[Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility #3

Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:24:05Z

This PR is not being implemented due to lack of official macOS ARM64 support in Samsung/netcoredbg.

Microsoft's vsdbg debugger cannot be used with VS Code forks (VSCodium, Code-OSS, etc.) due to licensing restrictions. This PR explored replacing vsdbg with Samsung's netcoredbg, an open-source .NET debugger that provides equivalent debugging capabilities.

Decision

After investigation, this change will not be implemented because:

Samsung/netcoredbg does not provide official macOS ARM64 builds
The implementation would rely on Rosetta 2 for ARM64 Macs, which Apple plans to phase out
This creates a long-term compatibility risk unsuitable for production use

The decision may be revisited if Samsung releases official macOS ARM64 debugger builds in the future.

Changes Made

README.md: Added a note documenting the decision not to implement netcoredbg replacement, with explanation of the macOS ARM64 limitation

Original Proposed Changes (Not Implemented)

replace-debugger.js: Node.js script that transforms upstream package.json, replacing all vsdbg runtime dependencies with netcoredbg equivalents
- ~~Maps 9 platform/architecture combinations to netcoredbg releases (3.1.2-1054)~~
- ~~Updates binary names: vsdbg/vsdbg-ui → netcoredbg~~
- ~~Updates install test paths to match netcoredbg structure~~
.github/workflows/build-and-release.yml: Added step to run replacement script after publisher change, before build
- ~~Updated custom build notice to document debugger swap~~

References

Related issue: Consideration: Adopting Samsung/netcoredbg instead of vsdbg #2
Samsung/netcoredbg macOS ARM64 discussion: Samsung/netcoredbg#174

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>Consideration: Adopting Samsung/netcoredbg instead of vsdbg</issue_title>
<issue_description>Since vsdbg has the problem that it cannot be used with fork IDEs other than Visual Studio Code, we need to configure it to use only Samsung/netcoredbg's debugger while maintaining the benefits of automatic builds.</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Fixes Consideration: Adopting Samsung/netcoredbg instead of vsdbg #2

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Co-authored-by: rkttu <[email protected]>

rkttu · 2025-11-10T01:38:10Z

@copilot For Windows, it is certain that they will continue to strategically support x64 binaries on ARM64 simultaneously, but for macOS, I understand that they are planning to gradually organize Rosetta 2, which helps with the transition from x64 to ARM64, starting with the recently released macOS 26 Tahoe. I wonder if Samsung's .NET Core debugger project has any plans to update its debugger for macOS ARM64 in the future.

Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:40:04Z

@copilot For Windows, it is certain that they will continue to strategically support x64 binaries on ARM64 simultaneously, but for macOS, I understand that they are planning to gradually organize Rose...

You're correct about the concern regarding Rosetta 2 deprecation. Currently, Samsung/netcoredbg does not provide official macOS ARM64 builds - only x64 builds are available in their releases. The ARM64 architecture is "community supported" according to Samsung's maintainers (issue #174).

The current implementation uses the x64 build (netcoredbg-osx-amd64.tar.gz) for macOS ARM64 systems, which relies on Rosetta 2 for compatibility. This approach has the following implications:

Short-term: Works fine with Rosetta 2 on current macOS versions
Long-term risk: If Apple phases out Rosetta 2, this will break on ARM64 Macs

Options for the future:

Wait for official support: Samsung may add official ARM64 macOS builds if there's enough demand or if they get M1+ hardware for testing
Community builds: Users can build from source (works according to issue #102) or use community-provided binaries like Cliffback/netcoredbg-macOS-arm64.nvim
Build automation: This project could potentially add a step to build ARM64 macOS binaries from source when official releases aren't available

For now, I've documented this limitation with a comment in the code. If Samsung releases official ARM64 builds or if we want to integrate community builds/source builds, the script can be easily updated by changing the URL mapping for darwin-arm64.

Commit: f2c1486

rkttu · 2025-11-10T01:42:28Z

@copilot Unfortunately, this pull request will not be accepted at this time unless Samsung releases a .NET Core debugger for macOS ARM64. I've decided to close the issue associated with this pull request without implementing it in the code. However, I can reopen it if it becomes clear that Samsung will release a debugger for macOS ARM64.

Co-authored-by: rkttu <[email protected]>

Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:51:03Z

@copilot Okay. Please briefly mention this decision in the README.md file, linking to the PR. Then, close this PR and issue.

README.md has been updated to document the decision not to implement netcoredbg due to lack of official macOS ARM64 support. The note includes a link to this PR and mentions the decision may be revisited in the future.

Note: I cannot close PRs or issues directly. You'll need to close them manually.

Commit: b6a401e

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR adds a script to replace Microsoft's vsdbg debugger with Samsung's netcoredbg in the vscode-csharp extension build process. However, the PR description notes this proposal was not ultimately implemented due to lack of official macOS ARM64 support in netcoredbg.

