IPSWs, OTAs, kernelcaches, dyld_shared_cache
- **Userspace reverse engineering** - DSC disassembly, symbol lookup, xrefs, string search
- **Dumping Objective-C headers** from private frameworks
- **Kernel & KEXT analysis** - extraction, syscalls, diffing between versions
- **Entitlements research** - database queries, capability discovery
- **Mach-O binary analysis** - signatures, entitlements, disassembly
## Installation
### Prerequisites
Install the `ipsw` CLI tool:
```bash
brew install blacktop/tap/ipsw
```
### skills.sh
```bash
npx skills add https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill --skill ipsw
```
### Claude Code
Install from marketplace:
```bash
claude plugin marketplace add blacktop/ipsw-skill
claude plugin install ipsw
```
Or install manually:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill /tmp/ipsw-skill
# User-wide (available in all projects)
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw ~/.claude/skills/ipsw
# Project-specific (check into your repo)
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw .claude/skills/ipsw
```
### Codex CLI
Use the built-in installer:
```bash
$skill-installer https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill --path ipsw
```
Or install manually:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill /tmp/ipsw-skill
# User-wide
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw ~/.codex/skills/ipsw
# Project-specific
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw .codex/skills/ipsw
```
> **Note**: Run Codex with `--enable skills` if skills aren't loading automatically.
### Gemini CLI
Install the extension directly:
```bash
gemini extensions install https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill
```
### Antigravity
Install the skill manually:
```bash
# User-wide
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/ipsw
# workspace-specific
mv /tmp/ipsw-skill/ipsw <workspace-root>/.agent/skills/ipsw
```
### Pi (pi-coding-agent)
```bash
# Global (adds package to ~/.pi/agent/settings.json; clones to ~/.pi/agent/git/...)
pi install https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill
# Project-local (adds package to ./.pi/settings.json; clones to ./.pi/git/...)
pi install -l https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw-skill
```
## Usage Examples
Once installed, the agent will automatically use this skill for Apple RE tasks:
> "Download the latest IPSW for iPhone 15 Pro and extract the kernel"
> "Disassemble the _malloc function from the system dyld_shared_cache"
> "Dump the Objective-C headers for SpringBoardServices"
> "Find all binaries with the platform-application entitlement in iOS 18"
> "What address is -[NSObject init] at in the DSC?"
> "Find all xrefs to this function address"
## Contents
```
ipsw-skill/
├── ipsw/ # The skill (Claude Code / Codex / Gemini all read this)
│ ├── SKILL.md # Main skill instructions
│ └── references/
│ ├── dyld.md # DSC analysis (a2s, xref, dump, str)
│ ├── download.md # Firmware download & extraction
│ ├── kernel.md # Kernel & KEXT analysis
│ ├── macho.md # Mach-O binary analysis
│ ├── class-dump.md # ObjC header dumping
│ └── entitlements.md # Entitlements database & queries
├── gemini-extension.json # Gemini extension config
├── package.json # Pi package manifest
└── .claude-plugin/
└── marketplace.json # Claude marketplace config
```
## Resources
- [ipsw Documentation](https://blacktop.github.io/ipsw)
- [ipsw GitHub](https://github.com/blacktop/ipsw)
- [Discord Community](https://discord.gg/BEamsHAWAh)
## License
MIT