vesper

vesper is an open-source iOS reverse engineering platform that connects an MCP client to a jailbroken iPhone over SSH and Frida, with optional licensed IDA integration. It exposes structured tools for inspecting UIKit views, exploring Objective-C metadata, tracing method calls and building app-scoped tweaks. A bundled vesper-ios Agent Skill composes these primitives into workflows.

What It Is

vesper is an MCP server (Python 3.11+, run on macOS or Linux) that gives AI agents and MCP clients structured, bounded access to an operator-controlled jailbroken iOS device. Tool areas cover device and app enumeration, UIKit inspection, Objective-C class dumps, Frida dynamic analysis, optional IDA static analysis, decryption, and Theos-based tweak development. The server itself does not require a model API key.

Runtime Inspection and Automation

A single ui_capture call can return a summary of visible controls, a native PNG screenshot, or both for an allowlisted app. ui_automate runs up to 20 batched actions (tap, back, input text, scroll, assert, wait) in one call, and objc_query_instances reads selected live ivar values. Frida sessions support method tracing, hooks, and bounded event and call-stack retrieval. Swift visibility depends on Objective-C interoperability, and full SwiftUI reconstruction is outside the current scope.

Decryption, Static Analysis and Tweaks

The platform can decrypt apps with frida-ios-dump, verify the Mach-O, and produce headers via classdumpc or runtime generation. With a licensed IDA Pro 9+ installation it offers headless disassembly, Hex-Rays pseudocode, cross-references and runtime address correlation. The develop_tweak workflow inspects a button, generates an editable Logos project, builds a package with Theos, and deploys, verifies and rolls back after local operator approval.

Security Model and Setup

Device and app allowlists constrain targets. Installations, app restarts and other disruptive operations require local approval that MCP clients cannot grant themselves, and arbitrary shell commands and injected JavaScript are not exposed. Setup uses uv to install dependencies, a TOML config for SSH and Frida settings, and a stdio command registered in clients such as Codex, Claude Code and Cursor. The default focused profile advertises 19 tools, while the full profile advertises all 70 primitives.