Scapy is a powerful Python library used for network packet manipulation and analysis. It allows you to create, send, capture, and dissect network packets, enabling you to implement a wide range of networking tasks and experiments. It’s particularly useful for network testing, developing new protocols, or investigating existing ones.

Here are some key features and functionalities of Scapy:

1. Packet Crafting and Sending: You can construct all kinds of network packets (TCP, IP, UDP, ARP, etc.) and customize their fields. Scapy also allows you to send these packets over the network.

2. Packet Capture and Analysis: Scapy can capture network packets and analyze them. You can filter packets, read from or write to PCAP files, and interpret the results.

3. Protocol Dissection and Decoding: Scapy is capable of decoding various network protocols and can be extended to support new ones. It automatically interprets each layer of a captured packet.

4. Interactive Shell: Scapy has an interactive shell that provides a powerful environment for network exploration and testing.

5. Extensibility: You can extend Scapy with custom protocols or functionalities, making it a flexible tool for network research.

6. Visualization and Graphing: Scapy can create graphical representations of network topologies or conversations.

To get started with Scapy, you need to have Python installed on your system. Scapy can be installed using pip:

Here’s a simple example of using Scapy to create and send a basic ICMP packet (Ping):

Remember that you might need appropriate permissions (like root/administrator) to send and capture packets, depending on your system’s configuration.

For detailed documentation and more examples, you can visit the Scapy documentation.