Debug profiles
A debug profile defines how CLion debugs your application: which debugger to use and how it is configured. A profile is reusable and independent of the toolchain, so you can change the debugger without changing how your project is built.
Each debug profile is separate from the CMake profile and the run/debug configuration:
The CMake profile (and its toolchain) defines how your project is built.
The run/debug configuration defines what to run: the target, program arguments, and environment.
The debug profile defines how to debug it: the debugger and its options.
You select the active CMake profile and the active debug profile separately in the main toolbar, so you can pair any build with any compatible debugger.
Debug profile types
CLion groups the available debugger types into two categories.
General-purpose debuggers:
Debuggers that support the Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP)
Debuggers for embedded development:
GDB Server (a generic
gdbserverprofile)ST-LINK for STM32CubeMX projects
ESP-IDF for ESP-IDF projects
On macOS running on Apple Silicon, a Rosetta GDB profile is also available for debugging x86 targets on the aarch64 host.
Open the Debug Profiles settings
Go to .
The list on the left shows the existing profiles. The tiles on the right create a new profile of the selected type. CLion detects a default profile for your platform, so the list is not empty on the first run: for example, a GDB profile on Linux or an LLDB profile on macOS.
Create a debug profile
Click the tile of the debugger type you need under General-purpose debuggers or Debuggers for embedded development. CLion adds a new profile of that type to the list.
Configure the profile fields, then click OK.
Configure a general-purpose profile
A GDB or LLDB profile exposes the following fields:
- Name
The profile name shown in the list and in the toolbar switcher.
- Executable
The path to the debugger binary. Leave this field empty to use the bundled GDB or LLDB if available, or the debugger from the
PATH. On a remote, Docker, or WSL toolchain, CLion resolves the debugger from that environment.- Advanced
Type-specific options applied to the debug session. For a DAP profile, use the Launch and Attach tabs to provide the adapter configuration as JSON.
Select the active debug profile
Select the active profile from the debug profile switcher in the main toolbar. The switcher shows the current profile as Debug | <profile> and sits next to the run/debug configuration chooser.
When your project has several CMake profiles, the switcher shows a separate group for CMake profiles and a group for debug profiles. Select one profile from each group: the CMake profile defines the build, and the debug profile defines the debugger. Each group also provides a link to the corresponding settings page.
The debug profile applies to the next debug session you start with 
. Running the application with 
does not require a debug profile.
Share a debug profile
By default, a profile is stored in your project. You can change where a profile is stored with two options in the profile settings: Available for all projects and Share.
- Available for all projects
Store the profile in the IDE settings and make it usable in every project you open.
- Share
Store the profile in the .idea/debug-profiles.json file so that you can commit it to version control and share it with your team.
You can use only one of these options at a time: Share is available only while Available for all projects is cleared.
These options also define which file stores the profile. For the exact locations, refer to Edit debug profiles in JSON.
Edit debug profiles in JSON
Starting from CLion 2026.3, debug profiles are stored in JSON files that you can open and edit in the editor. The scope options described in Share a debug profile define which file holds a profile:
.idea/debug-profiles.json keeps the project profiles that have the Share option selected. This is the file to commit to version control.
.idea/debug-profiles.local.json keeps the project profiles that are not shared. Keep this file out of version control.
debug-profiles/debug-profiles.json in the CLion IDE configuration directory keeps the profiles that have the Available for all projects option selected.
Open the JSON file of a profile
Go to and select a profile in the list.
Click Configure Profile in .json.
CLion needs to close the settings dialog to open the file. If you changed any setting, confirm the change with Apply Settings and Open .json.
The action opens the file that matches the current state of the Available for all projects and Share options. If you change one of these options and then open the JSON file, CLion moves the profile to the file that the new option points to.
Edit the file by hand
CLion reads the profiles again as soon as the file changes on disk, so save the file to apply your edits. While the file has unsaved changes, a floating toolbar appears above it with a reload action that saves the file and reloads the profiles in one step.
Each profile is an object in the debug-profiles array and needs the id, type, and name keys. The other keys depend on the profile type. For example, a GDB profile with a custom debugger binary and extra command-line arguments looks as follows:
A bundled JSON schema describes the keys of every debug profile type, so the editor offers code completion and reports invalid values in debug-profiles.json and debug-profiles.local.json. A plugin that adds a debugger type contributes its own part of the schema. The set of keys follows the profile settings and can change between versions, so rely on code completion rather than on a fixed list of keys.
If CLion cannot read a file, it shows an error notification with an action that opens the file in the editor. An empty file is not an error.
If a profile contains keys that CLion does not recognize, the settings of that profile become read-only, and the page shows a link to the JSON file. Edit such a profile in the file.
When the settings you apply in the UI would overwrite a file that CLion cannot read or that has unknown top-level keys, CLion asks for confirmation first.
Supported run/debug configurations
You can use debug profiles with the following run/debug configurations:
When you attach to a process, the dialog lists the debug profiles that are compatible with the selected host.
Migration from earlier versions
When you open a project created in CLion 2026.1 or earlier, CLion converts the existing debugger settings into debug profiles once. The conversion covers:
Debuggers set in the toolchain and DAP debuggers, converted into profiles available for all projects.
Custom debuggers used in the Remote Debug and Core Dump Debug configurations, converted into project profiles.
Configured debug servers, converted into project profiles.
The conversion runs only on the first project open and is not repeated afterward, so your profiles are ready to use without extra setup.
CLion 2026.2 stored debug profiles in XML. When you open a project in CLion 2026.3 for the first time, CLion copies the profiles from the XML files into the corresponding JSON files:
options/<OS>/debug-profiles.xml becomes debug-profiles/debug-profiles.json in the IDE configuration directory.
.idea/debug-profiles.xml becomes .idea/debug-profiles.json.
The debug profiles in .idea/workspace.xml become .idea/debug-profiles.local.json.
This copy runs once for the IDE and once for every project. CLion leaves the XML files unchanged, so CLion 2026.2 keeps working with the same profiles. The two versions do not stay in step after that: changes you make in CLion 2026.3 go to the JSON files only, and later changes in the XML files are not copied again.
Debugger set in the toolchain
The Debugger field in is deprecated in favor of debug profiles.
When you start a debug session, CLion uses the selected debug profile instead of the toolchain debugger.