awesome-reverse-engineered (author alexgaoth) has one idea, "don't reverse engineer it twice". Before you open an app, API, device or file format in a disassembler, search the index for a maintained project that already did it. The README counts 12,869 projects with 10.7M stars between them, and 7,077 of those are still active. It ships as a website, a CC0 JSON dataset and an agent skill that searches the dataset. The list is ten days old and curated by one person, so treat its ranking with care. The site lives at alexgaoth.github.io/awesome-reverse-engineered, with a mirror at awesome.alexgaoth.com.
Checked 2026-10-21 through the GitHub API and raw files.
- Repo: created 2026-10-11, last push 2026-10-20, 37 commits (all in 10 days), 304 stars, 69 forks, 1 open issue. Python.
- License: code (scripts, site, skill) is MIT; the list and data are CC0 1.0 (
LICENSE-DATA). Each linked project keeps its own license. - Size, per the README: 12,869 projects with 10.7M GitHub stars between them. Health split: 7,077 active, 1,953 slowing, 2,491 dormant, 900 archived. Top languages are Python (3,298), C++ (1,861), C (1,697), JavaScript (842) and TypeScript (736). I counted the entries in
data/entries.jsonand got 12,869, so the headline number matches the data. - Refresh: a nightly GitHub Action updates stars, archived flags and dead links; 31 repos were removed this way (
data/removed.json). - Translations: README in English, Chinese, French and Spanish.
Categories (README counts)
| Category | Projects |
|---|---|
| Game Decompilations and Reimplementations | 3,036 |
| Devices, IoT and Hardware | 3,028 |
| Unofficial Web/App API Clients | 904 |
| RE Tooling | 741 |
| AI Tools and LLM Clients | 737 |
| Automotive | 520 |
| Firmware and Embedded | 472 |
| File Formats | 436 |
| Drivers and Low-level Hardware | 432 |
| Network and Wire Protocols | 422 |
| Apple Ecosystem | 340 |
| Chinese and Asian Platforms | 324 |
| Messaging and Social Apps | 296 |
| Industrial and Building Automation | 291 |
| Desktop Software Reimplementations | 201 |
| Third-party Clients | 190 |
| Online Service Revivals | 173 |
| Alternative Frontends | 121 |
| Collections and Awesome Lists | 103 |
| Mobile Apps | 102 |
Each entry in data/entries.json has: name, URL, one-line description, category and subcategory, stars, archived flag, last push date, language, license, topics and the date it was added.
The agent skill
find-reverse-engineered is a skill (folder plugin/skills/find-reverse-engineered/) built on one standard-library Python file, re_index.py. It downloads the index, caches it for 24 hours in ~/.cache/awesome-reverse-engineered/, and has search, info owner/repo, clone owner/repo and categories commands. Filters: --lang, --min-stars, --category, --include-archived, --json.
Install options from the README: npx skills add alexgaoth/awesome-reverse-engineered, or the Claude Code plugin /plugin install reverse-engineered --marketplace alexgaoth/awesome-reverse-engineered, or download the single script with curl. I read the SKILL.md but did not run the script.
The workflow it prescribes is sensible: try an official API or SDK first; search with the vendor name plus the need; prefer a project that is not archived, was pushed in the last 1 to 2 years, matches your language and has a compatible license (blank license means all rights reserved); read the README with info before installing; and tell the user which project and version you chose. It also says to treat downloaded code as untrusted and not to give it credentials before reading it.
Scope and caveats
- Stated scope: interoperability, preservation and research - unofficial clients, drivers, local-control libraries, file-format parsers, protocol docs, reimplementations, decompilations. Left out on purpose: exploits, jailbreaks, certificate-pinning and security bypasses, decryption tools, cheats, DRM or paywall removal, CAPTCHA solvers, account bots and credential tools. The README says 147 repos were dropped by that filter.
- The index is wider than the stated scope in places. The "most starred" and "just added" tables include relay proxies that expose subscription logins as APIs (CLIProxyAPI, sub2api), leaked system-prompt archives, and WeChat and Xiaohongshu crawlers. Those can break a service's terms of use or get an account locked. The README itself warns that unofficial clients may violate terms of service; use them with your own accounts and data.
- Star counts look odd. The index lists REA at 342,757 stars. The GitHub API returned 351,629 when this note was written, the REA note recorded 11,741 on 2026-10-07, and the same API returned 420,599 stars and 105,015 forks on 2026-11-02. The counts moved between checks. This note does not explain the size of the move, so treat star-based ranking in this list with caution.
- Young and single-maintainer. Ten days old, curated by one person with research agents; each entry is checked against the GitHub API for existence, stars and license, but not for quality or safety.
- Unofficial APIs break when the vendor changes its side. The health column (active, slowing, dormant, archived) is the quick check.
Related
Pairs with REA (do the reverse engineering when nothing exists yet), Authorized Artifact Auditor and the lists in Security Tools.