AI tools and automation

@theericmichaud

The #1 trending GitHub repo of the week, "Reverse Engineer Anything" (REA, ~70,000 stars), lets a coding agent (Claude Code or Codex) analyse an app or old hardware to show exactly how it works so you can rebuild features or revive unsupported devices.

1.9M plays · 11 Oct 2026

What they said

Point your coding agent at an app and it shows you how the app works.
Not stealing source code ("NOT STEALING" stamp on a vault); but if you love a particular app feature it shows exactly how it's built so you can build your own ("SAY LOVE AN APP FEATURE", "EXACTLY HOW IT'S BUILT", "BUILD your own.").
Example screen: prompt "Use REA to trace how Notion copies..." with an explanation of Notion desktop's clipboard bridge (clipboard.write(data) -> ipcRenderer.invoke -> ipcMain.handle).
Old hardware: "One person got their Logitech keypad running on Linux in 15 minutes" (a quoted comment: "I just used it to make my Logitech MX Keypad compatible with Linux. Very happy with the result after just 15 minutes of playing around"); others trying scanners and old sound cards that lost driver support (quoted "I have an old Canon Scanner that has no drivers for macOS. I'll give this a shot").
Stats: stars counter animates from 51,745 to "70,000 stars so far".
Free, "runs on your own machine", "works with Claude Code + Codex".
Caption: "The number one repo on GitHub this week. Comment DECODE and I'll send you the link." Plus Skool link "AI that just does the thing: www.skool.com/easymachineai"; hashtags #ReverseEngineering #GitHub #ClaudeCode #Codex #AIAgents.

Try this

Developers and technical founders: Point a coding agent at an app or a piece of old hardware and ask it to explain how it works. People in the reel used this to get an old keypad working on Linux in about 15 minutes.
Agencies and product teams: Use it for feature teardowns of competitor apps. Treat it as research into how something is built, not as a way to copy code.
Everyone: Check the law and the licence. Reverse engineering rules vary by country and by software licence, so "not stealing" is a simplification.
Careful users: Run unknown repos in a sandbox first and read what they do. Trending does not mean safe.
Creators: The format is a faceless animated explainer: a trending free tool, one fact every two or three seconds, and comment screenshots as proof. Invite the funniest use case, as the printer cartridge joke did here.
Creators: If a link is public, do not gate it behind a comment. Viewers called it friction.

Watch the original

Watch the full reel on Instagram by @theericmichaud. Follow them for more.

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