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MCU-Debug Extension Family

Welcome to the MCU-Debug documentation. MCU-Debug is a modern, high-performance, and modular debugging ecosystem for microcontrollers and embedded targets in Visual Studio Code.

Instead of a single monolithic extension, the MCU-Debug ecosystem is built as a cooperative family of extensions powered by the standard Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP). This modular design allows visualizers (like SVD or RTOS monitors) to work with any DAP-compatible debugger (e.g. cppdbg, cspy, or mcu-debug).

1. MCU-Debug (The Core Debugger)​

The main driver of the ecosystem. It is a modern successor and drop-in replacement for the classic cortex-debug extension.

  • Zero-Friction Remote Debugging: Develop inside WSL2, Dev Containers, or remote SSH servers while your debug probe remains connected locally.
  • Dual-Mode RTT: Reads RTT blocks directly from target memory at up to 40 Hz, bypassing slow TCP servers.
  • Workspace-Scoped UARTs: Keep serial ports open during target resets and IDE restarts, capturing early boot logs in a local ring buffer.
  • Standalone CLI & TUI: Run debug sessions entirely outside of VS Code using a terminal-based dashboard (mcu-debug) for headless CI/CD or AI agent workflows.

👉 Get Started with MCU-Debug

2. Companion Extensions (DAP-Compatible)​

These visualization tools are fully decoupled. They connect to the active debug session using standard DAP APIs, allowing them to work with MCU-Debug or any other debugger:

🧩 Peripheral Viewer​

  • Extension ID: mcu-debug.peripheral-viewer
  • GitHub: https://github.com/mcu-debug/peripheral-viewer
  • Description: Inspect microcontroller peripheral registers using standard SVD (System View Description) files. Check register fields, monitor changes, and modify values directly during a debug session.

📊 RTOS Views​

  • Extension ID: mcu-debug.rtos-views
  • GitHub: https://github.com/mcu-debug/rtos-views
  • Description: A popular, community-supported monitor for tracking RTOS tasks, queues, semaphores, mutexes, and kernel states. Backed by a healthy set of contributors (including ARM).

💾 MemoryView​

  • Extension ID: mcu-debug.memory-view
  • GitHub: https://github.com/mcu-debug/memview
  • Description: A high-performance memory inspector displaying target memory in interactive hex/ASCII formats with raw read/write capabilities.

If you are having issues with any of these extensions, please submit an issue with the appropriate GitHub repository