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Release v1.6.0 - Recipe Management

Release Date: December 16, 2025 Type: Minor Release (Feature Addition) Status: Completed

Overview

Version 1.6.0 introduces comprehensive recipe management capabilities to the CyberChef MCP Server, transforming it from a simple operation executor into a powerful workflow automation platform. Users can now save, organize, share, and reuse multi-operation workflows with full import/export support and a curated library of 25+ example recipes.

What's New

Recipe Management System

Save and manage complex operation chains as reusable recipes:

  • CRUD Operations: Create, read, update, and delete recipes
  • Metadata: Names, descriptions, tags, author, and categories
  • Versioning: Automatic semantic versioning on updates
  • Validation: Pre-execution validation with complexity estimation
  • Testing: Test recipes with sample inputs before deployment

Recipe Storage

  • Backend: JSON file-based storage (./recipes.json by default)
  • Performance: In-memory caching for fast retrieval
  • Reliability: Atomic writes with automatic backup creation
  • Capacity: Configurable limits (10,000 recipes by default)
  • Persistence: Docker volume support for container deployments

Recipe Composition

Build complex workflows by nesting recipes within recipes:

  • Modularity: Reference saved recipes as operations
  • Reusability: Compose simple recipes into complex workflows
  • Safety: Circular dependency detection
  • Depth Control: Configurable nesting depth limits (5 levels by default)

Import/Export

Share recipes across teams and platforms:

  • JSON: Native format with full metadata
  • YAML: Human-readable format for version control
  • URL: Base64-encoded shareable links (cyberchef://recipe?data=...)
  • CyberChef: Compatibility with upstream CyberChef format

Recipe Library

Curated collection of 25+ production-ready recipes across 5 categories:

  1. Cryptography (6 recipes): JWT decode, AES decrypt, RSA keys, hashing, TOTP, PGP
  2. Encoding (6 recipes): Base64/Hex conversion, URL parsing, HTML entities, Unicode
  3. Data Extraction (5 recipes): JSON/XML/CSV parsing, email/URL extraction
  4. Forensics (4 recipes): File metadata, strings extraction, entropy analysis
  5. Networking (5 recipes): IP parsing, User-Agent analysis, HTTP requests

New MCP Tools

Ten new tools for complete recipe lifecycle management:

CRUD Operations

Tool Purpose
cyberchef_recipe_create Create new recipe
cyberchef_recipe_get Retrieve recipe by ID
cyberchef_recipe_list List recipes with filtering
cyberchef_recipe_update Update existing recipe
cyberchef_recipe_delete Delete recipe
cyberchef_recipe_execute Execute saved recipe

Import/Export

Tool Purpose
cyberchef_recipe_export Export to JSON/YAML/URL/CyberChef
cyberchef_recipe_import Import from various formats

Validation

Tool Purpose
cyberchef_recipe_validate Validate recipe structure
cyberchef_recipe_test Test with sample inputs

Configuration

New environment variables for recipe management:

Variable Default Description
CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_STORAGE ./recipes.json Storage file path
CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_MAX_COUNT 10000 Maximum number of recipes
CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_MAX_OPERATIONS 100 Max operations per recipe
CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_MAX_DEPTH 5 Max nesting depth

Usage Examples

Creating a Recipe

await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_create',
  arguments: {
    name: 'Decode and Parse JWT',
    description: 'Decode JWT token and beautify JSON payload',
    operations: [
      { op: 'JWT Decode', args: {} },
      { op: 'JSON Beautify', args: {} }
    ],
    tags: ['jwt', 'decode', 'json', 'crypto'],
    metadata: {
      category: 'cryptography'
    }
  }
});

Executing a Recipe

await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_execute',
  arguments: {
    id: '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000',
    input: 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...'
  }
});

Composing Recipes

// Create modular recipes
const decryptRecipe = await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_create',
  arguments: {
    name: 'AES Decrypt',
    operations: [{ op: 'AES Decrypt', args: {...} }]
  }
});

const decompressRecipe = await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_create',
  arguments: {
    name: 'Gunzip',
    operations: [{ op: 'Gunzip', args: {} }]
  }
});

// Compose into master workflow
await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_create',
  arguments: {
    name: 'Decrypt and Decompress',
    operations: [
      { recipe: decryptRecipe.id },
      { recipe: decompressRecipe.id }
    ]
  }
});

Exporting and Sharing

// Export as shareable URL
const url = await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_export',
  arguments: {
    id: '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000',
    format: 'url'
  }
});
// Result: cyberchef://recipe?data=eyJ...

