Is there a way to run debugpy from the terminal without manually launching the client?

[Keto D. Zhang (ketozhang)]

To use debugpy in the terminal, you have to do three steps:

1. Prerequisite

   • install debugpy
   • configure launch config for debugpy

   {
       "version": "0.2.0",
       "configurations": [
   
           {
               "name": "Python Debugger: Remote Attach",
               "type": "debugpy",
               "request": "attach",
               "connect": {
                   "host": "localhost",
                   "port": 5678
               },
               "pathMappings": [
                   {
                       "localRoot": "${workspaceFolder}",
                       "remoteRoot": "."
                   }
               ]
           }
       ]
   }

2. Launch your job with debugpy server in the terminal.

   debugpy --listen 5678 --wait-for-client -m pytest
   

3. Launch the debugger from 'Run and Debug' menu for the debugpy client

Is there a way to skip step 3? This is a much more streamlined approach when wanting to run pytest in the terminal (I don't like using the Testing UI)

[Mustafo Anvarjonov (uzbcoding-Backend)]

You can avoid manually using the Run and Debug UI, but you still need a debugger client to connect to the debugpy server.

One practical approach is to start the debugpy server from the terminal and then trigger the VS Code debug configuration with a keyboard shortcut or a task/command.

For example, keep your attach configuration in launch.json, then run:

python -m debugpy --listen 5678 --wait-for-client -m pytest

After that, start the existing “Python Debugger: Remote Attach” configuration in VS Code.

If you want this to feel like one action, you can combine the terminal command and the attach configuration with a VS Code task or compound workflow. The important part is that --wait-for-client intentionally pauses until a debugger client attaches, so some client-side attach step is still required.

[Mustafo Anvarjonov (uzbcoding-Backend)]

You can avoid manually using the Run and Debug UI, but you still need a debugger client to connect to the debugpy server.

One practical approach is to start the debugpy server from the terminal and then trigger the VS Code debug configuration with a keyboard shortcut or a task/command.

For example, keep your attach configuration in launch.json, then run:

python -m debugpy --listen 5678 --wait-for-client -m pytest

After that, start the existing “Python Debugger: Remote Attach” configuration in VS Code.

If you want this to feel like one action, you can combine the terminal command and the attach configuration with a VS Code task or compound workflow. The important part is that --wait-for-client intentionally pauses until a debugger client attaches, so some client-side attach step is still required.

[Mustafo Anvarjonov (uzbcoding-Backend)]

You can avoid manually using the Run and Debug UI, but you still need a debugger client to connect to the debugpy server.

A practical workflow is:

1. Start debugpy from the terminal:

python -m debugpy --listen 5678 --wait-for-client -m pytest

2. Keep an attach configuration in launch.json using Python Debugger: Remote Attach.

3. Start that attach configuration from VS Code.

If you want this to feel like one action, you can combine the terminal command and the attach step using a VS Code task or compound configuration.

The important part is that --wait-for-client intentionally pauses until a debugger client connects, so an attach step is still required.

[Mustafo Anvarjonov (uzbcoding-Backend)]

You can avoid manually using the Run and Debug UI, but you still need a debugger client to connect to the debugpy server.

A practical workflow is:

1. Start debugpy from the terminal:

python -m debugpy --listen 5678 --wait-for-client -m pytest

2. Keep an attach configuration in launch.json using Python Debugger: Remote Attach.

3. Start that attach configuration from VS Code.

If you want this to feel like one action, you can combine the terminal command and the attach step using a VS Code task or compound configuration.

The important part is that --wait-for-client intentionally pauses until a debugger client connects, so an attach step is still required.