Kali Tools MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive access to Kali Linux Tools documentation through Claude Desktop. Search, explore, and get detailed information about the 600+ penetration testing and security tools included in Kali Linux.

What is Kali Linux? Kali Linux is the world's most advanced penetration testing platform, containing hundreds of tools for security testing, digital forensics, and reverse engineering.

✨ Features

🔍 Smart Search: Find tools by name, functionality, or category across 600+ Kali tools
📋 Category Organization: Browse tools by security domain (web apps, forensics, wireless, etc.)
📖 Detailed Documentation: Get installation instructions, usage examples, and command syntax
🎯 Usage Examples: Real command-line examples with explanations
🐳 Dockerized: Clean deployment with web scraping for up-to-date information
🍎 Apple Silicon Optimized: Native ARM64 support for M1/M2/M3 Macs
🚀 On-Demand: Fresh data loaded for each session

🎯 Use Cases

Penetration Testing: Quick reference for tools during security assessments
Security Research: Discover the right tool for specific testing scenarios
OSCP/CEH Preparation: Learn about tools used in ethical hacking certifications
Red Team Operations: Find specialized tools for various attack vectors
Blue Team Defense: Understand attacker tools to improve defenses
Educational: Comprehensive learning resource for cybersecurity students
CTF Competitions: Fast lookup of available tools and their capabilities

🛠 Available Tool Categories

Information Gathering: DNS enumeration, port scanning, reconnaissance
Vulnerability Analysis: Vulnerability scanners, exploit databases
Web Applications: SQL injection, XSS testing, web crawlers
Database Assessment: Database-specific security tools
Password Attacks: Hash cracking, brute force, wordlist generation
Wireless Attacks: WiFi security testing, Bluetooth analysis
Reverse Engineering: Binary analysis, debugging, disassembly
Exploitation Tools: Exploit frameworks, payload generators
Forensics: Digital forensics, data recovery, memory analysis
Sniffing & Spoofing: Network monitoring, packet capture, MITM
Post Exploitation: Privilege escalation, persistence, lateral movement
Reporting Tools: Documentation and report generation

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Docker installed and running
Claude Desktop application
Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2/M3) or compatible system

1. Setup Project

# Create project directory
mkdir kali-tools-mcp-server
cd kali-tools-mcp-server

# Copy the following files to this directory:
# - Dockerfile
# - requirements.txt  
# - server.py

2. Build Docker Image

# Build the image for Apple Silicon (includes web scraping - takes 3-5 minutes)
docker build --platform linux/arm64 -t kali-tools-mcp-server .

# Test the build
docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 kali-tools-mcp-server python -c "
import sys; sys.path.append('/app')
from server import KaliToolsServer
server = KaliToolsServer()
# Kali Tools MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides comprehensive access to Kali Linux Tools documentation through Claude Desktop. Search, explore, and get detailed information about 600+ penetration testing and security tools directly from your Claude conversations.

> **What is Kali Linux?** Kali Linux is the world's most advanced penetration testing platform, containing hundreds of tools for security testing, digital forensics, and reverse engineering. This MCP server brings that knowledge directly into Claude Desktop.

## ✨ Features

- 🔍 **Smart Search**: Find tools by name, functionality, or category across 600+ Kali tools
- 📋 **Category Organization**: Browse tools by security domain (web apps, forensics, wireless, etc.)
- 📖 **Detailed Documentation**: Get installation instructions, usage examples, and command syntax
- 🎯 **Usage Examples**: Real command-line examples with explanations
- 🐳 **Dockerized**: Clean deployment with GitLab repository integration
- 🍎 **Apple Silicon Optimized**: Native ARM64 support for M1/M2/M3 Macs
- 🚀 **On-Demand**: Fresh data loaded for each session
- 📊 **PackagesInfo Parsing**: Extracts actual tool descriptions from Kali documentation

## 🎯 Use Cases

- **Penetration Testing**: Quick reference for tools during security assessments
- **Security Research**: Discover the right tool for specific testing scenarios
- **OSCP/CEH Preparation**: Learn about tools used in ethical hacking certifications
- **Red Team Operations**: Find specialized tools for various attack vectors
- **Blue Team Defense**: Understand attacker tools to improve defenses
- **Educational**: Comprehensive learning resource for cybersecurity students
- **CTF Competitions**: Fast lookup of available tools and their capabilities

