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Debugging Panzerfaust with VS Code

Prerequisites

  • .NET SDK 10 installed and on your PATH
  • VS Code with the following extensions (the workspace will prompt you to install them):
    • C# Dev Kit (ms-dotnettools.csdevkit)
    • C# (ms-dotnettools.csharp)
    • Avalonia for VS Code (AvaloniaTeam.vscode-avalonia)

Starting a debug session

  1. Open the repository root in VS Code.
  2. Press F5 (or go to Run → Start Debugging).

VS Code will build the project in Debug configuration, launch Panzerfaust, and stop at any breakpoint you have set. The first build takes a few seconds; subsequent launches reuse the incremental build.

Setting breakpoints

Click the gutter to the left of any line number in a .cs file. A red dot confirms the breakpoint is active.

Useful places to start:

What you want to inspect Where to break
App startup / DI wiring App.axaml.cs — OnFrameworkInitializationCompleted
Page navigation MainWindowViewModel.cs — NavigateCommand handler
Project load MainWindowViewModel.cs — LoadProjects
Engine release fetch MainWindowViewModel.cs — FetchReleasesAsync
Download progress MainWindowViewModel.cs — TrackDownload
Asset detail open MainWindowViewModel.cs — OnShowAssetDetail

Inspecting values at a breakpoint

When execution pauses:

  • Variables panel (left sidebar) — locals, parameters, and this
  • Watch panel — any C# expression, e.g. _projects.Count, SelectedRelease?.DisplayName
  • Debug Console (Ctrl+Shift+Y / ⇧⌘Y on macOS) — evaluate expressions interactively
  • Call Stack panel — click any frame to jump to that call site

Hover over a variable in the editor to see its current value inline.

Conditional and logpoint breakpoints

Right-click a breakpoint dot to edit it:

  • Condition — only pause when an expression is true, e.g. ProjectCount > 0
  • Hit Count — pause after the line has been hit N times
  • Log Message — print to the Debug Console without stopping; use {expression} to embed values, e.g. Download progress: {op.Progress}%

Available tasks

Open the task runner with Ctrl+Shift+B (Windows / Linux) or ⇧⌘B (macOS), or via Ctrl+Shift+P / ⇧⌘P → Tasks: Run Task.

Task What it does
build-debug (default) Debug build for the host platform
publish-release Self-contained Release publish — picks the correct RID per OS automatically
clean Delete bin/ and obj/
watch dotnet watch run — rebuilds and relaunches on file save

Attaching to a running instance

If the app is already running (e.g. launched from a terminal):

  1. Select the Attach to process configuration from the debug dropdown.
  2. Press F5 — a process picker appears.
  3. Search for Panzerfaust and select it.

Avalonia previewer

Open any .axaml file and click Preview in the editor title bar (or Ctrl+Shift+P / ⇧⌘P → Avalonia: Show Preview).

If the previewer fails to start with a "missing framework" error, the Avalonia extension cannot locate your .NET 10 installation. Add the following to your personal VS Code user settings (Ctrl+Shift+P → Open User Settings (JSON)) — do not add it to the workspace settings.json, as the path differs per machine:

Platform Setting
Windows "avalonia.dotnetPath": "C:\\Program Files\\dotnet\\dotnet.exe"
macOS (Homebrew) "avalonia.dotnetPath": "/opt/homebrew/bin/dotnet"
Linux "avalonia.dotnetPath": "/usr/bin/dotnet"

Adjust the path to match where your SDK is actually installed (where dotnet on Windows, which dotnet on macOS/Linux).

Troubleshooting

Breakpoints show as hollow circles ("unverified") Symbols load after the runtime initialises — wait until the app window appears. If they stay unverified, run clean then rebuild.

dotnet not found Run dotnet --version in a terminal. It should print 10.x.x. If not, follow the .NET 10 install guide for your platform.

Build fails on first launch Run the hook installer once after cloning (see Contributing.md), then try again.