How can I configure debug or "run without debugging" in CMake Tools (VS Code)

Question

Is there a way to configure what happens when I press "Launch selected target without debugging" command in CMakeTools in VSCode?

My problem is that the target is launched but it doesn't pick up the config file I specified in my launch.json for the Debug configuration:

launch.json:

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Debug",
            "type": "lldb",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${command:cmake.launchTargetPath}",
            "args": [
                "/home/<myuser>/dev/my_api_conf.ini"
            ],
            "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
            "preLaunchTask": "${defaultBuildTask}",
            "initCommands": [   "command source ${workspaceRoot}/.lldbinit"]
        }
    ]
}

starball · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-29 04:09:44Z

3

Use the cmake.debugConfig setting (docs). I think it uses the same schema as the cppdbg launch configuration type. You can use it in your workspace .vscode/settings.json file, or your user settings.json file. I noticed this setting thanks to this comment in a historically related issue ticket. For some reason, at the time of this writing, this setting is not mentioned in https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools/blob/main/docs/debug-launch.md. I'm not sure if anything from this applies to running without debugging, but it's definitely used with the CMake: Debug command / action.

If you want to use your launch config, then you will have to use the keyboard shortcut / command / button for running with that launch config- not the button provided by CMake Tools. Ex. the button in the Run and Debug View, or the Debug: Start Without Debugging command in the command palette (instead of the CMake: Run Without Debugging command).

If you want different targets to have different launch configurations, see In CMake Tools, how to have different args for launching different targets?.

edited Jul 29 at 4:09

answered Sep 29, 2023 at 19:16

starball♦

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4 Comments

glades Over a year ago

Good to know thank you. Is there by any chance an opportunity to link cmake.debugConfig to launch json via this settings entry?

starball Over a year ago

@glades not sure. docs on the subject seem to be quite out of date right now and I'm not in the mood for digging into the source code right now. What exactly do you mean by "link cmake.debugConfig to launch json"?

glades Over a year ago

Well just having cmake.debugConfig invoke the configuration present in launch.json so I don't have to repeat it all the time.

starball Over a year ago

@glades, if avoiding repetition is your goal, why not just put the cmake.debugConfig in your user settings instead of workspace settings?

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