penknife (script kiddie tool) (101 on how to larp)

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A tiny TUI launcher for your pentest toolkit. Run it, arrow-key to a tool, pick a preset, tweak the command, launch. Zero dependencies, stdlib curses only.

Install

git clone https://github.com/markart25/penknife
cd penknife
chmod +x penknife.py
sudo cp penknife.py /usr/local/bin/penknife

Then just run penknife.

Usage

penknife            launch the menu
penknife --help     help
penknife --config   print the config path
penknife --reset    restore default tools

Flow: tool list → preset → editable command → launch. After the tool exits you drop back into penknife.

Tools that aren't installed show a dim ✗ but you can still select them.

Keys

key	action
`↑`/`↓` `j`/`k`	move
`enter` `l`	select
`esc` `h`	back
`q`	quit

In the command editor: enter runs, esc cancels, arrows/home/end move.

Config

Tools live in ~/.config/penknife/tools.json, created on first run. Edit it to add, remove, or re-order tools and presets:

{
  "tools": [
    {
      "name": "nmap",
      "category": "recon",
      "description": "network/port scanner",
      "presets": [
        { "name": "Quick scan", "command": "nmap -T4 -F {target}" },
        { "name": "Custom", "command": "nmap " }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

name — display name (and the binary checked for, unless check is set)
check — optional, the binary to look for if it differs (e.g. metasploit → msfconsole)
category — free-text tag shown in the list
presets[].command — the command, with {placeholder} hints you fill in the editor

Placeholders like {target}, {wordlist}, {port} are just reminders — penknife flags any you leave unfilled before launch.

Comes with ~26 tools out of the box (nmap, ffuf, gobuster, sqlmap, hydra, netexec, responder, metasploit, and more).

Installing the tools

penknife ships with presets for ~26 tools. None of them are installed by penknife itself — you need them on your $PATH. Tools that aren't found show a dim ✗ in the list but remain selectable.

Kali / Parrot / Debian-based (most are already present):

sudo apt install nmap masscan gobuster ffuf feroxbuster nikto whatweb \
  sqlmap wpscan hydra john hashcat netcat socat tcpdump responder \
  netexec enum4linux smbclient dnsrecon fierce aircrack-ng curl

rustscan — cargo install rustscan or grab a release binary from GitHub
metasploit — curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-omnibus/master/config/templates/metasploit-framework-wrappers/msfupdate.erb | sudo ruby
searchsploit — bundled with exploitdb: sudo apt install exploitdb

Arch-based:

sudo pacman -S nmap masscan gobuster ffuf nikto sqlmap hydra john hashcat \
  netcat socat tcpdump smbclient aircrack-ng curl
# AUR for the rest, e.g.:
yay -S rustscan feroxbuster whatweb wpscan netexec enum4linux-ng dnsrecon \
  fierce responder metasploit

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install nmap masscan gobuster ffuf nikto whatweb sqlmap hydra john \
  hashcat netcat socat tcpdump smbclient dnsrecon fierce aircrack-ng curl
# Tap for extra tools:
brew install feroxbuster rustscan

Not on a pentest distro? The quickest path is a Kali VM or Docker image (kalilinux/kali-rolling) where most tools are pre-installed.

Notes

Commands run through your shell exactly as shown in the editor — penknife doesn't sanitise them. It's a launcher for tools you control, on targets you're authorised to test.

Licence

MIT. Patches welcome.