Frida workflow

Frida Workflow

Use this as the orchestration skill before writing or running Frida instrumentation.

Operating Rules

1. Confirm authorization and target scope before instrumenting third-party software.
2. Research current Frida docs when behavior depends on version, device mode, Java bridge, Gadget, or CLI flags.
3. Record the exact Frida client, server, gadget, OS, architecture, package/bundle/process id, and attach/spawn mode.
4. Start with observation hooks, then move to mutation only after the target and call shape are proven.
5. Keep hooks small, reversible, and logged. Prefer precise class/function hooks over broad bypass scripts.

Skill Routing

• Use frida-setup-checklist before hook work when host, device, version, or transport state is unknown.
• Use frida-tools-reference when choosing between frida, frida-ps, frida-ls-devices, frida-trace, frida-discover, frida-kill, or frida-create.
• Use frida-tracing-discovery when class, symbol, module, method, or call path is unknown.
• Use frida-agent-builder for TypeScript agents, reusable script projects, RPC exports, packaging, and multi-script organization.
• Use frida-native-hooks for Interceptor, NativeFunction, memory scanning, exports, imports, symbols, CModule, and hot native paths.
• Use frida-android-hooks for Java.perform, class loaders, overloads, JNI, Android pinning analysis, and APK-backed workflows.
• Use frida-ios-hooks for ObjC, Swift/Objective-C methods, modules, iOS pinning analysis, and rootless jailbreak constraints.
• Use frida-tls-pinning for TLS/SSL pinning analysis and bypass work across Java, ObjC, Flutter, React Native, BoringSSL/OpenSSL, Conscrypt, OkHttp, and SecTrust paths.
• Use frida-anti-instrumentation for anti-Frida, root/jailbreak, emulator, debugger, ptrace, port scan, thread-name, and integrity checks.
• Use frida-data-extraction when the goal is observing runtime data such as HTTP, headers, tokens, JSON, crypto inputs/outputs, preferences, files, SQLite, or memory buffers.
• Use frida-codeshare-search to search CodeShare, extract scripts, review source, and convert public snippets into local agents or --codeshare commands.
• Use frida-script-review before running public, generated, broad, native-pointer-heavy, or mutation-heavy scripts.
• Use frida-troubleshooting when attach/spawn fails, hooks do not fire, the target crashes, ObjC/Java is unavailable, or versions mismatch.

Workflow

1. Define the objective: state the behavior to observe or change, expected proof, and rollback condition.
2. Inventory the environment:

   frida --version
   frida-ps -Uai
   frida-ls-devices
   

3. Choose mode:
   • Use spawn for early app initialization hooks.
   • Use attach for already-running processes.
   • Use Gadget when attach is blocked, no root/jailbreak path exists, or the instrumentation must load from inside the app.
4. Discover before hooking:
   • Native: enumerate modules, exports, imports, symbols, and readable strings.
   • Android: enumerate loaded classes/methods and confirm the correct class loader.
   • iOS: confirm ObjC.available, enumerate classes/modules, and resolve Swift symbols when needed.
5. Hook minimally: log entry, arguments, return values, thread/backtrace when useful, then narrow.
6. Verify: prove the hook fires with target behavior, no crash, and expected logs. Save commands and script version used.

Practitioner Playbook

• Use Frida CodeShare and public snippets as reconnaissance and pattern libraries. Read the script before running it, then copy only the hooks that match the app's actual framework/version.
• Build a hook ladder: start at high-level APIs, log stack traces/callers, then move downward into framework, JNI/native, crypto, TLS, or syscall boundaries only when evidence points there.
• Prefer targeted scripts over "universal bypass" bundles once the target path is known. Broad bundles are useful to discover likely surfaces but hide which hook actually mattered.
• For obfuscated apps, follow data instead of names: URLs, headers, byte arrays, crypto inputs/outputs, file paths, reflection calls, dynamic DEX loads, and native library loads.
• Keep every experiment reproducible: exact command, target version, device, Frida version, script hash or filename, and the behavioral proof observed.
• When the target has anti-instrumentation, first prove whether detection is root/jailbreak, Frida artifacts, debugger/ptrace, emulator/device identity, package integrity, or timing.

Current Frida Notes

• Frida 17 moved the Java runtime bridge out of GumJS; TypeScript/compiled agents may need frida-java-bridge as an npm dependency when bundling Java APIs.
• Keep Frida tools and remote frida-server/Gadget versions aligned. Mismatches are a common source of attach and protocol failures.
• retval in Interceptor.onLeave() is recycled; do not store it for later use. Convert or copy values inside the callback.
• Strings allocated with Memory.allocUtf8String()/UTF-16 helpers must be kept alive as long as the target may use them.

References

Read references/frida-sources.md when the task needs current docs, version checks, or source attribution.