Developing and Debugging JitAi Applications With VSCode or PyCharm

This guide walks you through setting up a local development and debugging environment using the desktop version of JitAi for efficient application development.

🛠️ Environment setup

info

Ensure you have completed the basic installation and configuration. If not yet installed, refer to the Download and Installation guide.

JitAi supports multiple mainstream IDEs for local development and debugging. Choose the one that best suits your workflow:

• Visual Studio Code: A lightweight editor with a rich Python extension ecosystem
• PyCharm: A professional Python IDE with powerful debugging and refactoring capabilities

⚙️ IDE debug configuration

Visual Studio Code

Opening the project

Open the JitNode directory from your JitAi installation directory in VSCode:

Path on macOS

/Applications/Jit.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/JitNode

Path on Windows

C:\Program Files\jit\resources\app.asar.unpacked\JitNode

Creating the debug configuration file

Create a .vscode/launch.json file in the project root directory:

Note

If the .vscode directory does not exist, create it first.

🍎 macOS / Linux

.vscode/launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "JitNode Debug",
            "type": "debugpy",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/system/jitDebugger.py",
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "console": "integratedTerminal",
            "pythonPath": "${workspaceFolder}/system/bin/python/bin/python3",
            "justMyCode": true,
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": "${workspaceFolder}/system/bin/python/lib/python3.12/site-packages"
            },
            "stopOnEntry": false,
            "debugOptions": [
                "WaitOnAbnormalExit",
                "WaitOnNormalExit"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

🪟 Windows

.vscode/launch.json

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "JitNode Debug",
            "type": "python",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/system/jitDebugger.py",
            "console": "integratedTerminal",
            "pythonPath": "${workspaceFolder}/system/bin/python/python.exe",
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "env": {
                "PYTHONPATH": "${workspaceFolder}/system/bin/python/Lib/site-packages"
            },
            "stopOnEntry": false,
            "debugOptions": [
                "WaitOnAbnormalExit",
                "WaitOnNormalExit"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Starting the debugger

1. Click the Run and Debug icon in the sidebar
2. Select the "JitNode Debug" configuration
3. Click the green run button to start debugging

PyCharm

Opening the project

Open the JitNode directory from your JitAi installation directory in PyCharm:

Path on macOS

/Applications/Jit.app/Contents/Resources/app.asar.unpacked/JitNode

Path on Windows

C:\Program Files\jit\resources\app.asar.unpacked\JitNode

Configuring the system interpreter

Before creating a run configuration, add JitNode's Python interpreter to the system interpreter list:

1. Open interpreter settings:

   • Menu: File → Settings... (Windows/Linux) or PyCharm → Settings (macOS)
   • Left navigation: Project → Python Interpreter

2. Add new interpreter:

   • Click the gear icon in the top right → Add Interpreter, then select Add Local Interpreter
   • Select System Interpreter
   • Click the ... browse button

3. Select JitNode Python interpreter:

🍎 macOS / Linux

Interpreter path: [project path]/system/bin/python/bin/python3

🪟 Windows

Interpreter path: [project path]\system\bin\python\python.exe

4. Apply configuration:
   • Click OK to confirm the interpreter path
   • Wait for PyCharm to index and configure the environment
   • Click Apply and OK to save the settings

Interpreter verification

After successful addition, you should see JitNode's Python version information in the interpreter list. If errors appear, verify that the path is correct.

Creating the run configuration

1. Open run configuration:

   • Menu: Run → Edit Configurations...
   • Or click the run configuration dropdown in the top right → Edit Configurations...

2. Add new configuration:

   • Click + → Select Python

3. Configure parameters:

🍎 macOS / Linux

Name: JitNode Debug
Script path: [project path]/system/jitDebugger.py
Parameters: (leave empty)
Python interpreter: [project path]/system/bin/python/bin/python3
Working directory: [project path]
Environment variables:
  PYTHONPATH=[project path]/system/bin/python/lib/python3.12/site-packages

🪟 Windows

Name: JitNode Debug
Script path: [project path]\system\jitDebugger.py
Parameters: (leave empty)
Python interpreter: [project path]\system\bin\python\python.exe
Working directory: [project path]
Environment variables:
  PYTHONPATH=[project path]\system\bin\python\Lib\site-packages

Starting the debugger

1. Click OK to save the configuration
2. Select the "JitNode Debug" configuration
3. Click the green run button or press Shift+F10 to start

Important

Ensure that you select the JitNode interpreter you just added in the "Python interpreter" field of the run configuration, not the system's default Python.

📝 Configuration overview

Common configuration items

• Debug entry point: Always use the system/jitDebugger.py file
• Python interpreter: Use JitNode's built-in Python environment
• Working directory: Set to the JitNode project root directory
• Environment variables: Configure PYTHONPATH to point to JitNode's Python environment

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After completing the above configuration, you're ready to begin local development and debugging!