What is this?
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 β wireshark_detect_dns_tunnel]
"Found repeated high-entropy DNS queries consistent with tunneling: ..."
Install
Prerequisites: Python 3.10+ and Wireshark with tshark on PATH.
Wireshark MCP 3.0 uses the stable MCP Python SDK 2.x line (mcp>=2.1.1,<3).
pip install wireshark-mcp
wireshark-mcp install
Restart your AI client β done.
Run wireshark-mcp doctor if anything looks off. See docs/manual-configuration.md for manual setup or platform-specific notes.
Quick Start
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.
Use wireshark_aggregate for any capture-wide count or distribution.
Write findings to report.md.
52 tools, each backed by real tshark output β 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 | Aggregate/group/distinct/top-k/time buckets, protocol hierarchy, endpoints, conversations, I/O graph, expert info, service response time, flow graph | 8 |
| 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, β¦) and applies the right fields and display filter for it. The field names are the point β 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.
Context cost
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 ~22 KB β about 9 KB of parameter schema, 5 KB of descriptions, and 3 KB of read/write annotations β 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) | 52 | ~22 KB | nothing |
analysis | 40 | ~17 KB | live capture, interface listing, all file-writing tools |
core | 32 | ~14 KB | the above, plus decryption, dissection overrides, and low-level views |
wireshark-mcp serve --profile core
Runtime prompts and protocol recommendations respect the selected profile. Static guides may describe full-only workflows, but the server never recommends an excluded tool during capture discovery.
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=16000
Every tool also declares whether it reads or writes, so clients can auto-approve the 41 read-only analysis tools and still prompt for the 11 that create files (live capture, merge, filter-save, editcap, text2pcap, frame extract, object export).
In 3.0, those 11 tools fail closed until WIRESHARK_MCP_ALLOWED_DIRS names existing directories. Remote HTTP/SSE binding also stays loopback-only unless --allow-insecure-http is explicitly supplied behind a trusted authenticated TLS proxy. See the 3.0 security migration guide.
Documentation
Development
pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v
ruff check src/ tests/
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.
