Interactive Asset Analysis Workstation, Modding Toolkit & High-Performance PAK Extractor for Arma Reforger
Explore • Inspect • Search • Diff • Graph • Live Sync • Extract
Overview • Features • Extraction Engine • CLI • Requirements • License
PakWorkbench is a modern analysis and support workstation built specifically for Arma Reforger, designed to let you rapidly explore, inspect, analyze, and extract the contents of .pak files without first unpacking entire archives to disk.
Rather than acting as a conventional package extractor or an asset editor, PakWorkbench provides an intelligent visual environment for working with Enfusion assets. It resolves relationships between referenced assets, exposes dependencies, and helps identify missing files and potential modding issues quickly.
💡 The core advantage: No unnecessary extraction, no wasted disk space. Open, inspect, and understand your assets immediately.
- Browse Without Extraction: Open multi-gigabyte
.pakarchives and navigate their file structure without first extracting them to disk. - Multi-PAK & Append Mode: Dynamically add additional
.pakfiles and dependencies to an existing workspace, creating a unified virtual file system for analyzing cross-references and overrides. - Instant File Preview: Quickly inspect text and source files, including large files, without unnecessary extraction.
- Workbench-Style Syntax Highlighting (
XFusion): A custom high-performance rendering engine designed around the visual style of Arma Reforger Workbench, with tailored syntax support for Enfusion Script (.c), Enfusion Data (.et,.layout,.conf,.emat,.gproj,.physmat, etc.), and XML syntax used by formats such as.stand.svg. - Interactive Context & Search: Preview search results directly inside the
XFusionview with precise line numbers, match indicators, and multi-line context highlighting. - Automatic Vanilla Content Resolution: When analyzing mods, the system can automatically resolve references and dependencies originating from the base game content.
- Binary Hex View: Inspect raw binary and non-text files directly through a dedicated hexadecimal view.
PakWorkbench provides a rich set of right-click context menu options across the Asset Browser tree for fast workflows:
- 🎯 Set as Workbench Sync Target: Mark a script (
.c) or file to automatically synchronize with your active Arma Reforger Workbench project. - 🛠 Open in Workbench: Instantly open supported Enfusion assets (
.xob,.edds,.anm,.c,.et) directly in Arma Reforger Workbench. - 📑 Compare file... / Compare folder...: Diff a selected asset or whole directory directly against a local disk equivalent.
- 🕸 View Dependencies / Graph: Launch the interactive dependency graph directly from the package root node to map all asset relationships.
- 📦 Extract Selected / Extract All: Quickly unpack only the highlighted item/folder or extract the entire archive structure.
- 📂 Expand & Collapse Controls: Rapidly expand/collapse individual nodes or the entire tree hierarchy (
Expand Selected Node,Collapse Selected Node,Expand All,Collapse All). - ❌ Remove from Session: Unload a mod or package directly from the current workspace session.
- PAK ↔ DISK Comparison: Compare original assets contained inside a
.pakarchive directly against modified versions on disk. - Side-by-Side Visual Diffing: Compare files with clear line-by-line and character/word-level difference highlighting, powered by
XFusionandDiffPlex. - Workbench-Style Diff View: Differences are presented using the same familiar visual language as the Workbench-inspired
XFusioneditor. - Binary Protection: Automatically detects non-text files and prevents invalid text comparisons, preserving workspace stability.
- Open in Workbench: Open supported Enfusion assets such as
.xob,.edds,.anm,.c, and.etdirectly in the Arma Reforger Workbench. - Automatic Workbench Detection: Automatically detects the installed Workbench and selects the appropriate tool for the asset.
- Steam Integration: Detects and starts Steam when required for Workbench.
- Sandbox & Dependencies: Creates a temporary Workbench project and automatically resolves required dependencies.
- Automated Script Syncing: Actively monitors your source
.cfiles for changes using a file system watcher and automatically synchronizes them to your target Workbench project directory. - Real-time NET API Validation: Communicates directly with the Arma Reforger Workbench via a TCP NET API connection to automatically trigger script compilation and validation upon file save.
- Smart Editor Integration & External Parameterization: Automatically discovers installed IDEs and code editors (Visual Studio, VS Code, Rider, Neovim, Notepad++) and utilizes flexible external parameters/arguments to jump directly to the exact file, line, and column when an error is clicked.
- Interactive Output Log: Parses Enfusion script errors and warnings into an interactive view where double-clicking an entry instantly focuses the problematic code block in your external code editor.
