JetBrains Rider 2021.1 Help

Run/debug configurations

JetBrains Rider uses run/debug configurations to run, debug, deploy, and test your code. Each configuration is a named set of run/debug startup properties.

If the Navigation bar is visible (View | Appearance | Navigation Bar), you can access all available run/debug configurations from the selector on the toolbar.

Choosing JetBrains Rider run/debug configurations

Run/debug configurations can be created as:

  • Temporary– created every time you run/debug a .NET static method from the editor:

    JetBrains Rider: Running a static method from the editor

    The maximum number of temporary configurations is 5. The older ones are automatically deleted when new ones are added.

  • Permanent– created explicitly from a template or by saving a temporary configuration. Permanent configurations remain as part of your project until you remove them.

So whenever you run/debug or test your code, JetBrains Rider either uses an existing permanent run/debug configuration or creates a new temporary one.

Permanent configurations have opaque icons while the icons of temporary configurations are semi-transparent.

Create permanent run/debug configurations

JetBrains Rider provides the following ways to create a permanent run/debug configuration:

Save a temporary configuration as permanent

  • Select a temporary configuration in the run/debug configuration switcher and then click Save Configuration.

    JetBrains Rider: Saving temporary run/debug configuration
  • Alternatively, select a temporary configuration in the Run/debug configurations dialog and click Save on the toolbar.

JetBrains Rider provides run/debug configuration templates for different languages, tools, and frameworks. The list of available templates varies depending on the installed/bundled plugins.

Create a run/debug configuration from a template

  1. Open the Run/Debug Configuration dialog in one of the following ways:

    • Select Run | Edit Configurations from the main menu.

    • With the Navigation bar visible (View | Appearance | Navigation Bar), choose Edit Configurations from the run/debug configuration selector.

    • Press Alt+Shift+F10, then press 0 or select the configuration from the popup and press F4.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configuration dialog, click Icons general add on the toolbar or press Alt+Insert. The list shows the run/debug configuration templates.

    Select the desired template. If you are not sure which template to choose, refer to Run/debug configurations dialog for more information on particular templates.

  3. Specify the run/debug configuration name in the Name field. This name will be shown in the list of the available run/debug configurations.

  4. Select Allow parallel run if you want to allow multiple instances of the configuration to run at the same time. If this option is disabled, attempting to re-run the configuration will terminate the active session.

  5. Set the run/debug configuration parameters. The list of mandatory and optional parameters may vary depending on the selected run/debug configuration type.

    For the detailed description of the selected template, see the respective section of run/debug configurations reference.

  6. In the Before launch section, define whether you want to perform any specific actions before launching the application, for example, launch an external tool or another build configuration before run. To skip the build stage, remove Build from the Before launch list.

    For information on particular Before launch activities, refer to Before Launch

  7. Apply the changes and close the dialog.

Share run/debug configurations

If you are working in a team, you might want to share your run/debug configurations so that your teammates could run the application using the same configuration or enable them to remotely attach to the process you are running.

For these purposes, JetBrains Rider provides a mechanism to store your run/debug configurations as project files and share them through VCS. The same mechanism can also be used when you want to send your configuration as a file to someone else. This saves a lot of time as run/debug configurations sometimes get sophisticated, and keeping them in sync manually would be tedious and error-prone.

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. Select the run/debug configuration you want to share, enable the Store as project file option, and specify the location where the configuration file will be stored.

    By default, shared configurations are saved in the .run folder in the solution directory.

Run/debug configuration templates

Each type of run/debug configuration is a template that you can edit, so the next time you create a new configuration of that type, its parameters already have the desired values.

Configure the default values for a template

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the left-hand pane of the run/debug configuration dialog, click Edit configuration templates.

  3. In the Run/Debug Configuration Templates dialog that opens, select a configuration type.

  4. Specify the desired default parameters and click OK to save the template.

Compound run/debug configurations

Suppose you would like to launch multiple run/debug configurations simultaneously. For example, you may want to run several configurations of different types or a sequence of several test configurations. You can configure this behavior with a compound run/debug configuration.

When you run or debug your code using a compound configuration, you actually launch a sequence of configurations in the order they are listed.

Create a compound run/debug configuration

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, click the Add button or press Alt+Insert, then select Compound.

  3. Specify the run/debug configuration name in the Name field. This name will be shown in the list of the available run/debug configurations.

  4. Select Store as project file to make this run/debug configuration available to other team members.

  5. To include a new run/debug configuration into the compound configuration, click Add the Add button and select the desired one from the list.

  6. Apply the changes.

Another case where the Compound run configuration could be very useful is running/debugging a front end web application and a backend REST service at the same time. With the debugger attached, this will let you set a breakpoint in any of the projects and debug the entire flow of the application:

JetBrains Rider: Compound run configuration

Run/debug configuration folders

When there are many run/debug configurations of the same type, you can group them in folders so they become easier to distinguish visually.

Once grouped, the run/debug configurations appear in the list under the corresponding folders.

Create a folder for run/debug configurations

  1. From the main menu, select Run | Edit Configurations. Alternatively, press Alt+Shift+F10, then 0.

  2. In the Run/Debug Configurations dialog, select a configuration type and click the New Folder icon on the toolbar. A new empty folder for the selected type is created.

  3. Specify the folder name in the text field to the right or accept the default name.

  4. Select the desired run/debug configurations and move them under the target folder.

  5. Apply the changes. If a folder is empty, it will not be saved.

When you no longer need a folder, you can delete it Delete. The run/debug configurations grouped under this folder will be moved under the root of the corresponding run/debug configuration type.

Run/Debug configurations in the Services tool window

You can manage multiple run/debug configurations in the Services tool window. For example, you can start, pause, and stop several applications, track their status, and examine application-specific details.

Add Run/Debug configurations to the Services window

  1. Select View | Tool Windows | Services from the main menu or press Alt+8.

  2. In the Services tool window, click Add service, then select Run Configuration Type.

    Services tool window: Add run configuration
  3. Select a run/debug configuration type from the list to add all configurations of this type to the window.

    Note that the tool window will only display the configuration types for which you have created one or more configurations.

Last modified: 27 July 2021