## 🛠 Available Tool Categories

- **Information Gathering**: DNS enumeration, port scanning, reconnaissance (nmap, dnsrecon, recon-ng)
- **Vulnerability Analysis**: Vulnerability scanners, exploit databases (nikto, openvas, searchsploit)
- **Web Applications**: SQL injection, XSS testing, web crawlers (sqlmap, burpsuite, dirb)
- **Database Assessment**: Database-specific security tools (sqlmap, dbpwaudit)
- **Password Attacks**: Hash cracking, brute force, wordlist generation (hashcat, john, hydra)
- **Wireless Attacks**: WiFi security testing, Bluetooth analysis (aircrack-ng, wifite, kismet)
- **Reverse Engineering**: Binary analysis, debugging, disassembly (radare2, ghidra, binwalk)
- **Exploitation Tools**: Exploit frameworks, payload generators (metasploit, searchsploit)
- **Forensics**: Digital forensics, data recovery, memory analysis (autopsy, volatility, sleuthkit)
- **Sniffing & Spoofing**: Network monitoring, packet capture, MITM (wireshark, ettercap, tcpdump)
- **Post Exploitation**: Privilege escalation, persistence, lateral movement (empire, powersploit)
- **Reporting Tools**: Documentation and report generation (dradis, faraday)

## 🚀 Quick Start

### Prerequisites

- Docker installed and running
- Claude Desktop application
- Apple Silicon Mac (M1/M2/M3) or compatible system