- Extension & Exclusion Filtering: Target specific file types such as
.c,.conf, and.emat, while excluding unwanted directories such asdeprecatedortest. - Multi-Line Block Search: Search across line breaks by combining a block start, such as a class name, with a condition or other content inside the block.
- Wildcards & RegEx: Supports
*and?wildcard searches as well as advanced regular expressions for deeper analysis. - Context-Aware Results: Search results provide structural context instead of showing only the matching line, such as the parent prefab or associated shader.
- StringTable [ST] Resolution: Search for a visible UI string and automatically resolve its corresponding localization key from
.confStringTable data, such as#AR-MainMenu_Title, then locate its usages across scripts and assets including.c,.layout, and.etfiles.
- Visual Asset Relationships: Explore how an object, vehicle, script, or other asset is connected to the components it depends on.
- Missing Reference Detection: Clearly identify references to assets that are missing from the available package content.
- Flexible Graph Layouts: Use different graph layouts, including hierarchical, physics-based, and grid-based views, to make complex relationships easier to understand.
- Integrated Browser Experience: Access the
modiscover.euplatform directly through a dedicated integrated panel inside PakWorkbench. - One-Click Dependency Analysis: Right-click a mod's root node and use View Dependencies / Graph to analyze its external project dependencies.
- Special thanks to ¼Sebi for creating the MoDiscover web interface and allowing its integration into PakWorkbench!
PakWorkbench is not only an interactive asset inspection environment. It also includes a high-performance extraction engine for Enfusion .pak archives, optimized for .NET 8.0.
- Maximum Throughput: Multi-threaded data processing designed to utilize available CPU resources efficiently.
- Memory Efficient: Stream-based extraction for stable handling of large, multi-gigabyte archives.
- Intelligent Workflow: Automatically determines the appropriate operating mode based on the execution environment, including GUI, command-line, and batch processing workflows.
- Direct Archive Processing: Pass one or more
.pakfiles directly toPakWorkbench.exeto extract them automatically. - Drag & Drop: Drag
.pakfiles directly ontoPakWorkbench.exefor immediate extraction through the command-line argument interface. - File Association: Associate
.pakfiles with PakWorkbench and launch extraction by double-clicking an archive. - Batch Directory Processing: Pass a directory containing
.pakfiles to recursively locate and process all matching archives. - Manual GUI Mode: Launch
PakWorkbench.exewithout command-line arguments to open the PakWorkbench GUI for interactive asset inspection.
PakWorkbench provides an automation-friendly command-line interface suitable for scripting, batch processing, CI/CD workflows, and fast archive operations.
# Display basic archive information
PakWorkbench.exe inspect data.pak
# List all files contained in the archive
PakWorkbench.exe inspect data.pak --tree
# Display the PAK/IFF chunk layout and archive index information
PakWorkbench.exe inspect data.pak --chunks
# Extract the complete archive
PakWorkbench.exe extract data.pak
# Extract to a custom output directory
PakWorkbench.exe extract data.pak --output "D:\Extracted"
# Extract a specific file from the archive
PakWorkbench.exe extract data.pak --file "scripts\Game\Component.c"PakWorkbench also supports batch extraction by passing one or more .pak files or directories containing .pak archives:
# Process a single archive
PakWorkbench.exe data.pak
# Process multiple archives
PakWorkbench.exe data1.pak data2.pak data3.pak
# Process all .pak files in a directory tree
PakWorkbench.exe "D:\ReforgerPaks"Use PakWorkbench.exe --help to display the available commands and options.
- Windows 10 or Windows 11
- .NET 8.0 Runtime
- Arma Reforger / Arma Reforger Tools — required only for optional Workbench integration
PakWorkbench is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0).
The source code may be used, modified, forked, and redistributed in accordance with the MPL-2.0 terms.
Modified versions must retain the applicable copyright and license notices and must not be presented as an official release of the original PakWorkbench project.
Forks and derivative projects based on PakWorkbench should clearly credit the original project:
Based on PakWorkbench
Original project: https://github.com/Rendszerguru/PakWorkbench
The PakWorkbench name, logo, and visual identity are not covered by the MPL-2.0 license and may not be used in a way that falsely implies official affiliation or endorsement.
- Releases: PakWorkbench Releases
PakWorkbench
Explore the package. Understand the assets. Build better mods.
Released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0)