Introduces replace-debugger.js script to swap debugger dependencies in package.json
Updates README to document the debugger replacement decision
Modifies workflow to integrate the debugger replacement step

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
replace-debugger.js	New script that replaces vsdbg with netcoredbg for multiple platforms
README.md	Adds note explaining the debugger replacement proposal and decision
.gitignore	Adds temp-upstream/ directory to ignored paths
.github/workflows/build-and-release.yml	Integrates debugger replacement step and updates README notice

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Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:56:32Z

.github/workflows/build-and-release.yml

          > 
          > - **Original Source**: [dotnet/vscode-csharp](https://github.com/dotnet/vscode-csharp)
-          > - **Build Repository**: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild)
+          > - **Build Repository**: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rktru/vscode-csharp-autobuild)


Typo in GitHub username: 'rktru' should be 'rkttu'.

Suggested change

> - **Build Repository**: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rktru/vscode-csharp-autobuild)

> - **Build Repository**: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild)

Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:56:33Z

.github/workflows/build-and-release.yml


+      - name: Replace vsdbg with netcoredbg
+        run: |
+          node replace-debugger.js upstream/package.json


The script is executed from the root directory but the workflow checkouts this repo first. The script file location should be verified to exist at the expected path. Consider adding ls -la replace-debugger.js before this command or ensure the script is in the repository root, which it appears to be. However, if the script execution fails, there's no error handling to catch it.

Suggested change

- name: Replace vsdbg with netcoredbg

run: |

node replace-debugger.js upstream/package.json

- name: Verify replace-debugger.js exists

run: |

if [ ! -f replace-debugger.js ]; then

echo "Error: replace-debugger.js not found in repository root."

ls -la

exit 1

fi

ls -la replace-debugger.js

- name: Replace vsdbg with netcoredbg

run: |

set -e

node replace-debugger.js upstream/package.json

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then

echo "Error: replace-debugger.js script failed."

exit 1

fi

Copilot · 2025-11-10T01:56:33Z

replace-debugger.js

+  // Linux ARM - use ARM64 build (most compatible option)
+  'linux-arm': {
+    url: `${NETCOREDBG_BASE_URL}/netcoredbg-linux-arm64.tar.gz`,
+    testPath: './.debugger/netcoredbg',
+    binaries: ['./netcoredbg']
+  }


Using ARM64 build for 32-bit ARM (linux-arm) may not work correctly as ARM64 binaries are not compatible with 32-bit ARM architectures. Consider either finding a proper ARM32 build, documenting this limitation, or removing support for this platform.

Suggested change

// Linux ARM - use ARM64 build (most compatible option)

'linux-arm': {

url: `${NETCOREDBG_BASE_URL}/netcoredbg-linux-arm64.tar.gz`,

testPath: './.debugger/netcoredbg',

binaries: ['./netcoredbg']

}

// Linux ARM - no compatible netcoredbg build available

// 'linux-arm' platform is not supported due to lack of ARM32 build.

Initial plan

431e26b

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and rkttu Nov 10, 2025

Copilot started work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:24 View session

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits November 10, 2025 01:27

Initial exploration complete

b7b93be

Co-authored-by: rkttu <[email protected]>

Add netcoredbg replacement script and update workflow

f2c1486

Co-authored-by: rkttu <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Update debugger configuration to use netcoredbg~~ Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility Nov 10, 2025

Copilot AI requested a review from rkttu November 10, 2025 01:35

Copilot finished work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:35

Copilot started work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:38 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:41

Copilot started work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:42 View session

Copilot finished work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:45

Copilot started work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:46 View session

Revert README changes and add note about netcoredbg decision

b6a401e

Co-authored-by: rkttu <[email protected]>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility~~ [Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility Nov 10, 2025

Copilot finished work on behalf of rkttu November 10, 2025 01:52

rkttu approved these changes Nov 10, 2025

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rkttu marked this pull request as ready for review November 10, 2025 01:54

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings November 10, 2025 01:54

Copilot AI reviewed Nov 10, 2025

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rkttu closed this Nov 10, 2025

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[Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility #3

[Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility #3

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	> - Build Repository: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rktru/vscode-csharp-autobuild)
	> - Build Repository: [rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild](https://github.com/rkttu/vscode-csharp-autobuild)

-      - name: Replace vsdbg with netcoredbg
-        run: |
-          node replace-debugger.js upstream/package.json
+      - name: Verify replace-debugger.js exists
+        run: |
+          if [ ! -f replace-debugger.js ]; then
+            echo "Error: replace-debugger.js not found in repository root."
+            ls -la
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          ls -la replace-debugger.js
+      - name: Replace vsdbg with netcoredbg
+        run: |
+          set -e
+          node replace-debugger.js upstream/package.json
+          if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+            echo "Error: replace-debugger.js script failed."
+            exit 1
+          fi

[Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility #3

[Not Implemented] Consideration: Replace vsdbg with Samsung/netcoredbg for VS Code fork compatibility #3

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Decision

Changes Made

Original Proposed Changes (Not Implemented)

References

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