microsoft / microsoft/vscode-cpptools

[MacOS] Debug program as root user

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debugger Feature Request
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Type: Debugger

I have recently been using VSCode to debug a root daemon on macOS. This is due to a current bug in XCode that means I cannot use it. I am starting VSCode with sudo and everything works fine. However I think it would be useful if there was a switch to enable an OS password prompt on debug start to run a program as root (something like gksu on Linux and UAC on Windows as well as macOS?) without running the rest of VSCode as root.

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

The request concerns VSCode's debug start flow for a root daemon on macOS; begin by reviewing the debugger launch behavior and how macOS password prompts are handled. Done means a debug-start option prompts for elevation and runs only the target program as root, without running the rest of VSCode as root.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos, vscode
Domain
devtools, operating-systems
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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