Regenerator 2000

A modern, interactive 6502 disassembler for Commodore 8-bit machines. A modern take on Regenerator.

• 🕹️ Manual Analysis — A fast, keyboard-centric TUI for hands-on exploration: navigate code, define data, label subroutines, add comments, and iteratively refine your disassembly.
• 🤖 Automated Analysis — A built-in MCP Server lets AI assistants drive the disassembler programmatically. Paired with purpose-built skills, it can analyze entire programs — classifying blocks, tracing routines, and naming symbols — with minimal human intervention.

Use either workflow on its own, or combine them: let the AI do a first pass, then refine the results interactively.

Check out the Examples to see what can be accomplished, featuring pre-disassembled games across different Commodore platforms!

Features

Regenerator 2000 brings modern conveniences to 6502 disassembly:

• Disassembly: Full 6502 support including undocumented opcodes.
• Hex Dump:
  • Side-by-side view with disassembly.
  • Synchronized or independent navigation.
  • Unshifted or Shifted PETSCII and Screencode charset.
• Sprites:
  • Side-by-side view with disassembly.
  • Multicolor or Single Color
• Bitmap:
  • Side-by-side view with disassembly.
  • High-Resolution (320x200) and Multicolor (160x200).
  • Uses quadrant-block rendering for full resolution in TUI.
• Charset:
  • Side-by-side view with disassembly.
  • Multicolor or Single Color
• Blocks:
  • Side-by-side view with disassembly.
• Debugger: Connect to VICE for live disassembly, breakpoints, run/step (F2–F9); Debugger panel in the right pane.
• Mini map: Mini map of the file being analyzed.
• Systems: Supports Commodore 8-bit machines: C64, C128, VIC-20, Plus/4, PET 4.0, PET 2.0, and 1541.
• Import: Load the following file formats
  • PRG: Standard Commodore program files
  • CRT: Cartridge images with bank selection support
  • D64: 35/40/42-track disk images
  • D71: 70/80-track double-sided disk images
  • D81: 80-track disk images
  • T64: Tape images
  • VSF: VICE Session files
  • RAW / BIN: Raw binary files
  • DIS65: 6502bench project files
  • REGEN2000PROJ: Regenerator 2000 project files
• Binary Unpacker: Emulate a cycle-accurate 6502 background sandbox to automatically decompress packed C64 programs.
• Export to .asm or HTML. Supported assemblers:
  • 64tass
  • ACME
  • Kick Assembler
  • ca65
• Project Management: Save and load your work
• Analysis: Auto-analysis to identify code and data regions.
• Editing:
  • Labels: Add, edit, and remove local and global labels.
  • Enums: Define and apply three-tiered value-to-name mappings (System, Global, Project-specific) to replace magic numbers in disassembly and data with semantic names.
  • Comments: Add side comments and line comments.
  • Origin: Change the load address/origin of the binary.
  • Data Types: Convert regions to Code, Byte, Word, Address, Lo/Hi Address, Hi/Lo Address, Lo/Hi Word, Hi/Lo Word, PETSCII Text, Screencode Text, External File, or Undefined.
  • Undo/Redo: Full history support for all actions.
• Navigation:
  • Jump: Go to specific addresses, specific line numbers, or follow operands.
  • X-Ref: Inspect cross-references for labels/addresses.
  • History: Navigate back to previous locations.
• Customization:
  • Configure document settings (max x-refs, system, assembler).
  • Customizable display options (show/hide all labels, etc.).
• TUI:
  • Text User interface
  • Everything can be done from the keyboard
  • Visual Mode: Vim-like selection for batch operations.
• MCP Server:
  • Model Context Protocol (MCP) server support for programmatic access
  • HTTP and stdio transport modes
  • Tools for disassembly manipulation, memory search, block operations
  • Resources for accessing binary data and views
  • Bundled analysis skills that automate block classification, routine tracing, and symbol naming

Requirements

Recommended Terminals

To ensure the best experience, especially regarding keyboard shortcuts and rendering, we recommend using a modern terminal.

Installation

From Crates.io

cargo install regenerator2000

From Source

git clone https://github.com/ricardoquesada/regenerator2000.git
cd regenerator2000
cargo install --path .

Quick Start with AI Agents

To quickly start analyzing binaries using an AI agent (such as Antigravity or Claude Code), you can use the regenerator2000-template repository. It comes pre-configured with all the required skills and agent permissions so you can start analyzing and reverse-engineering binaries immediately.

Usage

Start the application with an optional file to load:

regenerator2000 [OPTIONS] [path/to/file.prg]

CLI Options

• --help: Print help message
• --version: Print version information
• --import_lbl <PATH>: Import VICE labels from the specified file
• --export_lbl <PATH>: Export labels to the specified file (after analysis/import)
• --export_asm <PATH>: Export assembly to the specified file (after analysis/import)
• --export_html <PATH>: Export HTML to the specified file (after analysis/import)
• --assembler <NAME>: Override the assembler format for export. Valid values: 64tass, acme, ca65, kick
• --headless: Run in headless mode (no TUI), useful for batch processing
• --verify: Verify export roundtrip (export → assemble → diff) for all assemblers. Implies --headless
• --mcp-server: Run MCP server (HTTP on port 3000)
• --mcp-server-stdio: Run MCP server via stdio
• --vice <HOST:PORT>: Auto-connect to VICE binary monitor at startup (e.g. --vice localhost:6502)
• --dump-system-config-files <PATH>: Dump all built-in system config files (system-*.toml) to the specified directory and exit. Useful for inspecting or customizing system definitions.
• --dump-theme-files <PATH>: Dump all built-in theme files (theme-*.toml) to the specified directory and exit. Edit them and place in the config directory to create custom themes.
• --dump-enum-files <PATH>: Dump all built-in enum files (enum-*.toml) to the specified directory and exit. Edit them and place in the config directory to create custom enums.

Supported file formats: .prg, .crt, .d64, .d71, .d81, .t64, .vsf, 6502bench (.dis65), .bin, .raw, and .regen2000proj.

Keyboard Shortcuts

All the keyboard shortcuts are documented here: keyboard_shortcuts

Support and Documentation

• Documentation
• Examples: Disassembled Commodore games and software showcase, demonstrating what can be achieved with Regenerator 2000 on various supported platforms.
• Support in Discord (join the #regenerator2000 channel, under "Misc Projects")

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Acknowledgements

• Regenerator: The original 6502 disassembler for Windows.
• unp64: The C64 binary unpacker by iAN CooG, which the unpacker module is based on.
• 64tass, ACME, Kick Assembler, ca65 : Supported assemblers.

License

Dual license: MIT and Apache 2