# hugsy/cemu

Cheap EMUlator: lightweight multi-architecture assembly playground

Repository: https://github.com/hugsy/cemu
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/hugsy-cemu
Language: Python
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: keystone, unicorn, capstone, assembly, shellcode, sparc, arm, aarch64, x86-64, x86-32, powerpc, mips
Last push: 2024-08-13T16:35:08+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3762, "days_push": 750, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1019, forks 103 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:15.032620+00:00)

## What it is
CEmu is a lightweight assembly playground providing GUI, CLI, and library interfaces for writing, compiling, disassembling, and emulating assembly code across multiple architectures. It is built on Keystone (assembler), Capstone (disassembler), and Unicorn (emulator) with a Qt6-powered GUI.

## Use cases
- test shellcode quickly across architectures
- learn assembly for x86, ARM, MIPS, or SPARC
- emulate assembly snippets without setting up cross-compilers
- disassemble and reassemble bytecode in a scratch environment
- prototype exploit payloads in a sandboxed emulator
- run assembly experiments from the CLI or as a Python library

## When to choose
- you need a plug-n-play multi-architecture assembly IDE without toolchain setup
- you want to test small shellcode or binary samples quickly
- you are learning assembly and want immediate compile-emulate feedback
- you need programmatic assembly emulation via a Python library

## When to avoid
- you need full-system emulation or OS-level execution
- you require PowerPC emulation (only assembly is supported for PPC)
- you need debugging features like breakpoints or hardware tracing
- you want a production-grade emulator for large binaries

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: gui, cli, interpreter, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, security, education, reverse-engineering
- platform: windows, python, cli
- tags: assembly, emulation, shellcode, keystone, capstone, unicorn, disassembly, multi-architecture, linux, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- hugsy/cemu (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:15.032620+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:09:23.031770+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/hugsy/cemu (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:15.032620+00:00, sha 9d7b9eca8da5)
  - registry_pypi: https://pypi.org/pypi/cemu/json (fetched 2026-08-29T13:09:36.711614+00:00, sha 5c54c2e2c00c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.