SharkMCP
An MCP server that exposes sharkd — Wireshark's programmatic interface — as a set of tools for LLMs. Load PCAP/PCAPNG files and analyse them with natural language.
Requirements
- Python 3.10+
- Wireshark (provides
sharkd)
Installation
git clone https://github.com/weirdmachine64/sharkmcp.git
cd sharkmcp
pip install -e .
Or run directly from the repo without installing:
uvx --from git+https://github.com/weirdmachine64/sharkmcp sharkmcp
Configuration
Add to your .mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sharkmcp": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/weirdmachine64/sharkmcp", "sharkmcp"],
"env": {
"SHARKMCP_TIMEOUT": "300"
}
}
}
}
| Env var | Default | Description |
|---|
SHARKMCP_SHARKD_BIN | sharkd | Path to sharkd binary |
SHARKMCP_TIMEOUT | 300 | Per-request timeout in seconds |
Tools
Each loaded PCAP gets a dedicated sharkd subprocess. Results from expensive scans (conversations, expert info, export objects) are cached in memory so paginated follow-up calls are served without re-scanning.
Session
| Tool | Description |
|---|
load_pcap(path, alias?) | Load a PCAP/PCAPNG file |
list_pcaps() | List all loaded PCAPs |
unload_pcap(alias) | Terminate session and free memory |
Overview
| Tool | Description |
|---|
pcap_summary(alias) | Frame count, duration, file size, protocols seen |
server_info(alias) | All available tap types, follow protocols, field types |
Packet Inspection
| Tool | Description |
|---|
list_packets(alias, filter?, columns?, refs?) | Paginated frame list with display filter |
packet_detail(alias, frame, include_bytes?, include_hidden?) | Full protocol tree for one frame |
extract_fields(alias, fields, filter?) | Extract arbitrary fields per packet as a table |
Utilities
| Tool | Description |
|---|
validate(alias, filter?, field?) | Validate a display filter and/or field name |
complete(alias, field?, pref?) | Autocomplete field or preference names by prefix |
get_preference(alias, preference?) | Read dissector preferences |
set_preference(alias, name, value) | Set a dissector preference for this session |
set_frame_comment(alias, frame, comment) | Annotate a frame (session-scoped) |
Traffic Structure
| Tool | Description |
|---|
protocol_hierarchy(alias, filter?) | Nested protocol tree with frame/byte counts |
io_stats(alias, interval_ms?, filter?) | Per-interval frame and byte counts |
iograph(alias, graphs, interval_ms?, filters?) | Multi-line traffic graph; supports packets, bytes, bits, sum:<field>, avg:<field>, min:<field>, max:<field>, load:<field>, frames:<field> |
follow_stream(alias, protocol, filter) | Reassemble a stream (tcp, udp, tls, http, http2, quic, sip, dccp, websocket) |
Conversations & Topology
| Tool | Description |
|---|
conversations(alias, type?, sort_by?) | Conversation table — bytes/frames per peer pair |
endpoints(alias, type?, sort_by?) | Endpoint table — tx/rx per host |
Supported layer types for both: tcp, udp, ip, ipv6, eth, sctp, dccp, mptcp, wifi, bluetooth, zigbee, fc, fddi, usb, and more.
Protocol Statistics
| Tool | Description |
|---|
expert_info(alias, filter?) | Per-frame anomaly detection — errors, warnings, notes, chats |
protocol_stats(alias, protocol) | Aggregate stats for dns, http, http_requests, http_server, sip, dhcp, h225, http2, rtsp |
service_response_time(alias, protocol) | Request/response latency for smb, smb2, snmp, ldap, diameter, rpc, gtp, and more |
response_time_delay(alias, protocol) | Round-trip delay for radius, h225_ras, megaco, mgcp |
sequence_diagram(alias, type?) | Flow diagram data for tcp, icmp, icmpv6, any |
Media & VoIP
| Tool | Description |
|---|
voip_calls(alias, filter?) | SIP/H.323 call list with state and participants |
rtp_streams(alias, stream_spec?) | RTP stream inventory; pass stream_spec for per-stream jitter/loss |
multicast_streams(alias, filter?) | UDP multicast stream statistics |
Export & Objects
| Tool | Description |
|---|
export_objects(alias, type?) | List extractable objects (http, imf, smb, tftp, dicom, ftp-data) |
download_object(alias, token) | Download an object, TLS session keys (ssl-secrets), or RTP audio (rtp:<spec>) as base64 |
Escape Hatch
| Tool | Description |
|---|
tap(alias, specs, filter?, skip?, limit?) | Run any sharkd tap directly — up to 16 specs in one PCAP scan. Use server_info to discover valid identifiers. |
Example
> load_pcap("/captures/traffic.pcap", alias="traffic")
> protocol_hierarchy("traffic")
> expert_info("traffic", limit=20)
> conversations("traffic", type="tcp", sort_by="bytes")
> extract_fields("traffic", ["dns.qry.name", "dns.a"], filter="dns")
> follow_stream("traffic", "http", "tcp.stream eq 0")
> export_objects("traffic", type="http")
> download_object("traffic", "eo:http_0")
Architecture
LLM
│ MCP (stdio)
▼
SharkMCP server
│ JSON-RPC 2.0 (stdin/stdout)
├─ sharkd [pcap-1]
├─ sharkd [pcap-2]
└─ sharkd [pcap-N]
One sharkd subprocess per loaded PCAP. Sessions are isolated — concurrent queries on different aliases never block each other.