bg3se-macos-ghidra

name	bg3se-macos-ghidra
description	Develop the BG3 Script Extender macOS port using Ghidra for reverse engineering. Use this skill when: (1) Working on bg3se-macos port development or debugging (2) Using Ghidra to discover offsets, function addresses, or data structures in BG3 (3) Implementing new Lua APIs (Ext.*, Osi.*) for macOS Script Extender (4) Porting Windows BG3SE features to macOS ARM64 (5) Understanding ECS architecture, Osiris integration, or stats system (6) Analyzing ARM64 assembly or calling conventions for game hooks (7) Writing or modifying Ghidra Python scripts for BG3 analysis
version	0.22.0
last_updated	"2025-12-10T00:00:00.000Z"

BG3 Script Extender macOS + Ghidra Development

Project Locations

Project	Path
bg3se-macos	/Users/tomdimino/Desktop/Programming/bg3se-macos
bg3se (Windows ref)	/Users/tomdimino/Desktop/Programming/bg3se

Quick Start

# Build
cd /Users/tomdimino/Desktop/Programming/bg3se-macos/build
cmake .. && cmake --build .

# Test
./scripts/launch_bg3.sh
tail -f ~/Library/Application\ Support/BG3SE/bg3se.log

# Ghidra (headless, optimized)
./ghidra/scripts/run_analysis.sh <script.py>

Key Constraints (macOS)

1. Cannot hook main binary - Hardened Runtime blocks __TEXT hooks
2. CAN hook libOsiris.dylib - 1,013 exported symbols
3. ARM64 ABI - x8 register for structs >16 bytes
4. No GetRawComponent - Must traverse ECS manually

See macos-patterns.md for detailed differences.

Module Structure

src/
├── injector/main.c   # Core (~2900 lines): hooks, Osi.*, Lua state
├── entity/           # ECS: guid_lookup, component_lookup, arm64_call
├── lua/              # Ext.* APIs: stats, debug, osiris, json
├── osiris/           # Osiris types, functions, custom_functions
├── stats/            # RPGStats, GlobalStringTable
├── console/          # Socket server, file-based console
└── input/            # CGEventTap keyboard capture

API Surface (v0.22.0)

Namespace	Status	Notes
Osi.*	95%	Dynamic metatable, Query/Call/Event
Ext.Osiris	95%	RegisterListener, NewCall/Query/Event
Ext.Stats	95%	Property read/write
Ext.Entity	50%	Get, GetComponent, GetAllEntitiesWithComponent
Ext.Events	75%	7 events
Ext.Timer	100%	Complete
Ext.Debug	100%	Memory introspection

Not implemented: Ext.Net, Ext.UI, Ext.Level, Client Lua State

Key Offsets

Symbol	Address/Offset
esv::EocServer::m_ptr	0x10898e8b8
EntityWorld	EocServer+0x288
RPGStats::m_ptr	base+0x89c5730
RPGStats.FixedStrings	+0x348
GlobalStringTable	base+0x8aeccd8

osgrep Usage

# IMPORTANT: cd into project first
cd /Users/tomdimino/Desktop/Programming/bg3se-macos
osgrep "how does entity lookup work"
osgrep "Ext.Stats property resolution"

# Windows reference
cd /Users/tomdimino/Desktop/Programming/bg3se
osgrep "CustomFunctionManager"

Common Tasks

Add new Ext. API:*

1. Implement in src/lua/lua_*.c
2. Register in lua_*_register() function
3. Test with EntityTest mod

Discover offset:

1. Search strings in Ghidra
2. Find XREFs, trace ADRP+LDR pattern
3. Document in ghidra/offsets/*.md

Port Windows feature:

1. Search Windows BG3SE: osgrep "feature" -p /path/to/bg3se
2. Understand pattern, find ARM64 equivalents
3. Adapt for macOS constraints

Reference Documentation

• macos-patterns.md - macOS vs Windows, GUID byte order, component traversal
• bg3se-architecture.md - Windows BG3SE structure
• arm64-patterns.md - x8 register, calling conventions
• ghidra-workflows.md - Script usage, analysis patterns
• offset-discovery.md - Finding game addresses

Troubleshooting

Crashes on launch: Check dylib signing (codesign -dv), verify ARM64 (file)

Hooks not called: Only hook libOsiris, not main binary

Entity lookup NULL: EoCServer may not be initialized; verify offset 0x288

osgrep no results: Run from project directory or use -p flag