Your first commit: Debugging the CLI

July 2, 2026 · View on GitHub

This step shows you how to debug the rad CLI in VS Code using the change you made in the previous step. For the full debugging reference, see the Debug rad in VS Code section of the authoritative Develop the Radius CLI guide. If you use another editor, you can skip this step.

📝 Tip: The first time you debug on macOS with a given version of Go, you'll be prompted for your password, and the prompt can take 1–2 minutes to appear. This is expected.

Debug rad with the predefined configuration

The repository's .vscode/launch.json provides the "Debug rad CLI (prompt for args)" configuration, which launches cmd/rad/main.go and asks you which command-line arguments to run.

  1. Set a breakpoint on the line you added in main.go — click in the gutter to the left of the line numbers.

    Placing a breakpoint in main.go

  2. Open the debug pane and select "Debug rad CLI (prompt for args)" from the drop-down.

    Selecting the debug configuration

  3. Click the green triangle to start. The project builds first, which may take a moment.

    Starting the debug configuration

  4. When prompted, enter the arguments to run (for example version) and confirm.

    Entering the rad command to debug

Execution stops at your breakpoint, where you can step through the code:

Hitting a breakpoint in main.go

When you're done, hit the red square stop icon to end the session.

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