### 1. Setup Project

```bash
# Create project directory
mkdir kali-tools-mcp-server
cd kali-tools-mcp-server

# Copy the following files to this directory:
# - Dockerfile
# - requirements.txt  
# - server.py

2. Build Docker Image

# Build the image for Apple Silicon
docker build --platform linux/arm64 -t kali-tools-mcp-server .

# Test the build
docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 kali-tools-mcp-server python -c "
import sys; sys.path.append('/app')
from server import KaliToolsServer
server = KaliToolsServer()
print(f'✅ Successfully loaded {len(server.tools_data)} Kali tools')
print(f'Categories: {list(server.categories.keys())}')
"

3. Configure Claude Desktop

Edit your Claude Desktop configuration file:

Location: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kali-tools": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--rm",
        "-i",
        "--platform",
        "linux/arm64",
        "kali-tools-mcp-server",
        "python",
        "/app/server.py"
      ],
      "env": {}
    }
  }
}

4. Restart Claude Desktop

Completely quit and restart Claude Desktop to load the new MCP server.

💬 Usage Examples

Once configured, you can interact with the Kali Tools database directly through Claude Desktop:

Search for Tools

"What Kali tools are available for SQL injection testing?"
"Search for password cracking tools"
"Show me wireless security tools"
"Find forensics tools for memory analysis"

Get Tool Details

"Get detailed information about sqlmap"
"Show me usage examples for hashcat"
"How do I install and use wireshark in Kali?"
"What are the command-line options for nmap?"

Browse by Category

"List all web application testing tools"
"Show me tools in the exploitation category"
"What forensics tools are available?"
"List all vulnerability analysis tools"

Usage and Examples

"Show me sqlmap usage examples"
"How do I use burpsuite for web testing?"
"Give me nmap command examples"
"What are common metasploit commands?"

🛠 Available Tools

The MCP server provides five main tools:

1. `search_kali_tools`

Search the Kali tools database by name, description, or functionality.

Parameters:

query (required): Search term
category (optional): Filter by tool category

Example: Search for "sql injection" tools in "web-applications" category

2. `get_tool_details`

Get comprehensive information about a specific tool.

Parameters:

tool_name (required): Name of the Kali tool

Example: Get complete documentation for "sqlmap"

3. `list_tools_by_category`

List all tools in a specific security category.

Parameters:

category (required): Tool category (web-applications, forensics, etc.)

Example: List all password attack tools

4. `get_tool_usage`

Get usage examples and command syntax for a specific tool.

Parameters:

tool_name (required): Name of the tool

Example: Get usage examples for "nmap"

5. `list_categories`

Show all available tool categories with tool counts.

Example: See overview of all tool categories

📁 Project Structure

kali-tools-mcp-server/
├── Dockerfile              # Container with Kali tools GitLab repository
├── requirements.txt        # Python dependencies (MCP, PyYAML)
├── server.py              # Main MCP server with PackagesInfo parsing
├── build.sh              # Automated setup script
└── README.md             # This documentation

🔧 Architecture

The MCP server works by:

Repository Cloning: Clones official Kali tools documentation from GitLab during build
PackagesInfo Parsing: Extracts tool descriptions from PackagesInfo sections in markdown files
Smart Categorization: Automatically categorizes tools by functionality using keyword analysis
Content Extraction: Parses YAML frontmatter, usage examples, and installation instructions
MCP Interface: Provides search and query capabilities through MCP tools
On-Demand Execution: Runs fresh containers for each Claude Desktop session

📊 Data Sources

Primary: Official Kali Linux tools documentation from GitLab repository
Structure: Individual tool directories containing index.md files
Content: PackagesInfo sections, YAML frontmatter, usage examples
Categories: Intelligent categorization based on tool descriptions and functionality

🔍 Key Parsing Features

PackagesInfo Detection:

Automatically finds and extracts content following "PackagesInfo:" sections
This is where the actual tool descriptions are located in Kali documentation
Prioritizes this content over other description sources

YAML Frontmatter:

Extracts title, homepage, repository, and other metadata
Handles package information and installation details

Content Cleaning:

Filters out Hugo shortcodes and HTML comments
Removes markdown formatting for clean descriptions
Skips usage examples when looking for descriptions

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Build takes longer than expected:

The build includes cloning the full Kali tools GitLab repository
Expected build time: 2-3 minutes on good internet connection
Subsequent builds use Docker layer caching for speed

Limited tools loaded:

Check that GitLab repository was cloned successfully
Verify Docker has sufficient disk space
The server should load 600+ tools if working correctly

Description parsing issues:

Most tools should have meaningful descriptions from PackagesInfo sections
Some tools may fall back to YAML titles if PackagesInfo is missing
Check debug output for parsing details

Debug Commands

# Test Docker image and tool loading with debug output
docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 kali-tools-mcp-server python -c "
import sys; sys.path.append('/app')
from server import KaliToolsServer
print('=== Kali Tools Server Debug ===')
server = KaliToolsServer()
print(f'Loaded: {len(server.tools_data)} tools')
print(f'Categories: {list(server.categories.keys())}')
print('Sample tools with descriptions:')
for i, (name, data) in enumerate(list(server.tools_data.items())[:5]):
    desc = data.get('description', 'No description')[:60]
    print(f'  {name}: {desc}...')
"

# Check configuration file syntax
cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json | python -m json.tool

# Test specific tool data
docker run --rm --platform linux/arm64 kali-tools-mcp-server python -c "
import sys; sys.path.append('/app')
from server import KaliToolsServer
server = KaliToolsServer()
if 'sqlmap' in server.tools_data:
    tool = server.tools_data['sqlmap']
    print('SQLMap data:')
    print(f'  Description: {tool.get(\"description\", \"None\")[:100]}')
    print(f'  Category: {tool.get(\"category\", \"None\")}')
    print(f'  Usage available: {bool(tool.get(\"usage\"))}')
else:
    print('sqlmap not found')
"

Performance Notes

Container Startup: ~10-15 seconds for fresh container with full tool parsing
Search Performance: Fast in-memory search across all tools and descriptions
Memory Usage: ~150-300MB per container instance
Data Processing: PackagesInfo parsing improves description quality significantly

🔒 Security Considerations

Important Security Notes:

This server provides read-only access to Kali tools documentation
Kali tools are legitimate security testing utilities that could be misused
Use only in authorized testing environments
Follow responsible disclosure practices for any vulnerabilities found
The Docker container has no network access except during build

Best Practices:

Only use for authorized penetration testing and security research
Understand your organization's security policies before deployment
Keep the server updated with latest Kali tools documentation
Use in controlled environments for educational purposes

🎓 Educational Value

This MCP server serves as:

Learning Resource: Comprehensive catalog of security tools with real descriptions
Reference Guide: Quick lookup during security assessments and learning
Training Aid: Discover new tools and their capabilities
Certification Prep: Study aid for OSCP, CEH, and other security certifications
Tool Discovery: Find the right tool for specific security testing scenarios

📄 License & Attribution

This project is for educational and legitimate security research purposes.

Kali Tools Data: Subject to Kali Linux documentation license
GitLab Repository: https://gitlab.com/kalilinux/documentation/kali-tools
MCP Server Code: Educational use with responsible security practices
Docker Configuration: Freely usable for legitimate security research

🤝 Contributing

Improvements welcome! Areas for contribution:

Enhanced PackagesInfo parsing for edge cases
Additional data extraction from tool documentation
Performance optimizations for large datasets
Better error handling and retry logic
Integration with other security tool databases
Improved categorization algorithms

🚀 Future Enhancements

Planned features:

Tool installation verification and dependency checking
Integration with actual Kali Linux systems
Tool dependency mapping and relationship analysis
Usage statistics and tool recommendations
Integration with CVE databases and vulnerability information
Export functionality for tool lists and documentation

📚 Learn More

Kali Linux: https://www.kali.org
Kali Tools: https://www.kali.org/tools/
Kali Documentation: https://www.kali.org/docs/
GitLab Repository: https://gitlab.com/kalilinux/documentation/kali-tools
Model Context Protocol: https://modelcontextprotocol.io
Penetration Testing: https://www.kali.org/docs/introduction/

⚡ Ready to explore? Ask Claude: "What are the best Kali tools for web application testing?"

This server cannot be installed

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How are these scores calculated?

Provides comprehensive access to documentation for 600+ Kali Linux penetration testing and security tools through Claude Desktop, enabling users to search, explore, and get detailed information about security tools by category or functionality.

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