ios-debug · iOS Debugging in VS Code

Debug iOS apps directly from VS Code.

Features

• Install and launch apps for debugging automatically based on the VS Code launch config.
• Debugging on both iOS devices and simulators.
• Pick a connected device or installed simulator for debugging.
• All other debugging features supported by CodeLLDB extension.

Requirements

• MacOS X with full Xcode installation

Quick Start

Here is a minimal launch configuration to get you started

{
    "name": "Launch App",
    "type": "lldb",
    "request": "launch",
    "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/Debug-${command:ios-debug.targetSdk}/<app name>.app",
    "iosBundleId": "<app bundle identifier>",
    "iosTarget": "select",
},

Look at the examples/Sample App/.vscode for a working example of VS Code config for a sample app.

How to use

Launch config options

The extension depends on CodeLLDB for most debugging features and extends the same to support launching and attaching to iOS targets.

Here are some of the common options used for setting up the launch config for debugging on iOS.

When request is set to launch, the app is launched on the iOS device or simulator and attached for debugging. When request is set to attach, the debugger tries to attach to the app already launched on the iOS device or simulator.

parameter	type	req
name	string	Y	Launch configuration name.
type	string	Y	Set to lldb.
request	string	Y	Set to launch or attach.
program	string	Y	Path to the built <name>.app file for your app.
iosBundleId	string	Y	App bundle identifier for the specified app.
iosTarget	string	Y	If this config should target iOS. false (default) if this config is not for iOS debugging "select" if the target picker should be shown "last-selected" if last selected target should be used if available
args	[string]		Command line parameters to pass while launching the app. Only available with request = launch.
env	dictionary		Additional environment variables when launching the app. Only available with request = launch.

Target selection

If you specify "iosTarget": "select" in your launch config, the target picket will be shown when you start the debugging.

If you want to select or change target otherwise, you can do that by the following methods.

• From the status bar item showing the previously selected target or "Select target".
• Accessing Select iOS Target command from the command palette.

Commands

The extension exposes a few commands that can be used in tasks or launch config as parameters. You can use ${command:ios-debug.<command>} inside your launch configs or task definitions, which will be resolved to the return value of the command.

• ios-debug.targetUDID - Selected target's UDID
• ios-debug.targetType - Selected target's type. Either "Simulator" or "Device"
• ios-debug.targetName - Selected target's name.
• ios-debug.targetSdk - Selected target's sdk type. Either "iphonesimulator" or "iphoneos"

Known limitations

• UI debugging features (e.g. Debug View Hierarchy, etc.) for iOS are out-of-scope for now. You need to use Xcode for that.
• "Restart" debugging doesn't work reliably from VS Code. You need to stop and start debugging again.