Quick Start — LEAPPs
Documentation · Getting Started

Quick Start

From zero to your first forensic report in five steps. Pick your tool, acquire the data, run the parser, and review results in LAVA.

02
Get Your Extraction

LEAPPs works on extracted data — it does not acquire from live devices. You need a file system or backup from your preferred acquisition tool.

Point LEAPPs at the extraction source.

03
Install & Run

LEAPPs tools run on Python 3.10+. Download the latest release, install dependencies, and run against your extraction folder.

💡 Prefer not to run Python scripts directly? The Releases page provides pre-built downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux, so no Python installation is needed. For iLEAPP, ALEAPP, RLEAPP, VLEAPP and DLEAPP each download is one program: started with no arguments it opens the window, and given arguments it runs as the command line.

Fastest install — macOS (Homebrew)
brew trust leapps-org/leapps # Homebrew 6: trust the tap before adding it brew tap leapps-org/leapps brew install --cask ileapp-gui # iLEAPP: app and command line together brew install --cask aleapp-gui # same for rleapp-gui, vleapp-gui, dleapp-gui brew install --cask gleapp # GLEAPP (app only) brew install --cask lava # LAVA

A Homebrew install handles Python and dependencies for you, so skip the pip steps below and run the tool directly. Homebrew 6 will not load a tap outside its own until you trust it; an older Homebrew that has no brew trust command can skip that line. For iLEAPP, ALEAPP, RLEAPP, VLEAPP and DLEAPP the cask installs the app and links its command line (ileapp, aleapp, rleapp, vleapp, dleapp): started with no arguments it opens the window, and given arguments it runs as the command line. Full walkthrough in the Homebrew guide. On Windows, use the pre-built executables or the manual steps below.

GUI
Command Line
Step 1 — Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
Step 2 — Launch the GUI
python ileappGUI.py # or aleappGUI.py / rleappGUI.py / vleappGUI.py / dleappGUI.py

Select your input folder (extraction source) and output folder, then click Process. The GUI will show progress per module.

GLEAPP does not share this command line. It opens with python gleappGUI.py for the desktop window, or python gleapp.py web for the same interface in a browser.

  • Download the latest release from leapps.org/releases
  • Requires Python 3.10 or later — python.org/downloads
  • Point the tool at the extraction source, not individual files
  • Runtime depends on extraction size
Your first run — end to end (macOS)
brew trust leapps-org/leapps; brew tap leapps-org/leapps && brew install --cask ileapp-gui ileapp -t zip -i ~/Cases/ios_extraction.zip -o ~/Cases/reports open ~/Cases/reports # open index.html in the newest folder, or load the LAVA project

Three commands: install, parse, review. No extraction to test with yet? Explore a pre-processed report in the LAVA sample projects to see what the output looks like.

04
Read Your Report

When processing completes, LEAPPs writes an HTML report to your output folder. You have two ways to review it.

  • Direct HTML — open index.html in your output folder in any browser. Artifacts are organized into categories with search and filtering built in.
  • LAVA viewer — for a richer, structured experience load the report into LAVA (see below).
Recommended: Open in LAVA

LAVA (LEAPPs Artifact Viewer Application) is the purpose-built viewer for LEAPPs reports. Instead of browsing a flat HTML file, LAVA gives you filtering capabilities and data export options.

How to use it:

  • Download LAVA from leapps.org/releases
  • Launch LAVA and open the output folder from your LEAPPs run
  • Browse artifacts by category with structured navigation
  • Filter artifacts by category, date, or keyword to zero in on relevant data
  • Export findings for reports and documentation

LAVA works with output from iLEAPP, ALEAPP, RLEAPP, VLEAPP, DLEAPP, and GLEAPP. View LAVA on GitHub →

05
Contribute a Parser

Found an artifact that isn't parsed yet? LEAPPs is open-source and built by the community. Adding a parser is straightforward.

  • Fork the relevant repo on GitHub
  • Add a new Python file to the scripts/artifacts/ folder following the existing module pattern
  • Open a pull request — the maintainer reviews and merges quickly
  • Your GitHub handle appears on the Scoreboard once your parser ships

Questions? Ask in Discord — the community is active and happy to help new contributors get started.

Ready to run your first extraction?
Download the latest release and LAVA — both free, no account required.
Download Tools Browse Artifacts
Want to add a parser?
The contributor guide walks through module structure, SQLite and plist parsing, timestamps, media, LAVA conversation view, the checks pull requests run, and submitting a pull request.
Read the Guide