Visual Studio Code is now my favorite development tool and I've migrated all my .NET projects to Code. This article documents the steps to configure a Code launch profile for an ASP.NET Core web application.
Create project
Create a folder named dotnetcore6-web. Open it in Visual Studio Code.
Open a terminal in the tool and initialize the project using the following command:
dotnet new web
Create a launch.json file
Navigate to Run and Debug tab:
Click link create a launch.json file.
Select .NET 5+ and .NET Core.
A file named launch.json is created as the following screenshot shows:
Another file named tasks.json is also created:
{"version": "2.0.0","tasks": [{"label": "build","command": "dotnet","type": "process","args": ["build","${workspaceFolder}/dotnetcore6-web.csproj","/property:GenerateFullPaths=true","/consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary"],"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"},{"label": "publish","command": "dotnet","type": "process","args": ["publish","${workspaceFolder}/dotnetcore6-web.csproj","/property:GenerateFullPaths=true","/consoleloggerparameters:NoSummary"],"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"},{"label": "watch","command": "dotnet","type": "process","args": ["watch","run","--project","${workspaceFolder}/dotnetcore6-web.csproj"],"problemMatcher": "$msCompile"}]}
Some of the tasks will be used later.
Add hot reload launch profile
Update launch.json with the following content:
{
// Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
// Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
// For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "debug-hot-reload",
"type": "coreclr",
"request": "launch",
"preLaunchTask": "build",
"program": "dotnet",
"args": [
"watch",
"--project",
".",
"--verbose"
],
"cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
"stopAtEntry": false,
"serverReadyAction": {
"action": "openExternally",
"pattern": "\\bNow listening on:\\s+(https?://\\S+)"
},
"env": {
"ASPNETCORE_ENVIRONMENT": "Development",
"Key": "Value"
},
"sourceFileMap": {
"/Views": "${workspaceFolder}/Views"
}
},
{
"name": ".NET Core Attach",
"type": "coreclr",
"request": "attach"
}
]
}Task build is executed before debugging.
Run and Debug
Now you can click debug-hot-reload to launch the debug in Run and Debug tab.
The debug window looks like the following screenshot:
If you change any code in your project, for example, adding a new view model, the debug window will reload automatically.
Happy debugging!
