vscode-debug-runner

name

vscode-debug-runner

description

Use when debugging or testing the VS Code extension's type-inference/analysis code (inlay hints, hover, diagnostics) via the standalone debug runner (node run_debug.js), without launching VS Code itself. Also use after changing analysis.ts, type_infer.ts, or native_module.ts to know which npm script to recompile. For adding/modifying an extension feature itself or packaging the VSIX, use the vscode-extension-dev skill instead.

VS Code Extension — Standalone Debug Runner

A CLI tool that exercises the extension's analysis code against a .ar file without running VS Code. It outputs ANSI-coloured source with inlay hints inserted inline, hover balloon content for every symbol, and a diagnostics list.

Setup (one-time after changing analysis code):

cd vscode-extension
npm run compile:debug     # compiles to out_debug/ with ES2019 target

Run against any .ar file:

node run_debug.js <path/to/file.ar>
# example
node run_debug.js ../examples/importation.ar

Output sections:

Section	What it shows
SOURCE	Every source line with inlay hints inserted in cyan and semantic token colours (yellow = class/import, cyan = built-in type)
HOVER REFERENCE	Every symbol with its hover balloon content
DIAGNOSTICS	Errors / warnings with line:col

Colour legend (ANSI — requires a terminal that renders escape codes):

• Yellow ■ — class name or imported identifier
• Cyan ■ — built-in type (int, float, str, …)
• Bright-cyan ■ — inlay hint (type inserted by inference)
• Red ■ / Yellow ■ — diagnostic error / warning

Gotcha — HOVER REFERENCE hides symbols not declared on their own line. The runner only prints a symbol if its name appears textually on sym.line (the declaration line it recorded). A parameter of a multi-line fn( signature has sym.line = the fn line, where its name doesn't appear, so it is silently skipped in HOVER REFERENCE even though it exists in the symbol table and hovers correctly in the real editor. Don't conclude "the symbol is missing" from HOVER REFERENCE alone — write a tiny harness that calls provideHover(doc, {line, character}) at the real position instead. (If that harness loads out_debug/analysis.js directly, first install an Array.prototype.at polyfill like run_debug.js does — without it DocumentAnalysis throws, is caught, and returns an empty analysis, making every symbol look absent.)

How import[rs] types are resolved:

The extension reads ar_config.json (walked up from the document directory) to find rust.crates_path, then parses the crate's src/lib.rs directly. No .ars stub file is needed for Rust crates — the type information is read live from the Rust source.

Re-compile reminder: Run npm run compile:debug whenever analysis.ts, type_infer.ts, or native_module.ts change. The VSIX for the real extension uses npm run compile (separate out/ directory).