# VSCode - debugger crashes when I am using TestItems

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-debugger-crashes-when-i-am-using-testitems/132329>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [September 13, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-debugger-crashes-when-i-am-using-testitems/132329 "2025-09-13T03:15:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tdm](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tdm/32/213999_2.png) [@tdm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/tdm)\
**Post date:** [September 13, 2025, 3:15am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/vscode-debugger-crashes-when-i-am-using-testitems/132329/1 "2025-09-13T03:15:20Z")

</div>

Using Julia debugger in VSCode is generally buggy (as other posts attest), but I have not seen this problem reported yet:

If I am using TestItems (see below) then it’s impossible to debug - The debugger crashes on start:

> ┌ Error: Some Julia code in the VS Code extension crashed  
> └ @ VSCodeDebugger c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\error\_handler.jl:15  
> ERROR: ArgumentError: lowering did not return a `:thunk` expression, got nothing  
> Stacktrace:  
> [1] VSCodeDebugger.JuliaInterpreter.Frame(mod::Module, ex::Expr)  
> @ VSCodeDebugger.JuliaInterpreter c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\JuliaInterpreter\src\types.jl:347  
> [2] get\_next\_top\_level\_frame(state::VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines.DebugEngine)  
> @ VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\DebugAdapter\src\DebugEngines.jl:230  
> [3] our\_debug\_command(debug\_engine::VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines.DebugEngine, cmd::Symbol)  
> @ VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\DebugAdapter\src\DebugEngines.jl:263  
> [4] run(debug\_engine::VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines.DebugEngine)  
> @ VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugEngines c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\DebugAdapter\src\DebugEngines.jl:333  
> [5] run(debug\_session::VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter.DebugSession, error\_handler::VSCodeDebugger.var"#3#4"{String})  
> @ VSCodeDebugger.DebugAdapter c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\DebugAdapter\src\packagedef.jl:162  
> [6] startdebugger()  
> @ VSCodeDebugger c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\packages\VSCodeDebugger\src\VSCodeDebugger.jl:47  
> [7] top-level scope  
> @ c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\debugger\run\_debugger.jl:12  
> [8] include(mod::Module, \_path::String)  
> @ Base .\Base.jl:562  
> [9] exec\_options(opts::Base.JLOptions)  
> @ Base .\client.jl:323  
> [10] \_start()  
> @ Base .\client.jl:531
> 
> - The terminal process “C:\Users++++.julia\juliaup\julia-1.11.6+0.x64.w64.mingw32\bin\julia.exe ‘–color=yes’, ‘–startup-file=no’, ‘–history-file=no’, ‘c:\Users++++.vscode\extensions\julialang.language-julia-1.149.2\scripts\debugger\run\_debugger.jl’, ‘\.\pipe\vsc-jl-dbg-c8369b34-6b78-4f25-afff-c55adca9ee3f’, ‘\.\pipe\vsc-jl-dbg-9800f260-c90b-40c8-9595-d3e1a8f82c6d’, ‘\.\pipe\vsc-jl-cr-07ce11ab-9213-4ae2-a7cc-32b794e5a836’” terminated with exit code: 1.
> - Terminal will be reused by tasks, press any key to close it.

This is reproducible with this test:

> using TestItems
> 
> @testitem “simple fill test” begin  
> @test 1 == 1  
> end