WiresharkSAFE
An MCP server that integrates Wireshark/tshark with AI tools and IDEs. Capture live traffic, parse .pcap files, apply display filters, follow streams, and export JSON - all via Claude Desktop, VS Code, or CLI. Cross‐platform, typed, tested, and pip‐installable.
Overview
From the repository's own README, as read at the audited commit. Badges and raw HTML are left out.
Community-maintained MCP server for Wireshark /tshark. Not affiliated with Wireshark or Anthropic. Give your AI assistant direct access to packet captures. Ask Claude to summarize a.pcap, follow a TCP stream, filter for a specific protocol, or capture live traffic — all without leaving the chat.
[](https://badge.fury.io/py/mcp-wireshark) [](https://github.com/khuynh22/mcp-wireshark/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT) [](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
Quick start with Claude Code
pip install mcp-wireshark claude mcp add --transport stdio --scope user mcp-wireshark -- mcp-wireshark
That's it. Open Claude Code and try:
"Summarize ./capture.pcap and tell me which IPs talked the most."
--scope user makes the server available across every Claude Code project. Drop the flag to install it for the current project only. See `claude mcp` docs for more.
Verify the install
claude mcp list
You should see mcp-wireshark listed. Inside Claude Code, ask:
"Run check_installation."
If tshark is on your PATH, it returns the version. If not, see troubleshooting.
Tools
The server exposes 14 tools, split cleanly between read tools (safe, no side effects) and write tools (capture traffic or write files). Both groups are annotated with the standard MCP readOnlyHint so any compliant client can surface the distinction.
Read tools
Safe to call freely — they only inspect state.
306ca41b44b4OBSERVED · 2026-10-08Connect
Built from this server's own package name, version and transport as found in its source — not copied from anyone's documentation, so it cannot drift against a page we do not control.
claude mcp add mcp-wireshark -- None mcp-wireshark==0.5.0
Exposed tools (10)
9 read · 1 write · 0 destructive.
| Tool | Risk | Description |
|---|---|---|
check_installation | read | Check if Wireshark/tshark is installed and return version info. |
display_filter | write | Apply a Wireshark display filter to a pcap file and return a |
export_json | read | Export packets from a pcap file to a JSON file at output_path. |
follow_tcp | read | Follow a TCP stream by index and return its ASCII payload. |
follow_udp | read | Follow a UDP stream by index and return its ASCII payload. |
list_interfaces | read | List all network interfaces available for packet capture. |
live_capture | read | Capture live network traffic from an interface. Writes to a |
read_pcap | read | Read and analyze packets from a .pcap or .pcapng file. Returns a |
stats_by_proto | read | Generate the protocol hierarchy statistics for a pcap file. |
summarize_pcap | read | Get a high-level summary of a pcap file: I/O stats, protocol |
Trust audit
SAFEgrade B · trust 89/100 Nothing in the source contradicts what it says it does. Grade A is reserved for packages that have also passed the behavioural sandbox.
| Layer | What it checks | Result |
|---|---|---|
| L0 | Provenance & inventory | PASS |
| L1 | Static analysis of the code | PASS |
| L2 | Instruction surface (what it tells the agent) | PASS |
| L3 | Class-specific surface | PASS |
| L4 | Behavioural (sandbox) | SKIPPED |
What the source does
- Filesystem
- declared (2 observation(s))
- Network
- declared (3 observation(s))
- Shell
- none-observed
- Dependencies
- pinned
- Secrets in source
- none-found
Findings (11)
.pre-commit-config.yaml
validate_file_path("../../../etc/passwd.pcap")GOOSE_DST = bytes.fromhex("010ccd010001")GOOSE_SRC = bytes.fromhex("0030a7112233")SV_DST = bytes.fromhex("010ccd040001")SV_SRC = bytes.fromhex("0030a7445566")mcp-publisher.exe
- **Live Capture**: Requires elevated permissions on most systems
- **Permissions**: Live packet capture requires elevated permissions on Windows
3. Add to PATH: `C:\Program Files\Wireshark`
- **PATH**: Wireshark/tshark must be accessible - add to system PATH or specify in env
Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.
306ca41b44b4full audit observations/trust-audit/mcp-server/khuynh22__wireshark-4.json · Report an issue / request a re-scanAudit history
Every audit this server has had. A grade with a past is a grade somebody is still checking.
| Date | Source | Verdict | Grade | Score | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-08 | 306ca41b44b4 | SAFE | B | 89 | first audit |
Questions
What is the Wireshark MCP server?
An MCP server that integrates Wireshark/tshark with AI tools and IDEs. Capture live traffic, parse .pcap files, apply display filters, follow streams, and export JSON - all via Claude Desktop, VS Code, or CLI. Cross‐platform, typed, tested, and pip‐installable.
What tools does Wireshark expose?
10 in total: 9 read-only, 1 that write, and 0 that can delete or overwrite. Every one is listed on this page with its risk.
Is Wireshark safe to connect to an agent?
The audit found nothing in the source that contradicts what it says it does, and graded it B (89/100). Grade A is held back for packages that have also passed a sandboxed behavioural run, which is why a clean server reads B.
What credentials does Wireshark need?
No credential environment variables were found in its source, so it appears to need none.
How does Wireshark run?
It speaks stdio, so it runs as a local process your client starts. It is published on PyPI as mcp-wireshark.
How current is this page?
The grade is for one exact copy of the source (306ca41b44b4), read on 2026-10-08. The repository is watched and re-audited when it changes.