Debugging your code

You can debug your code while it is running in the simulation using the VS Code debugger. To set up the debugger, follow these steps:

Configure Wokwi

Add the following line to the [wokwi] section of your wokwi.toml configuration file:

gdbServerPort=3333

Configure VS Code

Create a launch configuration file for VS Code at .vscode/launch.json. Here's a template you can use:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Wokwi GDB",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/your-firmware.elf",
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "MIMode": "gdb",
      "miDebuggerPath": "/usr/local/bin/xtensa-esp32-elf-gdb",
      "miDebuggerServerAddress": "localhost:3333"
    }
  ]
}

The type describes the VS Code extension used here. In this case cppdbg. Therefore the following extension must be installed: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools

Replace the program path with the path to your firmware's ELF file, and the miDebuggerPath with the path to a GDB executable that supports your project's architecture (e.g. for AVR projects, use avr-gdb).

For ESP-IDF projects, you can set the miDebuggerPath to "${command:espIdf.getXtensaGdb}", and the debugger will automatically use the correct GDB executable (this requires the ESP-IDF extension to be installed). For a complete example, check out the ESP32 Hello WiFi debug configuration.

Start the debugger

Start the Wokwi simulator by pressing F1 and then selecting "Wokwi: Start Simulator and Wait for Debugger". The simulator will load, but the program will be paused, waiting for the debugger to connect. Then press F5 to start the debugger.

caution

You need to start Wokwi before starting the debugger. If you start the debugger first, it will fail to connect to the simulator.