lensm

A tool for viewing assembly and source.

Install with the usual Go commands:

go install loov.dev/lensm@main

For Linux you may need to add some additional dependencies. You can use go install --tags nowayland loov.dev/lensm@main or go install --tags nox11 loov.dev/lensm@main respectively to skip building Wayland or X11 version.

Build this checkout locally:

go build -o lensm .

GitHub Actions also builds installable macOS disk images for Apple Silicon and Intel. Download the DMG artifact from a successful CI run, open it, and drag Lensm.app to Applications. CI builds use an ad-hoc signature, so macOS may require the first launch through Control-click → Open.

To build the DMG locally on macOS:

./scripts/build-macos-dmg.sh 0.0.0 1 "$(go env GOARCH)"

On Linux, use the same Gio tags if you want to skip a windowing backend:

go build -tags nowayland -o lensm .
go build -tags nox11 -o lensm .

Run the program with an executable path, or start it without arguments and load an executable from the top bar. On macOS, use Browse to select the executable with the native Finder file dialog. The function filter is available inside the UI. -watch allows to automatically reload the executable and information when it changes.

lensm -watch lensm

Inside the code view:

• follow call targets and use the back/forward buttons (or Alt+Left/Right, Cmd/Ctrl+[ and Cmd/Ctrl+]) to navigate between functions;
• hover an assembly instruction to see its reference and a simplified explanation when Lensm has a matching rule;
• drag across Go assembly, native assembly, or source lines to select a block, then use Cmd/Ctrl+C or the copy button. Shift extends a selection and Escape clears it.

Run lensm as an MCP server over stdio:

lensm mcp [-context 3] [-comments ./lensm.lensm-comments.json] ./lensm

The MCP server exposes tools for listing functions, reading a function's Go source, Go assembly and native assembly, and reading or writing comments. By default comments are stored in a sidecar file named <executable>.lensm-comments.json.

Note: The program requires a binary that is built on your computer, otherwise the source code for the functions cannot be loaded.

Why?

I wrote a blog post at https://www.storj.io/blog/lensm on why and how the core functionality works.