GSoD Ideas 2023: Update Frida’s Website Documentation

About Frida

• Version at time of proposal: 16.0.11 (first release 2013)
• License: wxWindows Library Licence
• Supports 9 operating systems, 3 architecture families (Intel, ARM, MIPS)
• Use cases: reverse engineering, mobile app analysis (Android/iOS), software testing, debugging
• Primary scripting language: JavaScript

Problem Statement

The official Frida documentation (https://frida.re/docs/) was written by advanced users and is too terse for new users, generating approximately 10 support requests per week on GitHub Issues.

Current support channels

External documentation (non-official)

• Learn Frida / Frida Handbook: https://learnfrida.info/ (by Fernando Diaz; HTML + book via NowSecure Academy)

Target Audiences

1. Power users experienced in adjacent tools, expanding into Frida — documentation should relate to prior knowledge
2. Existing Frida users needing quick reference — must be in text form (not screencasts) for easy copy-paste; command prompts should not be selectable
3. Beginners willing to learn — need clear setup instructions and a first successful task
4. Evaluators / decision-makers — need conceptual overviews to judge feasibility of tasks

Project Scope

In-scope deliverables

• Audit existing documentation; create a friction log for three top use cases:
  1. Setting up Frida for different operating systems
  2. Setting up Frida with the Frida Gadget
  3. Common tasks with Frida
• Updated documentation addressing gaps identified in the friction log
• Quick “cheat sheet” for install and basic usage
• Incorporate feedback from volunteer testers and the wider community
• Work with the release team to keep documentation in sync going forward
• GitHub Issue templates to redirect support questions; templates for bug reports and feature requests
• Triage 1,300 existing GitHub issues; tag support requests for use as documentation input
• Document all asset types in GitHub Releases (e.g., code devkit, gum devkit) — https://github.com/frida/frida/releases
• Integrate https://codeshare.frida.re/ into the official documentation

Out-of-scope

• Detailed documentation for code contributions to Frida

Proposed documentation articles

• Conceptual: “What is Frida?” — analogies using Cheat Engine (memory read/write/inject) and Greasemonkey/Violentmonkey
• Installation guides per OS (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS) with troubleshooting and verification steps
• Android: setup on a rooted phone; injecting Gadget into APK (using tools like apk.sh)
• Desktop: Frida usage on all three major desktop platforms
• GitHub Issues: instructions for better bug reports; redirect support questions

Success Metrics

Timeline

Total duration: 6 months

Budget

Mentors / Contacts

• @simos — committed as primary mentor
• Technical writing candidate already identified