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GMA Extractor for Garry's Mod Addons

Drop a Garry's Mod .gma file to see what the addon contains and unpack it: the lua scripts, models, materials and sounds come out in a ZIP with their folders, plus an addon.json so you can re-pack it with gmad. It does what gmad.exe extract does, in your browser, without uploading the addon.

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How to extract a GMA file

  1. 1

    Find the .gma

    Workshop addons are stored as .gma files, usually under steamapps/workshop/content/4000/<item id>/ or garrysmod/cache/workshop.

  2. 2

    Drop it here

    The header is read first: addon name, author, type, tags and the number of files, then the full file list.

  3. 3

    Browse and preview

    Search the paths, open Lua, VMT and text files to read them, and view VTF textures and images. Each file is checked against its stored CRC.

  4. 4

    Download the ZIP

    Extract everything (or your search matches) into a ZIP with lua/, models/, materials/ and sound/ folders as they were packed.

Inside a GMA file

GMA (Garry's Mod Addon) is a simple archive made by gmad.exe. This tool reads versions 1 to 3.

Signature"GMAD" followed by a version byte (3 for current addons).
HeaderThe SteamID64 and time it was packed, the addon name, a JSON description with type and tags, the author and an addon version.
File listEach file's path, size and CRC32, in order. Paths are lower case, such as lua/autorun/myaddon.lua.
File dataThe files' bytes back to back after the list, uncompressed.
Typesgamemode, map, weapon, vehicle, npc, entity, tool, effects, model or servercontent.
addon.jsonRebuilt from the header (title, type, tags, ignore list), so the extracted folder can be packed again with gmad.exe create.
Compressed downloadsOld Workshop downloads named *.bin are LZMA-compressed. Unpack them with 7-Zip first; the tool tells you when it sees one.

Why unpack a GMA?

Server owners unpack addons to check the Lua code before they run it, to merge several addons into one content pack, or to fix a broken path. Mappers and modellers unpack them to look at how a model's materials are set up. Players unpack them to find a sound or texture. Reading the Lua first is a good habit: an addon's scripts run with the same access as any other server code.

GMA extractor vs gmad.exe

gmad.exe ships in GarrysMod/bin and extracts with a command line (gmad extract -file addon.gma). It works only on Windows unless you run it through Wine. This page gives the same result on any system, shows the file list before you extract, and lets you pull out just the files you need.

Need a new model or texture for your mod?

Make a 3D model from a photo or a short text prompt with AI, or generate a seamless texture, then bring it into your Source or GoldSrc project with these free converters.

Image to 3D →Text to 3DSeamless textures

More free Source modding tools

VTF to PNGPNG to VTFPNG to VMTJPG to VTFOBJ viewer

GMA extractor questions

Drop it on this page. You see the addon name, author, tags and full file list, and you can read the Lua and text files and view VTF textures and images before you extract anything. Nothing is uploaded.
Yes. It reads the same GMA format that gmad.exe writes and unpacks it the way gmad extract does, with the addon.json added, but on any system and without the command line.
Drop the .gma on this page and press Extract all files as ZIP. The ZIP keeps the addon's folders and adds an addon.json. Nothing is uploaded.
Usually in steamapps/workshop/content/4000/<workshop id>/ inside your Steam library, and in garrysmod/cache/workshop for addons a server sent you.
Older Workshop items are LZMA-compressed .bin files. Open it with 7-Zip, extract the file inside, add .gma to its name and drop that here.
Yes. Keep the addon.json from the ZIP in the folder, then run gmad.exe create -folder <folder> from GarrysMod/bin, or upload it with gmpublish.
Every file in a GMA has a stored CRC32. If a file's bytes do not match it, the addon is damaged or was edited by hand. The file is still extracted so you can look at it.
It extracts them. Garry's Mod models are compiled MDL files; to edit one, decompile it to SMD with Crowbar and open the SMD with the SMD to OBJ converter.

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