Microsoft DebugMCP VS Code Extension Gives AI Agents Debugging Capabilities

What DebugMCP Does

DebugMCP is a VS Code extension that bridges a critical gap for AI coding agents. While these agents are proficient at writing code, they traditionally lack access to debugging tools when something breaks, often resorting to reading code or adding numerous print statements to diagnose issues.

Key Features and Capabilities

The extension exposes the full VS Code debugger to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). This enables AI assistants to perform systematic debugging operations that mirror developer workflows:

• Set breakpoints in code
• Step through code execution
• Inspect variable values during runtime
• Evaluate expressions in the debugging context

Compatibility and Deployment

DebugMCP works with several popular AI coding assistants including GitHub Copilot, Cline, Cursor, and Roo. The extension runs entirely locally on your machine, requiring no external API calls or credentials.