1# Debugger
2
3Zed uses the Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) to provide debugging functionality across multiple programming languages.
4DAP is a standardized protocol that defines how debuggers, editors, and IDEs communicate with each other.
5It allows Zed to support various debuggers without needing to implement language-specific debugging logic.
6This protocol enables features like setting breakpoints, stepping through code, inspecting variables,
7and more, in a consistent manner across different programming languages and runtime environments.
8
9## Supported Debug Adapters
10
11Zed supports a variety of debug adapters for different programming languages:
12
13- JavaScript (node): Enables debugging of Node.js applications, including setting breakpoints, stepping through code, and inspecting variables in JavaScript.
14
15- Python (debugpy): Provides debugging capabilities for Python applications, supporting features like remote debugging, multi-threaded debugging, and Django/Flask application debugging.
16
17- LLDB: A powerful debugger for C, C++, Objective-C, and Swift, offering low-level debugging features and support for Apple platforms.
18
19- GDB: The GNU Debugger, which supports debugging for multiple programming languages including C, C++, Go, and Rust, across various platforms.
20
21- Go (dlv): Delve, a debugger for the Go programming language, offering both local and remote debugging capabilities with full support for Go's runtime and standard library.
22
23- PHP (xdebug): Provides debugging and profiling capabilities for PHP applications, including remote debugging and code coverage analysis.
24
25- Custom: Allows you to configure any debug adapter that supports the Debug Adapter Protocol, enabling debugging for additional languages or specialized environments not natively supported by Zed.
26
27These adapters enable Zed to provide a consistent debugging experience across multiple languages while leveraging the specific features and capabilities of each debugger.
28
29## How To Get Started
30
31To start a debug session, we added few default debug configurations for each supported language that supports generic configuration options. To see all the available debug configurations, you can use the command palette `debugger: start` action, this should list all the available debug configurations.
32
33### Configuration
34
35To create a custom debug configuration you have to create a `.zed/debug.json` file in your project root directory. This file should contain an array of debug configurations, each with a unique label and adapter the other option are optional/required based on the adapter.
36
37```json
38[
39 {
40 // The label for the debug configuration and used to identify the debug session inside the debug panel
41 "label": "Example Start debugger config"
42 // The debug adapter that Zed should use to debug the program
43 "adapter": "custom",
44 // Request: defaults to launch
45 // - launch: Zed will launch the program if specified or shows a debug terminal with the right configuration
46 // - attach: Zed will attach to a running program to debug it or when the process_id is not specified we will show a process picker (only supported for node currently)
47 "request": "launch",
48 // cwd: defaults to the current working directory of your project ($ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT)
49 // this field also supports task variables e.g. $ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT
50 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT",
51 // program: The program that you want to debug
52 // this fields also support task variables e.g. $ZED_FILE
53 // Note: this field should only contain the path to the program you want to debug
54 "program": "path_to_program",
55 // initialize_args: This field should contain all the adapter specific initialization arguments that are directly send to the debug adapter
56 "initialize_args": {
57 // "stopOnEntry": true // e.g. to stop on the first line of the program (These args are DAP specific)
58 }
59 }
60]
61```
62
63### Using Attach [WIP]
64
65Only javascript and lldb supports starting a debug session using attach.
66
67When using the attach request with a process ID the syntax is as follows:
68
69```json
70{
71 "label": "Attach to Process",
72 "adapter": "javascript",
73 "request": {
74 "attach": {
75 "process_id": "12345"
76 }
77 }
78}
79```
80
81Without process ID the syntax is as follows:
82
83```json
84{
85 "label": "Attach to Process",
86 "adapter": "javascript",
87 "request": {
88 "attach": {}
89 }
90}
91```
92
93#### JavaScript Configuration
94
95##### Debug Active File
96
97This configuration allows you to debug a JavaScript file in your project.
98
99```json
100{
101 "label": "JavaScript: Debug Active File",
102 "adapter": "javascript",
103 "program": "$ZED_FILE",
104 "request": "launch",
105 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT"
106}
107```
108
109##### Debug Terminal
110
111This configuration will spawn a debug terminal where you could start you program by typing `node test.js`, and the debug adapter will automatically attach to the process.
112
113```json
114{
115 "label": "JavaScript: Debug Terminal",
116 "adapter": "javascript",
117 "request": "launch",
118 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT",
119 // "program": "$ZED_FILE", // optional if you pass this in, you will see the output inside the terminal itself
120 "initialize_args": {
121 "console": "integratedTerminal"
122 }
123}
124```
125
126#### PHP Configuration
127
128##### Debug Active File
129
130This configuration allows you to debug a PHP file in your project.
131
132```json
133{
134 "label": "PHP: Debug Active File",
135 "adapter": "php",
136 "program": "$ZED_FILE",
137 "request": "launch",
138 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT"
139}
140```
141
142#### Python Configuration
143
144##### Debug Active File
145
146This configuration allows you to debug a Python file in your project.
