Documentation / Desktop Ide

Run and Debug

v1.0 Beta

Run and Debug

ACE IDE Phase 3 provides a Run panel (execute files) and a Debug panel (breakpoints + step). This is similar in spirit to Cursor’s F5 / terminal loop, with ACE-specific panels.

Quick start (like Cursor F5)

  1. Open a workspace folder.
  2. Open a script (.js, .py, .php, .go, etc.).
  3. Press F5 or click Run Current File in the editor header.
  4. ACE detects the runtime from the file extension, opens the Run sidebar, validates the tool is on PATH, and streams output.
  5. If the process exits with a non-zero code, click Ask ACE to send the output to ACE Agent for a fix.

Run panel

Use Run Configurations when you need saved setups:

Control Purpose
New / Save / Delete Manage named configs (stored per workspace)
Browse / Current Pick a target file or use the open editor file
Runtime Node, TypeScript (tsx), Python, PHP, Go, Rust, C/C++, and more
Arguments Optional CLI args
Run / Stop Start or kill the process
Status badge Idle / Running / Exited 0 / Exited N / Failed
Ask ACE Send run output to the AI agent

Runtime detection (F5)

Extension Runtime
.js .jsx .mjs .cjs Node.js
.ts .tsx TypeScript (npx tsx)
.py Python
.php PHP
.go Go
.rs Rust (rustc then run)
.c / .cpp gcc / g++ then run
.sh .bash Bash

If validation fails (missing node, python3, etc.), the status badge shows Not ready with a clear PATH/install hint.

Debug panel

Debug wraps CLI debuggers (not full VS Code DAP yet):

Runtime Debugger
Node.js node inspect
Python python -m pdb
PHP phpdbg
Go Delve (dlv)
Ruby rdbg

Workflow

  1. Click the editor gutter to set breakpoints (red dots).
  2. Open Debug, set profile / target (or Current file).
  3. Click Start. Breakpoints are applied when the debugger is ready.
  4. When paused:
    • Status badge shows Paused
    • Current line is highlighted in the editor (yellow)
    • Use Cont, Over, Into, Out
  5. Use Watch / Eval for expressions.
  6. Ask ACE sends the debug console to the agent.
    • On failure, composer switches to Debug (Cursor-style) with live session context.
    • ACE proposes a targeted fix → use Review & Apply.
    • On clean exit, Ask ACE stays read-only summary.

Composer Debug mode (Cursor-style)

Select Debug in the AI composer picker:

  1. Debug sidebar focuses (set breakpoints, Start session).
  2. Ask about the bug, or use Ask ACE after a failed debug/run.
  3. ACE receives debug_session (console, stack, paused line, watches).
  4. Targeted edits appear as Review & Apply (not auto-applied).
  5. Use Agent for full project scaffolds.

See also: ask-vs-agent.md.

Run vs Debug vs Terminal vs Tasks

Tool Use when
Run Execute one file with a known runtime (F5)
Debug Step through code with breakpoints
Terminal Free-form shell commands
Tasks Saved project commands (npm run dev, Vite, etc.) + Live Preview

Output checks

After runs, confirm:

  • Status badge (Running → Exited 0 / Exited N)
  • Process exit code in the output log
  • Warnings/errors in stdout/stderr
  • Expected app output

If something fails, use Ask ACE instead of copying logs manually.

Tips

  • Only one Run process at a time — Stop before starting another.
  • Frontend apps: use Tasks (npx vite --open) and Live Preview; use browser DevTools for in-browser breakpoints.
  • Debug is best for Node/Python scripts; for other languages prefer Run + Terminal.
Was this helpful?