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REA Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub: The Official Repo, The Quick Start And Where It Fits In An Agent OS

By Julian Goldie · 13 October 2026 · agentos.guide

If you searched for REA Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub, the official repo is github.com/morluto/rea, and REA is free and open source under the MIT licence.

You install it with one command, which is npx rea-agents setup.

Check that the repo owner is morluto before you run anything, and never download a zip installer from a lookalike repo, because the real project installs through npm.

REA stands for Reverse Engineer Anything, and it is one MCP server that lets your AI agent inspect software and explain how a feature works.

I'm Julian Goldie, and I used it with Claude inside my Agent Operating System to rebuild my own booking calendar.

This page is the quick start, followed by where REA fits in an Agent OS workflow.

REA GitHub quick start: the five-line version

Here is the whole setup before any explanation.

• You open github.com/morluto/rea and check that the owner is morluto.
• You make sure Node.js and npm are installed.
• You run npx rea-agents setup in your terminal.
• You choose your agents, review the proposed changes and approve them.
• You restart your agent and ask it to investigate something you own.

The rest of this page explains each line and shows where REA sits inside an Agent OS.

What the REA Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub repo contains

These are the facts I checked on the repo, the README and the npm registry on 13 October 2026.

My video showed 181,000 stars when I recorded it, so the count is still climbing.

The README's tagline is that REA is one MCP for reverse engineering across binaries, applications and runtime behaviour.

What REA is and what problem it solves

REA stands for Reverse Engineer Anything.

It is a set of tools your AI agent can call when you want to know how a piece of software works.

The problem is one most builders know well.

You see a feature in an app or on a website, you want something like it in your own project, and you have no source code to study.

Without REA, your agent guesses from what you describe.

With REA, your agent inspects the target, traces the relevant code and returns findings with the evidence behind them.

The README sums it up as seeing a feature you like and then understanding how it works.

How REA works

Your agent calls REA through MCP to inspect the target and trace the relevant code.

REA returns findings with their evidence.

Your agent uses them to ask follow-up questions, explain the behaviour, or write and test an implementation.

The README says results include the evidence and the limitations behind each conclusion.

On privacy, the README says REA analyses targets locally, your agent receives the tool results, and your model provider has its own data policy.

The same workflows run from the terminal, so an agent is optional.

How to check you have the real REA GitHub repo

Search results for REA GitHub include copycat repos that are stuffed with keywords and offer an "official free download" as a Windows zip.

The real project is not a zip download.

It installs through npm with npx rea-agents setup, and it lives at github.com/morluto/rea.

• The owner in the address bar should be morluto.
• The README should show the setup command near the top.
• The page should link to rea.tools as its website.
• You should close any page that pushes a zip or an installer file at you.

How to set up REA, step by step

The README asks for Node.js 22.19 or newer, 24.11 or newer, or 26 and above, plus npm.

You can check your version by typing node --version.

Then you run the setup command.

npx rea-agents setup

Setup asks which agents you want REA registered with.

It supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Grok Build and other agents.

Setup shows you the changes it wants to make before it makes them.

Once you approve, it adds REA's MCP server and the matching workflow instructions, and it backs up your existing configuration.

You restart your agent so the new server loads.

If your agent is not on the supported list, the README says any agent that supports local MCP servers can use REA through manual MCP registration.

🔥 Want the exact REA setup I run inside my Agent OS?

Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.

→ Get access here

Where REA fits in an Agent OS

An Agent OS is a dashboard that runs your agents with shared memory and a shared workspace.

REA slots into that picture as a new set of tools, not as a new app.

In my own setup the agent was Claude, and the workspace is where the finished scheduler ended up.

If you have not built an Agent OS yet, my Agent OS build guide walks through it with the exact prompts.

If you want to see where I ship mine, my Agent OS GitHub page covers that.

Your first REA prompt

The README's example prompt is "Understand how search works in the Notes app, show me the evidence, and build a similar feature for my project."

You replace Notes with your target and the feature you want to understand.

I think a good prompt names the target, names the feature and asks for the evidence.

My own prompt was simpler.

I gave Claude the REA GitHub link and a link to my booking page, and I asked whether it could create the system I had right there.

The test I ran inside my Agent OS

This is the only test I am claiming, and it is the one in the video.

I used Claude inside my Agent OS.

The target was one of my own funnels, which is the booking page for my free SEO strategy session.

I gave Claude no back-end access, so it worked from the front end only.

Then Claude built my own custom scheduler app and plugged it into the workspace in my Agent OS.

Claude also built a page explaining how reverse engineering works.

It took a couple of prompts.

I think we could improve the design, and I would change the UI.

I am not a technical person, which is why I wanted to show this.

The longer version of this test is in my full REA guide.

The Agent OS loop I would run with REA

This is how I would turn that one test into a repeatable workflow.

