Ross ROSS = Recommend OSS · open-source software intelligence for agents

SciresM/hactool

hactool is a tool to view information about, decrypt, and extract common file formats for the Nintendo Switch, especially Nintendo Content Archives. observed · 2026-08-28

github.com/SciresM/hactool · C · ISC (permissive) observed · 2026-08-28

Health v2 · maintenance only

23/100

  • Activity 0
  • Release rhythm 8
  • Longevity 100
How is this computed?

round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.

  • gap_med: n/a
  • age_days: 3143
  • days_rel: n/a
  • days_push: 1003
  • n_releases_24m: 0

Full methodology

Adoption not part of the score

1179 stars · 181 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded

hactool is a C command-line tool for inspecting, decrypting, and extracting common Nintendo Switch file formats such as NCA, XCI, PFS0, RomFS, and HFS0 archives. It supports hash/signature verification, development and retail keys, and per-section extraction of Switch content archives.

Use cases

  • extract romfs contents from a switch nca file
  • decrypt nintendo content archives
  • view info about an xci or nsp file
  • verify hashes and signatures of switch files
  • unpack exefs and pfs0 archives
  • dump program permissions from npdm or kip1 to json
  • decrypt with development keys for switch research

When to choose

  • you need to inspect or extract Nintendo Switch file formats from the command line
  • you want a scriptable tool for NCA, RomFS, ExeFS, or XCI decryption
  • you are doing Switch reverse engineering or homebrew development

When to avoid

  • you need a graphical interface for browsing Switch files
  • you want to build or run Switch software rather than analyze its files
  • you need support for other consoles' formats

Facets

cli-tool · maturity maintenance

cli parser cryptography file-system reverse-engineering reverse-engineering gaming-tools files windows cli cross-platform nintendo-switch nca romfs exefs xci homebrew decryption firmware-tools command-line linux macos

1 source

Member repositories

RepositoryRoleHealth v2
SciresM/hactoolmain23

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="SciresM/hactool")

Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem