# besimorhino/powercat

netshell features all in version 2 powershell

Repository: https://github.com/besimorhino/powercat
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/powercat
Language: PowerShell
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-03-05T18:05:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4395, "days_push": 911, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2387, forks 484 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:42.703757+00:00)

## What it is
powercat is a PowerShell reimplementation of netcat supporting TCP, UDP, and DNS (dnscat2) connections, file transfer, and shell serving. It works as a single .ps1 function on PowerShell version 2 and later.

## Use cases
- netcat equivalent for windows powershell
- transfer files over tcp or udp from powershell
- serve a reverse shell during penetration tests
- tunnel traffic over dns with dnscat2
- generate encoded powershell payloads
- relay connections between hosts

## When to choose
- you need netcat-like functionality on Windows without installing binaries
- you want a pure PowerShell tool for red team or CTF work
- you need DNS or UDP transport for data exfiltration or pivoting

## When to avoid
- you need a full-featured modern netcat on Linux or macOS
- you require TLS encryption or authenticated connections
- your environment blocks script execution and downloads

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: networking, security, cli
- domain: security, penetration-testing, networking
- platform: windows
- tags: netcat, powershell, reverse-shell, dns-tunneling, red-team, file-transfer, command-line

## Member repositories
- besimorhino/powercat (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:42.703757+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 2026-08-30T02:34:34.423985+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/besimorhino/powercat (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:42.703757+00:00, sha 5cfec44b76cc)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.