Debugging on macOS

    • Xcode: In addition to Xcode, you should also install the Xcode command line tools. They include LLDB, the default debugger in Xcode on macOS. It supports debugging C, Objective-C and C++ on the desktop and iOS devices and simulator.

    • .lldbinit: Create or edit ~/.lldbinit to allow Chromium code to be properly source-mapped.

    Attaching to and Debugging Electron

    To start a debugging session, open up Terminal and start lldb, passing a non-release build of Electron as a parameter.

    1. $ lldb ./out/Testing/Electron.app
    2. (lldb) target create "./out/Testing/Electron.app"

    Relevant code files can be found in ./shell/.

    Let’s assume that you want to debug app.setName(), which is defined in browser.cc as . Set the breakpoint using the breakpoint command, specifying file and line to break on:

    Then, start Electron:

    1. (lldb) run

    The app will immediately be paused, since Electron sets the app’s name on launch:

    1. (lldb) frame variable
    2. (atom::Browser *) this = 0x0000000108b14f20
    3. (const string &) name = "Electron": {

    To do a source level single step in the currently selected thread, execute step (or s). This would take you into name_override_.empty(). To proceed and do a step over, run next (or n).

    NOTE: If you don’t see source code when you think you should, you may not have added the ~/.lldbinit file above.

    To finish debugging at this point, run process continue. You can also continue until a certain line is hit in this thread (thread until 100). This command will run the thread in the current frame till it reaches line 100 in this frame or stops if it leaves the current frame.

    Now, if you open up Electron’s developer tools and call , you will once again hit the breakpoint.

    Further Reading

    You can also check out LLDB’s fantastic , which will explain more complex debugging scenarios.