flutter / flutter/flutter-intellij

MacOS symbolic link directories break point not working

Open
#8,340 10 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
⌘‬ platform-mac P2 topic-debugging
Dominant language
Java
Stars
2k
Forks
356
Avg merge
1d 11h
Merged PRs (30d)
27

Description

### Steps to reproduce

If you have a folder that is a symbolic link you can not set a breakpoint that stops when you run debug mode the red break point turns to a delete symbol.

Ask Claude "android studio debugging dart files in linked symbolic directories not working" and you get about 10 suggestions and none of them work.

Dows any one have a work around for this issues to debug dart code in symbolically linked folders?

### Expected results

Debugging stops at break point

### Actual results

Ignores the break point

### Code sample

Screen shots of break point being set and then being turned off when debug session started for file in symbolic link folder apps

Image

Image

### Screenshots or Video

_No response_

### Logs

### Flutter Doctor output

```console
[✓] Flutter (Channel stable, 3.32.6, on macOS 15.6 24G5065c darwin-arm64, locale en-PH) [560ms]
• Flutter version 3.32.6 on channel stable at /Users/alanc/development/flutter
• Upstream repository https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git
• Framework revision 077b4a4ce1 (5 days ago), 2025-07-08 13:31:08 -0700
• Engine revision 72f2b18bb0
• Dart version 3.8.1
• DevTools version 2.45.1

[✓] Android toolchain - develop for Android devices (Android SDK version 35.0.0) [1,965ms]
• Android SDK at /Users/alanc/Library/Android/sdk
• Platform android-35, build-tools 35.0.0
• Java binary at: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/openjdk/23.0.2/libexec/openjdk.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java
This JDK is specified in your Flutter configuration.
To change the current JDK, run: `flutter config --jdk-dir="path/to/jdk"`.
• Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment Homebrew (build 23.0.2)
• All Android licenses accepted.

[✓] Xcode - develop for iOS and macOS (Xcode 16.2) [1,205ms]
• Xcode at /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
• Build 16C5032a
• CocoaPods version 1.16.2

[✓] Chrome - develop for the web [14ms]
• Chrome at /Applications/Google Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google Chrome

[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.3) [13ms]
• Android Studio at /Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
• Flutter plugin can be installed from:
🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
• Dart plugin can be installed from:
🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
• Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13368085-b895.109)

[✓] Android Studio (version 2024.3) [11ms]
• Android Studio at /Volumes/MacOS26/Applications/Android Studio.app/Contents
• Flutter plugin can be installed from:
🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/9212-flutter
• Dart plugin can be installed from:
🔨 https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6351-dart
• Java version OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 21.0.6+-13368085-b895.109)

[✓] VS Code (version 1.100.3) [11ms]
• VS Code at /Volumes/MacOS26/Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents
• Flutter extension version 3.112.0

[✓] Connected device (6 available) [10.1s]
• SM A146P (mobile) • R9WW40G79FH • android-arm64 • Android 14 (API 34)
• sdk gphone64 arm64 (mobile) • emulator-5554 • android-arm64 • Android 14 (API 34) (emulator)
• CodeFab HDC iPad (wireless) (mobile) • 00008103-000A09A826BB001E • ios • iOS 26.0 23A5287g
• CodeFab HDC (wireless) (mobile) • 00008101-000649820199001E • ios • iOS 18.5 22F76
• CodeFab AJC (wireless) (mobile) • 00008120-000805860A50C01E • ios • iOS 26.0 23A5287g
• Chrome (web) • chrome • web-javascript • Google Chrome 138.0.7204.101
! Error: Browsing on the local area network for Alan’s Apple Watch. Ensure the device is unlocked and discoverable via Bluetooth. (code -27)

[✓] Network resources [374ms]
• All expected network resources are available.

• No issues found!
```

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

No source file or test is named in the issue. Start by reproducing the breakpoint failure in Android Studio on macOS with Dart files inside a symbolic-link directory, then compare it with the same files at a direct path. Done means a breakpoint remains enabled and stops execution during a debug session.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
dart, java, macos
Domain
developer-experience, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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