147
148```json
149{
150 "label": "Python: Debug Active File",
151 "adapter": "python",
152 "program": "$ZED_FILE",
153 "request": "launch",
154 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT"
155}
156```
157
158#### GDB Configuration
159
160**NOTE:** This configuration is for Linux systems only & intel macbooks.
161
162##### Debug Program
163
164This configuration allows you to debug a program using GDB e.g. Zed itself.
165
166```json
167{
168 "label": "GDB: Debug program",
169 "adapter": "gdb",
170 "program": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT/target/debug/zed",
171 "request": "launch",
172 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT"
173}
174```
175
176#### LLDB Configuration
177
178##### Debug Program
179
180This configuration allows you to debug a program using LLDB e.g. Zed itself.
181
182```json
183{
184 "label": "LLDB: Debug program",
185 "adapter": "lldb",
186 "program": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT/target/debug/zed",
187 "request": "launch",
188 "cwd": "$ZED_WORKTREE_ROOT"
189}
190```
191
192## Breakpoints
193
194Zed currently supports these types of breakpoints
195
196- Log Breakpoints: Output a log message instead of stopping at the breakpoint when it's hit
197- Standard Breakpoints: Stop at the breakpoint when it's hit
198
199Standard breakpoints can be toggled by left clicking on the editor gutter or using the Toggle Breakpoint action. Right clicking on a breakpoint, code action symbol, or code runner symbol brings up the breakpoint context menu. That has options for toggling breakpoints and editing log breakpoints.
200
201Log breakpoints can also be edited/added through the edit log breakpoint action
202
203## Settings
204
205- `stepping_granularity`: Determines the stepping granularity.
206- `save_breakpoints`: Whether the breakpoints should be reused across Zed sessions.
207- `button`: Whether to show the debug button in the status bar.
208- `timeout`: Time in milliseconds until timeout error when connecting to a TCP debug adapter.
209- `log_dap_communications`: Whether to log messages between active debug adapters and Zed
210- `format_dap_log_messages`: Whether to format dap messages in when adding them to debug adapter logger
211
212### Stepping granularity
213
214- Description: The Step granularity that the debugger will use
215- Default: line
216- Setting: debugger.stepping_granularity
217
218**Options**
219
2201. Statement - The step should allow the program to run until the current statement has finished executing.
221 The meaning of a statement is determined by the adapter and it may be considered equivalent to a line.
222 For example 'for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++)' could be considered to have 3 statements 'int i = 0', 'i < 10', and 'i++'.
223
224```json
225{
226 "debugger": {
227 "stepping_granularity": "statement"
228 }
229}
230```
231
2322. Line - The step should allow the program to run until the current source line has executed.
233
234```json
235{
236 "debugger": {
237 "stepping_granularity": "line"
238 }
239}
240```
241
2423. Instruction - The step should allow one instruction to execute (e.g. one x86 instruction).
243
244```json
245{
246 "debugger": {
247 "stepping_granularity": "instruction"
248 }
249}
250```
251
252### Save Breakpoints
253
254- Description: Whether the breakpoints should be saved across Zed sessions.
255- Default: true
256- Setting: debugger.save_breakpoints
257
258**Options**
259
260`boolean` values
261
262```json
263{
264 "debugger": {
265 "save_breakpoints": true
266 }
267}
268```
269
270### Button
271
272- Description: Whether the button should be displayed in the debugger toolbar.
273- Default: true
274- Setting: debugger.show_button
275
276**Options**
277
278`boolean` values
279
280```json
281{
282 "debugger": {
283 "show_button": true
284 }
285}
286```
287
288### Timeout
289
290- Description: Time in milliseconds until timeout error when connecting to a TCP debug adapter.
291- Default: 2000ms
292- Setting: debugger.timeout
293
294**Options**
295
296`integer` values
297
298```json
299{
300 "debugger": {
301 "timeout": 3000
302 }
303}
304```
305
306### Log Dap Communications
307
308- Description: Whether to log messages between active debug adapters and Zed. (Used for DAP development)
309- Default: false
310- Setting: debugger.log_dap_communications
311
312**Options**
313
314`boolean` values
315
316```json
317{
318 "debugger": {
319 "log_dap_communications": true
320 }
321}
322```
323
324### Format Dap Log Messages
325
326- Description: Whether to format dap messages in when adding them to debug adapter logger. (Used for DAP development)
327- Default: false
328- Setting: debugger.format_dap_log_messages
329
330**Options**
331
332`boolean` values
333
334```json
335{
336 "debugger": {
337 "format_dap_log_messages": true
338 }
339}
340```
341
342## Theme
343
344The Debugger supports the following theme options
345
346 /// Color used to accent some of the debuggers elements
347 /// Only accent breakpoint & breakpoint related symbols right now
348
349**debugger.accent**: Color used to accent breakpoint & breakpoint related symbols
350**editor.debugger_active_line.background**: Background color of active debug line