turbo-debug.nvim

A zero-config debugging experience for Neovim 0.12+. One plugin install, full IDE-class debugging: inline variable values, hover inspection, persistent breakpoints, watch expressions, and modal keybindings that just work.

Inspired by Turbo Pascal — the first IDE where you could just hit a key and start debugging.

Install

vim.pack.add("swaits/turbo-debug")

That's it. No other config needed. See :help turbo-debug for customization.

How It Works

turbo-debug is modal. Press <leader>dd and you enter debug mode — the UI opens, keybindings activate, and you're debugging. Press q or <leader>dd again and everything disappears. Your editor is exactly as it was before.

This modal approach is inspired by debugmaster.nvim. During a debug session you need to navigate code and inspect state. You do not need to edit. So debug mode shadows editing keys (c, d, s, r, x) with debug actions and leaves all navigation keys untouched (h, j, k, l, w, b, e, f, /, n, etc.).

When debug mode ends, every keybinding is restored to exactly what it was.

Keybindings

Everything lives under <leader>d (with which-key support if installed):

Key	Action
`<leader>dd`	Toggle debug mode
`<leader>dx`	Toggle breakpoint
`<leader>dX`	Conditional breakpoint
`<leader>dD`	Clear all breakpoints

During debug mode, single-key controls:

Key	Action	Key	Action
`c`	Continue	`x`	Toggle breakpoint
`s`	Step over	`X`	Conditional breakpoint
`d`	Step into	`D`	Clear all breakpoints
`r`	Step out	`W`	Watch expression
`C`	Run to cursor	`K`	Hover / inspect
`q`	Terminate session	`E`	Eval in REPL
`R`	Restart session	`?`	Help popup

Press ? during debug mode for a quick reference.

Supported Languages

turbo-debug ships adapter configs for 12 languages. You install the adapter binary (via mason.nvim, your package manager, or manually) — turbo-debug handles all the configuration.

Language	Adapter	Language	Adapter
Python	debugpy	C#	netcoredbg
JavaScript / TS	js-debug	Java	java-debug-adapter
Go	delve	Kotlin	kotlin-debug
C / C++	codelldb	PHP	php-debug
Rust	codelldb	Ruby	rdbg
Swift	codelldb	Lua (Neovim)	osv

Rust gets special treatment: pressing c runs cargo build automatically and picks the binary via vim.ui.select.

What This Plugin Actually Does

turbo-debug is glue. It does not implement a debugger, a UI framework, virtual text rendering, or breakpoint persistence. It configures and wires together these excellent plugins into a single cohesive experience:

Plugin	What it provides
nvim-dap	DAP client — the core debug engine
nvim-dap-ui	Scopes, stacks, watches, REPL, console UI
nvim-nio	Async IO (required by nvim-dap-ui)
nvim-dap-virtual-text	Inline variable values in source code
persistent-breakpoints.nvim	Breakpoints that survive restarts

All five are loaded automatically via vim.pack.add. You never declare them.

Adapter configurations are inlined from the work of these projects (no runtime dependency, we just studied their configs and wrote plain Lua tables):

License

MIT

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