Map ROM functions with Claude in Ghidra

A developer used Claude inside Ghidra to inspect an Atari River Raid ROM, identify key routines, and rename them.

Done with Claude· Advanced

What they did
They connected Claude to Ghidra through MCP and pointed it at an unlabeled 8 kB Atari ROM that Ghidra treated as 6502 code. Claude read hardware-register clues, concluded it was an Atari title, and tracked down the routine that cuts the lives count. The developer handled the rebasing manually, did it twice, and made the one-byte patch outside Ghidra.
How it went
After swapping DEY to NOP, the emulator showed the lives counter locked at 3. Claude guessed Centipede instead of River Raid and had a hard time making sense of the sprite data. The MCP tools did not support rebasing or writing the binary.
Tips
Set aside time for a slow workflow: the tool chain had four parts, and some calls took about 30 seconds. It works best as an analysis aid, not a full patching system.

Try it yourself with Claude Code

Connect Claude to Ghidra through MCP, open [ROM or binary file], and inspect the code and data to figure out what each routine does. Use disassembly, register references, and any nearby strings or patterns to suggest descriptive names for the functions. Before any action that would permanently change the file—such as saving, patching, deleting, or submitting—pause and ask me to approve it. When you are done, return a labeled function map and note which guesses are uncertain.

Fill in the [brackets]. Agents can make mistakes, so review anything before it is sent, paid or deleted.

Read the original on quesma.com ↗

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