When use `"type": "dotnet"` in `launch.json`, can I define additional command arguments on it?

[doggy8088]

I tried to configure launch.json by the following JSON.

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "C#: audio-processor Debug",
            "type": "dotnet",
            "request": "launch",
            "projectPath": "${workspaceFolder}/audio-processor.csproj",
        }
    ]
}

I couldn't find a way to configure additional command arguments to my program. Just like:

dotnet run -- --args1=1 --args2=2 "filename"

Is it possible to have a args to the configuration?

[gregg-miskelly]

We should really do a better job spelling out how to do this in the docs. I am thinking of adding the following to this doc. Would this have helped you?

---

Walk through: setting command line arguments

Before we get into the details of all the possible options, lets walk through a basic scenario -- setting command line arguments to your program. These steps will also work for updating other basic options like environment variables or the current working directory.

Approach 1: launchSettings.json

For C# Dev Kit, the recommended way to debug is to let C# Dev Kit automatically figure out how to debug from your project. This means you either don't have a "<workspace_root>/.vscode/launch.json" file, or if you have one you have "type": "dotnet" set for the active profile. For command line arguments, "figure out from your project" means to pull the value from "<Project-Directory>/Propeties/launchSettings.json". launchSettings.json is nice because settings stored here are not just used with Visual Studio Code, but are also used by dotnet run on the command line, and from full Visual Studio.

For this case, here are the steps to set the command line arguments:

1. In workspace explorer view, navigate to the directory of the project (.csproj file) you want to launch
2. If there isn't a 'Properties' directory already, create it
3. If there isn't a 'launchSettings.json' file already, create one, you can use the below text as an example
4. Change the commandLineArgs property to what you would like the command line arguments to be

Example launchSettings.json file:

{
  "profiles": {
    "MyLaunchProfileName": {
      "commandName": "Project",
      "commandLineArgs": "MyFirstArgument MySecondArgument"
    }
  }
}

Approach 2: launch.json

If you are using the coreclr or clr debug adapter type in VS Code, command line arguments are stored in your "<workspace_root>/.vscode/launch.json". To edit them in this case:

1. Open up "<workspace_root>/.vscode/launch.json
2. Find the coreclr or clr launch configuration you want to launch
3. Edit the args property. This can either be a string, or an array of strings