Debugging in Visual Studio Code

There is also a possibility to debug with graphical output directly in Visual Studio Code.

ESP32

Hardware Setup

ESP32 doesn't have a built-in JTAG interface so you have to connect an external JTAG adapter to the ESP32 board, for example, ESP-Prog can be used.

Note: On Windows USB Serial Converter A 0403 6010 00 driver should be WinUSB.

Set up VSCode

1. Install Cortex-Debug extension for VScode.
2. Create the .vscode/launch.json file in the project tree you want to debug. This can be used as a template file.
3. Update executable, svdFile, serverpath paths, and toolchainPrefix field.

{
  // 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": [
    {
      // more info at: https://github.com/Marus/cortex-debug/blob/master/package.json
      "name": "Attach",
      "type": "cortex-debug",
      "request": "attach", // attach instead of launch, because otherwise flash write is attempted, but fails
      "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
      "executable": "target/xtensa-esp32-none-elf/debug/.....",
      "servertype": "openocd",
      "interface": "jtag",
      "svdFile": "../../esp-pacs/esp32/svd/esp32.svd",
      "toolchainPrefix": "xtensa-esp32-elf",
      "openOCDPreConfigLaunchCommands": ["set ESP_RTOS none"],
      "serverpath": "C:/Espressif/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.11.0-esp32-20220411/openocd-esp32/bin/openocd.exe",
      "configFiles": ["board/esp32-wrover-kit-3.3v.cfg"],
      "overrideAttachCommands": [
        "set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit 2",
        "mon halt",
        "flushregs"
      ],
      "overrideRestartCommands": ["mon reset halt", "flushregs", "c"]
    }
  ]
}

ESP32-C3

Older versions with revision < 3 don't have built-in JTAG interface.

ESP32-C3 with revision 3 does have a built-in JTAG interface and you don't have to connect an external device to be able to debug. To get the chip revision, run the cargo espflash board-info command.

Hardware Setup

If your ESP32-C3's revision is lesser than 3, follow these instructions, if you have revision 3 you can jump to the Set up VSCode step.

ESP32-C3 revision 1 and revision 2 don't have a built-in JTAG interface so you have to connect an external JTAG adapter to the ESP32-C3 board, for example, ESP-Prog can be used.

Note: On Windows USB Serial Converter A 0403 6010 00 driver should be WinUSB.

Set up VSCode

1. Install Cortex-Debug extension for VScode.
2. Create the .vscode/launch.json file in the project tree you want to debug. This can be used as a template file.
3. Update executable, svdFile, serverpath paths, and toolchainPrefix field.

{
  // 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": [
    {
      // more info at: https://github.com/Marus/cortex-debug/blob/master/package.json
      "name": "Attach",
      "type": "cortex-debug",
      "request": "attach", // attach instead of launch, because otherwise flash write is attempted, but fails
      "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
      "executable": "target/riscv32imc-unknown-none-elf/debug/examples/usb_serial_jtag", //
      "servertype": "openocd",
      "interface": "jtag",
      "svdFile": "../../esp-pacs/esp32c3/svd/esp32c3.svd",
      "toolchainPrefix": "riscv32-esp-elf",
      "openOCDPreConfigLaunchCommands": ["set ESP_RTOS none"],
      "serverpath": "C:/Espressif/tools/openocd-esp32/v0.11.0-esp32-20220411/openocd-esp32/bin/openocd.exe",
      "configFiles": ["board/esp32c3-builtin.cfg"],
      "overrideAttachCommands": [
        "set remote hardware-watchpoint-limit 2",
        "mon halt",
        "flushregs"
      ],
      "overrideRestartCommands": ["mon reset halt", "flushregs", "c"]
    }
  ]
}