// Import from URL
await client.callTool({
  name: 'cyberchef_recipe_import',
  arguments: {
    data: url,
    format: 'url'
  }
});

Docker Deployment

For persistent recipe storage in Docker:

docker run -i --rm \
  -v ./recipes.json:/app/recipes.json \
  -e CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_STORAGE=/app/recipes.json \
  ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v1:1.6.0

Architecture

New Modules

Module Purpose
src/node/recipe-validator.mjs Zod schemas and validation logic
src/node/recipe-storage.mjs JSON file backend with atomic writes
src/node/recipe-manager.mjs Business logic and import/export
src/node/recipes/recipe-library.json Curated recipe collection

Validation Features

  • Schema Validation: Zod-based type checking
  • Operation Validation: Verify operation names against CyberChef config
  • Argument Validation: Type checking for operation arguments
  • Complexity Estimation: Automatic low/medium/high classification
  • Circular Dependency Detection: Prevent infinite recursion
  • Depth Limiting: Configurable maximum nesting depth

Breaking Changes

None. This release is fully backward compatible. All new features are additive.

Migration

No migration required. Recipe management is an optional new feature that doesn't affect existing workflows.

Documentation

New and updated documentation:

  • User Guide: docs/guides/recipe_management.md - Comprehensive recipe management guide
  • CHANGELOG: Updated with v1.6.0 features
  • README: Will be updated to highlight recipe management capabilities

Performance

  • In-Memory Caching: Fast recipe retrieval without disk I/O
  • Atomic Writes: Safe concurrent access to recipe storage
  • Lazy Loading: Recipes loaded on-demand, not at startup
  • Pagination: List operations support limit/offset for large collections

Security

  • Input Validation: All recipe fields validated with Zod schemas
  • Path Sanitization: UUIDs prevent path traversal attacks
  • Resource Limits: Configurable limits prevent resource exhaustion
  • No Secrets: Recipes should not contain sensitive data (documented)

Testing

The following areas have been implemented and are ready for testing:

  • Recipe CRUD operations
  • Recipe execution with composition
  • Import/export in all formats
  • Validation and error handling
  • Storage persistence and backup
  • Circular dependency detection

Known Limitations

  1. No GUI: Recipe management via MCP tools only
  2. Single Storage File: All recipes in one JSON file (may not scale to millions of recipes)
  3. No Access Control: All recipes accessible to all MCP clients
  4. No Search Index: Filtering is in-memory (may be slow for large collections)

These limitations are documented and may be addressed in future releases.

Future Enhancements

Planned for v1.7.0 and beyond:

  • Batch Processing: Execute multiple recipes in parallel
  • Recipe Templates: Parameterized recipes with variable substitution
  • Recipe Marketplace: Share recipes publicly
  • Search Index: Fast full-text search
  • Access Control: User/team-based permissions
  • SQLite Backend: Optional SQL storage for large-scale deployments

Upgrade Instructions

From v1.5.x

  1. Update to v1.6.0:

    docker pull ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v1:1.6.0

  2. Optional: Configure recipe storage location:

    export CYBERCHEF_RECIPE_STORAGE=/path/to/recipes.json

  3. Start using recipe tools immediately - no additional setup required.

Rollback

If issues occur, rollback to v1.5.1:

docker pull ghcr.io/doublegate/cyberchef-mcp_v1:1.5.1

Recipe data is stored separately and won't be affected by rollback.

Contributors

  • DoubleGate - Recipe management system design and implementation

References

Support

For issues, questions, or feedback:

Release: v1.6.0 Date: December 16, 2025 Type: Minor (Feature Addition) Status: Completed