Xdebug FAQs

Question 1

What is Xdebug MCP Server?

Accepted Answer

Xdebug MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that translates Xdebug's DBGp protocol into an AI-friendly format. This allows AI assistants, such as Claude, to directly interact with and debug PHP applications.

Question 2

What core debugging features does Xdebug MCP Server offer?

Accepted Answer

It provides full debug control (step into, over, out, continue, stop), comprehensive breakpoint management (line, conditional, exception, function call), variable inspection and modification, expression evaluation, and stack trace viewing. Advanced features include watch expressions, logpoints, memory profiling, and code coverage.

Question 3

How does Xdebug MCP Server enable AI to debug PHP?

Accepted Answer

It acts as a bridge, listening for Xdebug connections from PHP scripts and exposing a suite of debugging tools (like setting breakpoints, stepping through code, inspecting variables) to AI assistants via the MCP. The AI can then programmatically control the debugging session.

Question 4

What are 'pending breakpoints' and how are they useful?

Accepted Answer

Pending breakpoints allow you to set breakpoints before a PHP debug session even starts. These breakpoints are automatically applied when a PHP script connects, which is extremely useful for setting up your debugging session in advance of triggering a page load or script execution.

Question 5

Is Xdebug MCP Server compatible with Docker?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it offers seamless Docker integration. You can configure path mappings to translate container file paths to host paths, allowing for effective debugging of PHP applications running within Docker containers.

Xdebug

Xdebug

Key Features

Use Cases

Key Features

Use Cases