The popular Zed code editor has received the highly anticipated built-in debugger functionality. Developers announced Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) support for multiple programming languages, bringing Zed closer to version 1.0.
G. Ostrov
The development team behind the high-performance code editor Zed has announced the addition of a built-in debugger — one of the most requested features. Over 2,000 developers asked for this capability, and now their requests have been heard.
Key Features of Zed Debugger
The new debugger was built with three core principles:
- Speed — spend less time context switching and more time debugging
- Familiar interface — aligns with Zed's design language and supports all expected debugging workflows
- Configurable — ability to customize UI, keybindings, and debug configurations
Supported Programming Languages
Out of the box, Zed supports debugging for popular languages:
- Rust
- C/C++
- JavaScript
- Go
- Python
Through the extension system, Zed can support any debug adapter that implements the Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP).
Locators System for Simplified Setup
To simplify the setup process, developers introduced a locators system that translates build configurations into debug configurations. This means you can write a build task once in tasks.json and reference it from debug.json, or rely on Zed's automatic configuration.
Debug Session Capabilities
During debugging, Zed provides convenient access to:
- Execution threads
- Variables
- Breakpoints
- Call stack
- Inline variable values
The debugger panel is fully customizable — you can drag and rearrange tabs in any order, and move the debug panel to fit your workflow.
Architecture and Technical Implementation
Zed's debugger is built on a two-layer architecture: a data layer that communicates directly with debug adapters, and a UI layer that fetches data from the data layer to render the interface. This architecture will make implementing collaborative debugging easier in the future.
Development Plans
Developers plan to add advanced features:
- New views: watch list, memory view, disassembly view
- Automatic configuration for more languages and build systems
- Additional interface improvements
Official Zed website: https://zed.dev/
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