How to effectively debug Dioxus applications?

[jgardona]

Hello, good evening.

Im searching for some documentation about debug dioxus applications, read some things, but cant understand yet how it works.

For example, we have the d key in dioxus dx menu. But no breakpoints works.
May someone explain if we need to debug using log, or breakepoints?

[Junaid-PK]

Breakpoints are supported; logs are not the only option. The key detail is that d does not debug inside the dx terminal UI—it asks a supported editor to attach to the running process/page.

For Dioxus 0.7.10, check these items:

1. Use VS Code or Cursor and install the required editor extensions. The CLI currently supports those two editors and defaults to VS Code (source). Also make sure code --version or cursor --version works from the shell where dx serve runs. For Cursor, select it explicitly:

   dx config set preferred-editor cursor

2. For desktop/native/server code, install CodeLLDB. The d action opens a vadimcn.vscode-lldb attach URL for the running PID (source). If CodeLLDB is absent or the editor URL handler does not open, no debugger is attached even though the app keeps running.

3. For web/WASM code, install the Dioxus VS Code extension and a WASM DWARF debugging extension. The CLI opens the Dioxus extension's debugger URL for the dev-server page (source); that extension then starts VS Code's Chrome debugger (source). --debug-symbols is enabled by default, but the CLI notes that reading those WASM DWARF symbols requires a browser extension (source).

4. For a fullstack app, attach to the correct half. Lowercase d selects the primary/client build; uppercase D (Shift+D) selects the secondary/server build (key handling, client/server mapping). A breakpoint in a #[server] function will not be hit by the client debugger, so use Shift+D for server-side Rust.

5. Disable hotpatching while testing breakpoints. The CLI explicitly warns that debug symbols may not work correctly with hotpatching enabled (source). Start with ordinary dx serve, not dx serve --hotpatch.

A quick diagnostic is: set a breakpoint at the first line of main, start ordinary dx serve from the editor's integrated terminal, wait for the build to finish, then press d. You should see an actual Debug session appear in the editor. If no session appears, inspect the dx log for the URL it tried to open and fix the editor CLI/extension association first. If the session appears but the breakpoint stays hollow, it is usually the wrong client/server target, hotpatching, or missing WASM DWARF support.

[jgardona]

Hello. Good morning. Thank you for your feedback. It is really helpfull. Im missing WASM DWARF and the "shift+d".

[jgardona]

@Junaid-PK did the pretty print doesnt works?