Objective To investigate the effect of garlic paste addition on volatile flavor substances and color attributes of crayfish tails, and provide a theoretical basis for flavor standardization in industrial production.Methods This paper adopts gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) combined with colorimetric analysis to study the characteristics of volatile components and color parameters (L^*, a^*, b^* values) of crayfish tails under garlic paste additions of 0%, 4.4%, 8.8%, 13.2%, 17.6%, and 22.0%. Principal component analysis (PCA) is applied to analyze flavor differences.Results Colorimetric analysis reveals that garlic paste addition significantly decreases L^* from 45.69 to 34.50 and b^* from 39.24 to 29.94 (P<0.05), while a^* values show a significant difference under the garlic paste addition of more than 13.2% (P<0.05). A total of 53 volatile substances are identified by GC-IMS, and their total content increases gradually with the rising garlic paste addition (highest value in the 22% group at 18 749 and lowest value in the control group at 10 758). Camphene, 2-ethylbutanoic acid, 2-methylbutyl acetate, allyl isothiocyanate, and heptanal are identified as intrinsic flavor markers of crayfish meat. Key contributors to flavor include camphene, 1-heptanol, 3-pentenenitrile, 2,3-pentanedione, diacetyl, and isopropanol. PCA shows that the 13.2%~17.6% group exhibits significantly different flavor characteristics from other groups (PC1 contribution rate of 76%).Conclusion Under the garlic paste addition of 8.8%~13.2%, the optimal balance between flavor and color attributes is achieved, while excessive addition of more than 17.6% results in aldehyde overaccumulation and accelerated browning.