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Debugger.jl changelog

Version 0.9.0 (unreleased)

This release overhauls the terminal UI. The most visible changes: the debugger now runs full screen by default, bp/f/w open interactive menus, and a new debug> REPL mode is entered with ).

Keys at the debug> prompt

Pressed at the beginning of an empty prompt line:

Key Action
` enter evaluation mode (as before)
C toggle compiled mode (as before)
L toggle lowered code (as before)
T new — cycle how variable types are shown: compact → none → types only → full
S new — toggle "sticky" (full-screen) mode
+/- more/fewer source lines (as before)

Full-screen ("sticky") mode — on by default

The debugger session now runs on the terminal's alternate screen, like less or vim: your scrollback is untouched and the terminal is restored exactly when you quit. The status is redrawn in place on every step instead of scrolling. Since the alternate screen has no scrollback, command output taller than the screen (the ? help, a deep bt, ...) opens in a scrollable pager (arrow keys/PgUp/PgDn, q to close). Press S or set Debugger.config(sticky = false) to get the old scrolling transcript back.

Interactive menus

  • bp (no arguments) opens a breakpoint manager: move with the arrow keys, space/enter toggles a breakpoint, a adds one (prompts for a location using the bp add syntax), d deletes it, o opens its location in your editor, q quits. Break-on-error and break-on-throw are toggleable rows in the same menu.
  • f (no arguments) opens a frame picker for the call stack.
  • w (no arguments) opens the watch list (d deletes an entry).

All existing subcommands (bp rm 2, bp add foo:12, f 3, w rm 1, ...) still work, and non-interactive terminals automatically get the old text output. Debugger.config(menus = false) disables the menus.

The debug> REPL mode

Loading Debugger installs a REPL mode entered by pressing ) at the beginning of an empty julia> prompt (backspace leaves it, like the Pkg mode):

  • any expression you enter is debugged as if run through @enter
  • bp commands (including the menu) work there without an active debug session, so breakpoints can be set up before debugging

Status display

  • header shows the position in the call stack: [1/4] foo(x, y) at foo.jl:12
  • the current source line is shown in bold
  • local variables are shown as part of the status: arguments first (tagged (arg), (param), (captured)), aligned, truncated to the terminal width
  • variable types display compactly by default — long parametric types elide to Dict{…}; cycle with T or set Debugger.config(vartypes = ...) (#396)
  • watch expressions are evaluated and shown in the status on every step
  • the next expression is marked with → instead of About to run:
  • keyword methods display as f(x, y; z) instead of the mangled #f#5(z, , x, y)

Commands

  • bt is now a compact one-line-per-frame backtrace with a marker on the active frame; bt v gives the old verbose listing including all variables
  • p x shows the full value the way the REPL would display it, instead of a truncated single line

Configuration

All UI options live in one place; call without arguments to see the current settings:

Debugger.config(; theme, highlight, context_lines, vartypes, max_vars,
                  sticky, charset, menus)

charset = :ascii replaces all unicode markers. Debugger.set_theme and Debugger.set_highlight still work.

Fixes and performance

  • stepping no longer lags: syntax highlighting cached the wrong way around a tree-sitter bottleneck (~230 ms per status print → ~1 ms; JuliaDocs/Highlights.jl#90)
  • first use compiles far less at runtime thanks to a precompile workload (~5 s → ~0.25 s)
  • errors from code evaluated at the |julia> prompt no longer print a dozen frames of debugger internals below the error
  • when the debugger pauses on a global load (Julia 1.12), the upcoming call is previewed even when the global is an argument (→ map(*, x, y) instead of → Base.Math.:*)