Give your AI assistant a packet analyzer.
Drop a .pcap file, ask questions in plain English — get answers backed by real tshark data.
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An MCP server that wraps tshark (and optional Wireshark suite tools) into a structured analysis interface. Works with Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, and 18+ other MCP clients.
You: "Find all DNS queries going to suspicious domains in this capture."
Claude: [calls wireshark_extract_dns_queries → wireshark_detect_dns_tunnel]
"Found repeated high-entropy DNS queries consistent with tunneling: ..."
Prerequisites: Python 3.10+ and Wireshark with tshark on PATH.
pip install wireshark-mcp
wireshark-mcp install # auto-configures all detected MCP clientsRestart your AI client — done.
Run wireshark-mcp doctor if anything looks off. See docs/manual-configuration.md for manual setup or platform-specific notes.
Point your AI client at a .pcap file and try:
Analyze capture.pcap using the Wireshark MCP tools.
Start with wireshark_open_file, then run wireshark_quick_analysis.
Write findings to report.md.
51 tools, each backed by real tshark output — organized into categories:
| Category | Highlights | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Entry & Workflow | wireshark_open_file, wireshark_quick_analysis |
2 |
| Packet Analysis | Packet list, details, bytes, context, stream follow, search, file info | 8 |
| Data Extraction | HTTP requests, DNS queries, arbitrary fields, object export | 4 |
| Statistics | Protocol hierarchy, endpoints, conversations, I/O graph, expert info, service response time, flow graph | 7 |
| Security & Anomaly | Credential scan, port scan, DNS tunnel, DoS, beaconing, exfiltration, protocol anomalies, YARA | 8 |
| Protocol Analysis | wireshark_analyze_protocol (20 protocols), TCP health, ARP spoofing |
3 |
| Decrypt & Dissection | TLS/WPA decrypt, decryption check, decode-as, protocol preferences | 5 |
| Forensics & Enrichment | TLS fingerprints, file signature scan, GeoIP | 3 |
| File Ops, Capture & Suite | Live capture, interfaces, merge, filter-save, editcap trim/split/dedup/time-shift, frame extract, text2pcap, capabilities | 11 |
One tool covers 20 protocols rather than 20 tools covering one each: wireshark_analyze_protocol takes a protocol argument (tls_handshakes, mqtt, modbus, s7comm, zigbee, wifi, rtp, kerberos, …) and applies the right fields and display filter for it. The field names are the point — s7comm.param.item.dbnum is not something a caller should have to guess, and a wrong guess returns an empty result that reads like a clean capture.
The server starts with only tshark required. Optional tools (capinfos, mergecap, editcap, dumpcap, text2pcap) are auto-detected and enable extra features when present.
The tool list travels in the prompt prefix of every request your client sends, so its size is a fixed per-request cost. The default surface is ~21 KB — about 9 KB of parameter schema, 5 KB of descriptions, and 3 KB of read/write annotations — and it is byte-identical across restarts so clients can cache the prefix rather than re-reading it each session.
If your client never captures live traffic or writes pcaps, --profile advertises less:
| Profile | Tools | Payload | Drops |
|---|---|---|---|
full (default) |
51 | ~21 KB | nothing |
analysis |
41 | ~17 KB | live capture, interface listing, all file-writing tools |
core |
33 | ~14 KB | the above, plus decryption, dissection overrides, and low-level views |
wireshark-mcp serve --profile coreEvery profile still contains every tool the bundled prompts, resources, skill files, and protocol recommendations can point the model at, so reducing the surface never leaves it chasing a tool that is not there.
Tool results are bounded too, since a result stays in the conversation for the rest of the session. Output over 8000 characters is truncated head-and-tail with a marker, and the tool's offset / limit / display_filter parameters are the way to page through the rest. Raise or lower the ceiling with:
export WIRESHARK_MCP_MAX_RESULT_CHARS=16000Every tool also declares whether it reads or writes, so clients can auto-approve the 40 read-only analysis tools and still prompt for the 11 that create files (live capture, merge, filter-save, editcap, text2pcap, frame extract, object export).
| Topic | Link |
|---|---|
| Platform setup (macOS/Linux/Windows) | docs/platform-validation.md |
| Manual client configuration | docs/manual-configuration.md |
| Prompt templates | docs/prompt-engineering.md |
| Release checklist | docs/release-checklist.md |
| Contributing | CONTRIBUTING.md |
| Changelog | GitHub Releases |
| Security policy | SECURITY.md |
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v
ruff check src/ tests/See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.