Video · Alex Sprogis ·

How to Use REA to Copy Any App in Minutes (Reverse Engineer Anything)

Alex Sprogis's video explains REA (Reverse Engineer Anything), an open-source MCP server for reverse engineering binaries, applications, and runtime behavior, which gained over 120,000 GitHub stars within days. REA acts as a bridge between a coding agent and analysis tools/decompilers such as Ghidra, IDA, and Hopper, using its own analyses for JavaScript/Electron apps and Chrome for websites. The creator tested REA on an Electron-based dictation app (where AI contributed little and the MCP analysis timed out after 30 minutes, while the command line took 5 minutes) and on macOS Reminders (where AI found the data model, permissions, and functional areas, though core logic in shared macOS memory was inaccessible). The video includes a legal disclaimer against copying code one-to-one, circumventing licenses, or manipulating apps. It also references Brandon Thomas's open-source Photoshop clone, Photocraft, and replicas of other Adobe programs.

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