Instrument Ghidra GUI with Pyhidra : FrontEndTool.setActiveProject crash with Active Workspace cannot be null

[VincentDary]

Hello,

I try to instrument the Ghidra GUI in Python with Pyhidra: 1) I start Ghidra GUI with Pyhidra API, 2) I create a project in batch mode via ghidra.base.projectGhidraProject , 3) I open the project with ghidra.framework.project.DefaultProjectManager, my script crash when I try to setActiveProject on the FrontEndTool with the opened project, I have the following error (Active Workspace cannot be null), how to fix it ?

Environment :
OS: Debian bookworm
Java Version: jdk-21.0.2
Ghidra Version: 11.2.1
Ghidra Origin: official GitHub distro

INFO  Using log config file: jar:file:/opt/third-party/ghidra_11.2.1_PUBLIC/Ghidra/Framework/Generic/lib/Generic.jar!/generic.log4j.xml (LoggingInitialization)
INFO  Using log file: /home/cell/.config/ghidra/ghidra_11.2.1_PUBLIC/application.log (LoggingInitialization)
INFO  Loading user preferences: /home/cell/.config/ghidra/ghidra_11.2.1_PUBLIC/preferences (Preferences)
INFO  Searching for classes... (ClassSearcher)
INFO  Class search complete (1756 ms) (ClassSearcher)
INFO  Initializing SSL Context (SSLContextInitializer)
INFO  Initializing Random Number Generator... (SecureRandomFactory)
INFO  Random Number Generator initialization complete: NativePRNGNonBlocking (SecureRandomFactory)
INFO  Trust manager disabled, cacerts have not been set (ApplicationTrustManagerFactory)
INFO  User cell started Ghidra. (GhidraRun)
INFO  User settings directory: /home/cell/.config/ghidra/ghidra_11.2.1_PUBLIC (GhidraRun)
INFO  User temp directory: /tmp/cell-ghidra (GhidraRun)
INFO  User cache directory: /var/tmp/cell-ghidra (GhidraRun)
INFO  Ghidra startup complete (5822 ms) (GhidraRun)
INFO  Creating project: /tmp/ghidra_frontend_test/ghidra_frontend_test (DefaultProject)
INFO  Using Loader: Raw Binary (AutoImporter)
INFO  Using Language/Compiler: ARM:LE:32:v4t:default (AutoImporter)
INFO  Using Library Search Path: [., /bin, /lib, /lib64, /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu, /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu, /usr/bin, /usr/lib, /usr/X11R6/bin, /usr/X11R6/lib, /usr/java/packages/lib, /usr/lib64] (AutoImporter)
INFO  Opening project: /tmp/ghidra_frontend_test/ghidra_frontend_test (DefaultProject)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "EventDispatchThread.java", line 90, in java.awt.EventDispatchThread.run
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Active Workspace cannot be null

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "SwingUtilities.java", line 1480, in javax.swing.SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait
Exception: Java Exception

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/tmp/reproduce_bug.py", line 79, in <module>
    SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(set_active_project)
java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException

My script:

import threading
import time
import os
import shutil
import pathlib
import pyhidra
import jpype


def is_ghidra_gui_up() -> bool:
    try:
        if jpype.isJVMStarted():
            from ghidra.framework import Application
            from ghidra.framework.main import AppInfo
            if Application.isInitialized() and AppInfo.getFrontEndTool():
                return True
    except:
        pass
    return False


################################################################################
# Setup ghidra GUI
################################################################################
threading.Thread(target=pyhidra.launcher.GuiPyhidraLauncher().start).start()
while not is_ghidra_gui_up():
    time.sleep(0.02)


################################################################################
# Create project tree directory and binary file
################################################################################
work_dir = os.getcwd()
project_root_dir = f'{work_dir}{os.path.sep}ghidra_frontend_test'
dir_name = os.path.basename(project_root_dir)
bin_file = f'{project_root_dir}{os.path.sep}my.bin'

if os.path.exists(project_root_dir):
    shutil.rmtree(project_root_dir)

os.makedirs(project_root_dir)

with open(bin_file, 'wb') as f:
    f.write(b'\x00' * 8)


################################################################################
# Setup project in ghidra GUI
################################################################################
from ghidra.framework.main import AppInfo
from ghidra.base.project import GhidraProject
from ghidra.program.model.listing import Program
from ghidra.framework.model import ProjectLocator
from javax.swing import SwingUtilities

ghidra_project = GhidraProject.createProject(project_root_dir, dir_name, False)
lang = pyhidra.core._get_language('ARM:LE:32:v4t')
comp = pyhidra.core._get_compiler_spec(lang, None)
program = ghidra_project.importProgram(pathlib.Path(bin_file), lang, comp)
ghidra_project.saveAs(program, '/', program.getName(), True)
ghidra_project.save(program)
ghidra_project.close(program)
ghidra_project.getProject().close()
ghidra_project.close()

frontend_tool = AppInfo.getFrontEndTool()
project_loc = ProjectLocator(project_root_dir, os.path.basename(dir_name))
project = frontend_tool.getProjectManager().openProject(project_loc, False, False)


def set_active_project():
    frontend_tool.setActiveProject(project)


SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(set_active_project)

[VincentDary]

Finally solved using only GhidraProject and closing program to avoid warning message in the GUI.

import threading
import time
import os
import shutil
import pathlib
import pyhidra
import jpype


def is_ghidra_gui_up() -> bool:
    try:
        if jpype.isJVMStarted():
            from ghidra.framework import Application
            from ghidra.framework.main import AppInfo
            if Application.isInitialized() and AppInfo.getFrontEndTool():
                return True
    except:
        pass
    return False


################################################################################
# Setup ghidra GUI
################################################################################
threading.Thread(target=pyhidra.launcher.GuiPyhidraLauncher().start).start()
while not is_ghidra_gui_up():
    time.sleep(0.02)


################################################################################
# Create project tree directory and binary file
################################################################################
work_dir = os.getcwd()
project_root_dir = f'{work_dir}{os.path.sep}ghidra_frontend_test'
dir_name = os.path.basename(project_root_dir)
bin_file = f'{project_root_dir}{os.path.sep}my.bin'

if os.path.exists(project_root_dir):
    shutil.rmtree(project_root_dir)

os.makedirs(project_root_dir)

with open(bin_file, 'wb') as f:
    f.write(b'\x00' * 8)


################################################################################
# Setup project in ghidra GUI
################################################################################
from ghidra.framework.main import AppInfo
from ghidra.base.project import GhidraProject
from ghidra.program.model.listing import Program
from ghidra.framework.model import ProjectLocator
from javax.swing import SwingUtilities

ghidra_project = GhidraProject.createProject(project_root_dir, dir_name, False)
lang = pyhidra.core._get_language('ARM:LE:32:v4t')
comp = pyhidra.core._get_compiler_spec(lang, None)
program = ghidra_project.importProgram(pathlib.Path(bin_file), lang, comp)
ghidra_project.saveAs(program, '/', program.getName(), True)
ghidra_project.save(program)
ghidra_project.close(program)

def set_active_project():
    AppInfo.getFrontEndTool().setActiveProject(ghidra_project.getProject())

SwingUtilities.invokeAndWait(set_active_project)