Restart specific debugger using command

[DJ4ddi]

Hi there.

A bit of background for the setup: I'm working with an Electron application, which requires two different debugging configurations - one for the main process, one for the renderer. I set up my launch.json so that the chrome attach automatically runs when the node launch is done starting (the same could also be achieved through a compound configuration).

But this setup has a major inconvenience: Whenever a task, extension or the user runs the "Debug: Restart" command, it restarts the configuration that is currently selected in the debugging widget (the one with the pause, continue and step buttons) or the "Debug Console" tab. By default, that's the main process launcher. Unfortunately, in 99% of cases the intended behavior is to restart the renderer, not the launcher, which means that the wrong debugger is restarted if the user doesn't pay attention to the currently selected one.

What I want to do is to configure a preferred debugger that will be restarted when the workbench.action.debug.restart command is invoked.

• One possible solution would be to add a launch.json option for runtime priority so that the renderer can be selected, e.g. through a new presentation property (or by respecting the existing order option).
• Another solution would be a parameter for the command, although I am not sure how that would interact with calling it from a task (using the ${command:<command>} syntax).

I am, of course, open for alternative solutions.

[ArturoDent]

Possibly this extension could help: Launch Debug and assign a keybinding to your renderer debug.

[weinand]

@DJ4ddi could you give Arturo's extension a try?

[DJ4ddi]

Unfortunately the extension does not solve my issue. I like the approach (defining a command for a specific configuration), but the problem is that it always attempts to start the configuration. In my case, I need it to restart the active one. Attempting to do so using Launch Debug displays the following error: There is already a debug configuraton "testConfig" running.

[ArturoDent]

Good point, I'll look into stopping the matching debug session first before re-starting the same configuration. It looks doable.

[DJ4ddi]

Cool. Do keep in mind that stopping and starting is not the same as restarting for some debuggers (e.g. Debugger for Chrome, which is used for Electron, reloads the window on restart, but not on re-attach).

Edit: Opened and referenced issue on the Launch Configs repository. From looking into this, it does not seem like the VSCode API has access to the information needed to restart a debugging session (as neither the capability nor the restart function are exposed).

[DJ4ddi]

@weinand Looks like implementing this functionality in an extension would require an API to restart a DebugSession. I could imagine this being an option for debug.startDebugging or a separate function. Any chance of that happening?

[weinand]

Most built-in commands (like "Restart") have an ID ("workbench.action.debug.restart") and can be executed via the vscode.commands.executeCommand API.
You can find command IDs via the "Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts" command.

[DJ4ddi]

The command you suggested restarts the currently selected debugging instance, which is not the desired behavior here and the reason why this ticket exists. There is no way to restart a different instance via commands or the API.

[weinand]

@isidorn any idea how to address this issue?
One solution would be a "Restart" command that does not work on the "active" session but takes the name (either via QuickPick or as a parameter when called through vscode.commands.executeCommand).

[isidorn]

@weinand that sounds like a good approach and it might already work looking at the code here

@DJ4ddi you should be able to execute the workbench.action.debug.restart and pass the following object { sessiondId: YOUR_SESSION_ID }
Try passing it as the first argument, if that does not work, pass it as a second argument.

Let me know how it goes.

[DJ4ddi]

Great, that worked (second argument is the correct one).

Code sample for my use case:

var sessions = [];
function activate() {
  vscode.debug.onDidStartDebugSession(session => sessions.push(session.id));
  vscode.debug.onDidTerminateDebugSession(session => sessions = sessions.filter(sid => sid !== session.id));
  vscode.commands.registerCommand("workbench.action.debug.restartLatest",
    () => vscode.commands.executeCommand("workbench.action.debug.restart", "", { sessionId: sessions[sessions.length - 1] });
}

@ArturoDent this might interest you as well.