Garlic decompiler

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The world's fastest apk (android)/java open source decompiler/elf analyzer

Android/Java decompiler written in C

Tool for produces java source code from class/jar/dex/apk file

Features

• decompile apk file
• decompile dex file
• decompile class file
• decompile jar file
• decompile war file
• analysis aarch64 elf
  • control flow
  • IR
  • imports
  • exports
  • strings
  • function call graph

Build

1. Build on linux/macOS

​ requirements: cmake >= 3.26

git clone https://github.com/neocanable/garlic.git
cd garlic
cmake -B build
cmake --build build
./build/garlic

2. Build on Windows

please check the windows build document

Also see Garlic on Windows for performance tips and known issues.

3. Build with Zig (cross-platform)

​ requirements: zig >= 0.16.0

Build for your host platform directly:

git clone https://github.com/neocanable/garlic.git
cd garlic
zig build --release=fast
./zig-out/bin/garlic

Cross-compile to any target with -Dtarget:

# Linux x86_64 (musl)
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86_64-linux-musl

# Linux x86_64 (glibc)
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86_64-linux-gnu

# Linux aarch64
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=aarch64-linux-musl

# Linux i686 (32-bit)
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86-linux-musl

# Windows x86_64
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86_64-windows

# Windows 32-bit
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86-windows

# macOS x86_64 (Intel)
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=x86_64-macos

# macOS aarch64 (Apple Silicon)
zig build --release=fast -Dtarget=aarch64-macos

Zig bundles its own cross-linkers and libc, so no cross-toolchain needs to be installed — everything works out of the box. The output goes to zig-out/bin/.

4. Cross-compile with the Android NDK

​ Environment: Android NDK (>= r21, verified on r28)

​ The NDK is located (in priority order) via -DANDROID_NDK=/path/to/ndk, the ANDROID_NDK_HOME / ANDROID_NDK_ROOT environment variables, or ANDROID_HOME/ANDROID_SDK_ROOT (<sdk>/ndk/<version>). The default macOS / Android Studio install path is auto-detected as a fallback.

./build.sh android-arm64-v8a

​ Or invoke CMake directly:

cmake -B build/build-android-arm64-v8a \
      -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=toolchains/toolchain-android-arm64-v8a.cmake \
      -DPLATFORM_NAME=android-arm64-v8a
cmake --build build/build-android-arm64-v8a

​ The output is build/garlic-android-arm64-v8a (arm64-v8a, minSdkVersion 23).

​ Note: no prebuilt librosemarylib (ELF analyzer) is shipped for Android yet, so that platform is built with the ELF-analysis (-n) feature disabled. All other decompilation features work unchanged.

Usage

• decompile apk

  garlic /path/to/android.apk
  
  garlic /path/to/android.apk -o /path/to/save # -o option is source code output path
  
  garlic /path/to/android.apk -t 5             # -t option is thread count, default is 4

• decompile .dex file

  garlic /path/to/classes.dex
  
  garlic /path/to/classes.dex -o /path/to/save # -o option is source code output path
  
  garlic /path/to/classes.dex -t 5             # -t option is thread count, default is 4

• decompile .class file

  decompile .class file, default output is stdout

  garlic /path/to/jvm.class

• decompile jar file

  garlic /path/to/file.jar
  
  garlic /path/to/file.jar -o /path/to/save # -o option is source code output path
  
  garlic /path/to/file.jar -t 5             # -t option is thread count, default is 4

  default output is same level directory as the file

• javap

  like javap, more faster, disabled LineNumber and StackMapTable attributes

  garlic /path/to/jvm.class -p

• dexdump

  garlic /path/to/dalvik.dex -p           
  

• search string

  garlic ~/demo/demo.apk -f "windowInfo" # search "windowInfo" in demo.apk
  

  garlic ~/demo/demo.jar -f "[W|w]indow" # search regex [W|w]indow in demo.jar
  

  garlic ~/demo/demo.dex -f "info" # search contains string "info" in demo.dex
  

Debug

in src/jvm.c, change main function to:

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    jar_file_analyse(path_of_jar, out_of_jar, 1);
    return 0;
}

if thread count less than 2, it will disable multiple thread.

Speed

decompile newest(2025-06-16) wechat.apk which size is 200M+ and 19w+ classes need 12 seconds

garlic ~/wechat/wechat.apk
[Garlic] APK file analysis
File     : ~/wechat/wechat.apk
Save to  : ~/wechat/wechat_apk
Thread   : 4
Progress : 192538 (192538)
[Done]

Garlic + Rosemary pipeline

Video

Customization

Email: neocanable#gmail.com (replace # to @)

wechat: neocanable

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Licensed under the Apache 2.0 License