• First, you pick a target you own or are allowed to examine.
• Second, you ask the agent to investigate one feature and show the evidence.
• Third, you ask for a plain-English explainer page, so you understand what was found.
• Fourth, you ask the agent to rebuild the feature as your own version in the workspace.
• Fifth, you check the rebuild against the live thing, the way my scheduler's "verify versus live" check does.
• Sixth, you improve the design, because my first version needed it.

Most of that loop happened in my test, and the design step is the job I still have to do.

The six steps of reverse engineering

Claude gave me two analogies, and I am crediting Claude for both.

One is tasting a sauce at a restaurant and working out the recipe.

The other is watching someone's golf swing.

It then broke the process into six steps.

• You ask the question, which is not just how it works but why it works this way.
• You get the artefact.
• You follow the strings, because programs are written by people who name things in English, such as a setting called "allow booking after".
• You decode what you found.
• You watch how it behaves with the settings.
• You rebuild it and prove the rebuild works, as your own unique version.

🔥 Want the exact REA setup I run inside my Agent OS?

Inside the AI Profit Boardroom you get the installable Agent OS, step-by-step video tutorials, four coaching calls a week and 3,400+ members building real automations.

→ Get access here

What REA can analyse

The README has a long list, and the requirements matter.

The README also lists WASM files, EVM bytecode, SQLite databases, Go binaries, packet captures and process behaviour.

Several of those are Linux-only or need tools you supply yourself.

Setup can optionally install Hopper with your approval, while Ghidra and IDA use the copies you already have.

I only tested a front-end analysis of a website I own.

Using REA from the terminal

The README shows this command for an extracted JavaScript or Electron app folder.

npx -y rea-agents@latest analyze-javascript-application /absolute/path/to/app --json

The result includes modules, imports, Electron boundaries and their evidence.

You can install the command for regular use.

npm install --global rea-agents
rea --help

You update a global install with rea update.

You refresh an npx setup with npx rea-agents@latest setup, then you restart your agent.

Teaching REA to your other agents

I only tested REA with Claude.

In the video I also pasted the GitHub link into Hermes, and I said the skill can be taught to agents like Antigravity and Muse.

I did not show results from those agents, so I will not claim any.

The README says any agent that supports local MCP servers can use REA.

If Hermes is your second agent, my Hermes crash course gets you set up first.

The REA showcases

The project site lists three case studies on its showcase page.

The Notion case study traces one clipboard feature, and it is not a clone of Notion.

Limits and honest caveats

I did not test native binary analysis, Hopper, Ghidra, IDA, Android or firmware.

Those are documented features, and I am reporting what the README says about them.

My test was a front-end analysis of my own booking page.

The scheduler works, but the design needs improving.

The README says REA changes quickly and ships frequent bug fixes, so you should expect to update often.

Commercial tools such as IDA and Hopper need their own legal licences, and REA does not provide one.

Use REA responsibly

Use REA on things you own or are allowed to examine.

The README says it is for lawful research, education, interoperability, software preservation, and analysis of software you own or are authorised to examine.

Learn how a feature works, and then build your own original version.

Do not copy someone else's code, brand or content.

That is why my test used my own booking page.

FAQ

Where is the official REA Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub repo?

The official repo is github.com/morluto/rea. It is free and MIT licensed, and it installs through npm with npx rea-agents setup. Check that the owner is morluto and never download a zip installer from a lookalike repo.

What is the fastest way to start with REA?

Install Node.js and npm, run npx rea-agents setup, choose your agents, approve the proposed changes and restart your agent. Then ask the agent to investigate one feature of something you own and to show the evidence.

How does REA fit into an Agent OS?

REA registers as an MCP server and installs matching workflow instructions, so the agent gains tools for inspecting software. The app the agent rebuilds lands in the workspace. Julian's rebuilt scheduler was plugged into the workspace in his Agent OS.

Does REA come with its own AI model?

No. REA is a set of tools that your agent calls through MCP. The agent's own model does the reasoning. Julian used Claude.

Can I use REA with Hermes or other agents?

The README says any agent that supports local MCP servers can use REA, and setup supports Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI and Grok Build. Julian only tested it with Claude.

What should I use REA on?

Use it on things you own or are authorised to examine. The README says REA is for lawful research, education, interoperability, software preservation and analysis of software you own or are authorised to examine. Build your own original version rather than copying code, branding or content.

Final word on the REA GitHub repo

Check the owner is morluto, run the setup command, and start with something you own, and you will get real value from the REA Reverse Engineer Anything GitHub repo.

Related guides on agentos.guide

→ REA: Reverse Engineer Anything With Your AI Agent, Explained

→ How To Build Your Own AI Agent OS

→ Julian Goldie Agent OS GitHub: Where I Actually Ship It

→ Hermes AI Agent: The Full Crash Course

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