Wireshark-MCP

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 → wireshark_detect_dns_tunnel]
        "Found repeated high-entropy DNS queries consistent with tunneling: ..."

Install

Prerequisites: Python 3.10+ and Wireshark with `tshark` on PATH.

pip install wireshark-mcp
wireshark-mcp install   # auto-configures all detected MCP clients

Restart your AI client — 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.
Write findings to report.md.

Tools

51 tools, each backed by real `tshark` output — organized into categories:

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.

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 ~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:

wireshark-mcp serve --profile core

Every 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=16000

Every 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).

Documentation

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
pytest tests/ -v
ruff check src/ tests/

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full guide.