ESP-Debug

ESP-Debug is a Visual Studio Code extension designed to support ESP32 debugging over COM port using ESP-IDF's built-in GDB Stub.

Key Features

• Works with ESP-IDF's built-in GDB Stub.
• COM Port Communication: Just connect the built-in COM port on ESP32 board to debug.
• Basic debugging features:
  • Pause, Continue, Stop, Restart, Step Over, Step Into, Step Out.
  • Stack trace for each thread.
  • Set and remove breakpoints.
  • View local variables, CPU registers and evaluate expressions.
  • Show messages logged from target.

Installation & Usage

1. Installing the extension

   • Install ESP-Debug extension on Visual Studio Code.
   • Click on the "Install" button.

2. Prerequisites

   • Make sure to use ESP-IDF and have GDB Stub enabled:
     • Component Config -> GDB Stub -> GDBStub on runtime.
   • Build and flash your code to the board.

3. Configuration

   • Open Run > Add Configuration... > ESP Debug to add launch.json with default configuration. Or you can create it manually with the following content:

     {
         "version": "0.2.0",
         "configurations": [
             {
                 "type": "esp-debug",
                 "request": "launch",
                 "name": "ESP Program",
                 "program": "build/your_app.elf",
                 "port": "COMx"
             }
         ]
     }
     

   • Change the default properties in launch.json to match your project.
     
     

   NOTE: If you want to synchronize the selected com port with ESP-IDF extension you can do as following example:

   "port": "${config:idf.portWin}"
   

4. Start debugging

   • Press F5 and now you can start debugging your project.
     
     

   NOTE: This extension does not support flashing your code to the board yet. So make sure you flash it before you start debugging.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests to improve this extension.

License

ESP-Debug is licensed under the MIT License.