What is Wireshark Mcp

Wireshark-mcp is a specialized protocol designed for extracting, structuring, and transmitting network packet data from Wireshark to AI systems like Claude in a context-optimized format. It bridges the gap between low-level network data and high-level AI understanding.

Use cases

Use cases include analyzing network traffic for security threats, summarizing large packet captures for AI model training, and providing contextual insights for network troubleshooting.

How to use

To use Wireshark-mcp, clone the repository and run the provided analysis script on your PCAP file. This will generate a Claude-ready markdown file for further analysis.

Key features

Key features include packet summarization, enhanced context for common protocols (HTTP, DNS, TLS, SMTP), flow tracking, anomaly highlighting, and pre-built query templates for network analysis tasks.

Where to use

Wireshark-mcp can be utilized in cybersecurity, network analysis, AI research, and any field that requires the processing of network packet data for insights.

Wireshark MCP (Model Context Protocol)

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for integrating Wireshark network analysis capabilities with AI systems like Claude. This implementation provides direct integration with Claude without requiring manual copy/paste of prompts.

What is Wireshark MCP?

Wireshark MCP provides a standardized way for AI assistants to access and analyze network packet data through Wireshark. It bridges the gap between low-level network data and high-level AI understanding by implementing the Model Context Protocol.

The server provides tools for:

1. Capturing live network traffic
2. Analyzing existing pcap files
3. Extracting protocol-specific information
4. Summarizing network flows

Quick Start

Installation

# Clone the repository 
git clone https://github.com/sarthaksiddha/Wireshark-mcp.git 
cd Wireshark-mcp

# Install dependencies
pip install -e .

Running the MCP Server

# Run with stdio transport (for Claude Desktop)
python mcp_server.py --stdio

# Run with SSE transport (for other MCP clients)
python mcp_server.py --host 127.0.0.1 --port 5000

Configuring Claude Desktop

To configure Claude Desktop to use the Wireshark MCP server:

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Go to Settings > Developer > Edit Config
3. Add the following configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wireshark": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": [
        "/path/to/wireshark-mcp/mcp_server.py",
        "--stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace /path/to/wireshark-mcp with the actual path to your repository.

Available Tools

The Wireshark MCP server provides the following tools:

• capture_live_traffic: Capture live network traffic using tshark
• analyze_pcap: Analyze an existing pcap file
• get_protocol_list: Get a list of supported protocols

Example Usage in Claude

Once configured, you can use the Wireshark MCP server in Claude with queries like:

• “Capture 30 seconds of network traffic on my system and show me what’s happening”
• “Analyze my network.pcap file and tell me if there are any suspicious activities”
• “What protocols can I focus on when analyzing network traffic?”

Key Features

• Packet Summarization: Convert large pcap files into token-optimized summaries
• Protocol Intelligence: Enhanced context for common protocols (HTTP, DNS, TLS, SMTP, etc.)
• Flow Tracking: Group related packets into conversation flows
• Anomaly Highlighting: Emphasize unusual or suspicious patterns
• Query Templates: Pre-built prompts for common network analysis tasks
• Visualization Generation: Create text-based representations of network patterns
• Multi-level Abstraction: View data from raw bytes to high-level behaviors
• Web Interface: Browser-based UI for easier analysis and visualization
• Agent-to-Agent (A2A) Integration: Expose packet analysis as an A2A-compatible agent
• Advanced Security Framework: Comprehensive security controls for data protection and communication
• IP Address Protection: Multiple strategies for anonymizing sensitive network addresses
• Secure Communication: Robust message signatures for secure agent-to-agent communication
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Documentation

• Claude Integration Guide - Detailed guide for connecting with Claude AI
• A2A Module Documentation - Guide for using the Agent-to-Agent integration
• A2A Security Guide - Security considerations for A2A integration
• IP Protection Guide - Detailed guide on IP address anonymization and obfuscation
• Security Manager Guide - Comprehensive guide to the unified security framework
• Message Security Signatures - Guide for secure message signing and verification
• Web Interface README - Information on using the web interface
• Utility Scripts - Helpful scripts for PCAP analysis

Basic Usage

from wireshark_mcp import WiresharkMCP, Protocol
from wireshark_mcp.formatters import ClaudeFormatter

# Initialize with a pcap file
mcp = WiresharkMCP("capture.pcap")

# Generate a basic packet summary
context = mcp.generate_context(
    max_packets=100,
    focus_protocols=[Protocol.HTTP, Protocol.DNS],
    include_statistics=True
)

# Format it for Claude
formatter = ClaudeFormatter()
claude_prompt = formatter.format_context(
    context, 
    query="What unusual patterns do you see in this HTTP traffic?"
)

# Save to file for use with Claude
with open("claude_prompt.md", "w") as f:
    f.write(claude_prompt)

Using with Claude

There are three main ways to use Wireshark MCP with Claude:

1. Direct MCP Integration (NEW)

For seamless integration with Claude Desktop:

# Run the MCP server with stdio transport
python mcp_server.py --stdio

Then configure Claude Desktop as described in the “Configuring Claude Desktop” section above. This method provides direct integration without any copy/paste needed.

2. Simple Script Approach

For quick analysis without complex setup (requires copy/paste):

python scripts/simple_pcap_analysis.py path/to/your/capture.pcap

This generates a markdown file you can copy and paste into Claude at claude.ai.

3. API Integration

For programmatic integration with Claude’s API:

from claude_client import ClaudeClient  # Your implementation
from wireshark_mcp import WiresharkMCP
from wireshark_mcp.formatters import ClaudeFormatter

# Process the PCAP file
mcp = WiresharkMCP("capture.pcap")
context = mcp.generate_context()

# Format for Claude
formatter = ClaudeFormatter()
prompt = formatter.format_context(context, query="Analyze this network traffic")

# Send to Claude API
client = ClaudeClient(api_key="your_api_key")
response = client.analyze(prompt)

See the Claude Integration Guide for detailed API instructions.

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Wireshark/tshark installed and in your PATH
• fastmcp Python package

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Areas where help is especially appreciated:

• Additional protocol analyzers
• Performance optimizations
• Documentation and examples
• Testing with diverse packet captures
• Web interface enhancements

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details on how to contribute.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.