# PINCE

> Linux front end for the GNU Debugger (GDB), focused on games but usable for other reverse engineering; the name stands for “PINCE is not Cheat Engine”. It scans process memory and pointers through libmemscan into a typed address table, and its memory view adds disassembly, an on-the-fly assembler, code dissection for referenced calls, jumps and strings, function, region and instruction searches, and structure overlays, including structures generated from Mono/IL2CPP class dissection of native Linux or Wine/Proton processes. Debugging covers chained breakpoints and watchpoints, tracking of the instructions that access an address, tracing and stack traces, alongside a GDB console and the reusable libpince Python library.

- Type: Tool
- Targets: Binary · Game
- Category: Debugging and dynamic analysis
- Relationship: Foundation tool
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-19
- Added to the catalog: 2026-10-19
- Original resource: <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/pince/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/pince/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/pince/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- Linux only. Latest release at review: v0.10.2, published 2026-09-18, whose tag is the reviewed master commit; it ships an x86_64 AppImage that the README supports on distributions as new as Ubuntu 22.04 or newer.
- Local development installs run install.sh with APT, Pacman or DNF and need Python 3.11+, PyQt 6.11+ and GDB; Kubuntu 22.04+ and Arch Linux are officially supported, while Debian 12+, Fedora 35+ and openSUSE are only partially supported and not actively tested. The PINCE.sh launcher runs PINCE as root, elevating through pkexec or sudo.
- Users select a running process of their own to inspect. The README states that users are responsible for their actions and asks that only this GitHub repository be trusted as a source of PINCE code or packages.
- GPL-3.0-or-later (COPYING); AUTHORS lists the bundled Silk icons in media/icons under CC BY 3.0 (COPYING.CC-BY).

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/README.md#L25-L67>
3. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/README.md#L92-L116>
4. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/PINCE.sh>
5. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/install.sh>
6. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/COPYING>
7. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/blob/9357ba3d8d96477f9bb81e427a97c57f67725c74/AUTHORS>
8. <https://github.com/korcankaraokcu/PINCE/releases/tag/v0.10.2>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.