Smali disassembly

Read a method or class

Use decode to inspect a method by descriptor or by its DEX coordinates:

dexsql decode --input app.apk --method 'Lcom/example/Foo;->bar(I)V'
dexsql decode --input app.apk --file-id 0 --method-idx 123
dexsql decode --input app.apk --class 'Lcom/example/Foo;'

Repeat --input for several APK/DEX paths. Select exactly one of --method, --method-idx, or --class; indices require --file-id. Duplicate descriptors report candidate file IDs. Class selection outputs all defined methods in index order, including abstract/native declarations; empty classes succeed without output. All selected methods must decode successfully before stdout receives any text.

Understand the output

Output uses vN registers, code-unit labels, exact constant bits and escaped UTF-16 strings. Standard DEX 035 and 037–041 instructions, payloads and catch directives are supported. The output contains method blocks, omitting full class/field declarations, annotations and debug directives; complete class reassembly is outside its scope. NaN payload bits in call-site arguments and unreferenced switch tables are preserved in comments where smali has no unambiguous literal/target spelling. Quickened/odex instructions return errors with available method/offset coordinates.

Use an AI client

A connected AI client can find methods with SQL, then read their smali in pages. The MCP decoding reference describes that tool workflow.