Skip to main content

How to develop locally?

Recommended setup:

  • IDE: Visual Studio Code

  • Extensions:

    • Rust Analyzer

    • Android Debug

    • CodeLLDB

      Note: CodeLLDB v1.11.2 has a bug when launching with Android Debug (issue link). Please downgrade to v1.11.1 via Extensions tab > CodeLLDB > Install Specific Version... > v1.11.1 to work around the issue.

How to debug​

  1. Open Visual Studio Code.
  2. Launch the [Android] Debug configuration from the debug panel. This will:
    • Build the Rust code into an APK.
    • Install the APK on a selectable device, and launch the app in debug mode.
    • Redirect stdout/stderr output to the terminal.

Debugging Capability

Tip: You can debug the app on either a physical device or a virtual device.

How to view the error logs​

If Local Desktop hangs at launch, stuck on the app icon, it is likely that the native main thread has crashed. To check:

  1. Search for > Tasks: Run Task in the Command Palette.
  2. Run the [Android] Logcat task. Then you will see the log: 
    05-24 18:10:04.181 13540 13556 I RustStdoutStderr: thread '<unnamed>' panicked at src/utils/logging.rs:17:14:
    05-24 18:10:04.181 13540 13556 I RustStdoutStderr:
    05-24 18:10:04.181 13540 13556 I RustStdoutStderr: *** *** *** [POLAR BEAR EXPECTATION] *** *** ***
    05-24 18:10:04.181 13540 13556 I RustStdoutStderr: Failed to create EGLContext
    05-24 18:10:04.181 13540 13556 I RustStdoutStderr: *** *** *** [POLAR BEAR EXPECTATION] *** *** ***

You can also assign a shortcut to quickly view the log. To do so:

  1. Search for > Preferences: Open Keyboard Shortcuts (JSON) in the Command Palette.
  2. Add this entry to the opened keybindings.json file:
{
  "key": "shift+cmd+l",
  "command": "workbench.action.tasks.runTask",
  "args": "[Android] Logcat"
}