Configuration and Command History

If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set, then configuration and command history files are located in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dlv. Otherwise, they are located in $HOME/.config/dlv on Linux and $HOME/.dlv on other systems.

The configuration file config.yml contains all the configurable options and their default values. The command history is stored in .dbg_history.

Commands

Running the program

Command	Description
call	Resumes process, injecting a function call (EXPERIMENTAL!!!)
continue	Run until breakpoint or program termination.
next	Step over to next source line.
restart	Restart process.
rev	Reverses the execution of the target program for the command specified.
rewind	Run backwards until breakpoint or program termination.
step	Single step through program.
step-instruction	Single step a single cpu instruction.
stepout	Step out of the current function.

Manipulating breakpoints

Command	Description
break	Sets a breakpoint.
breakpoints	Print out info for active breakpoints.
clear	Deletes breakpoint.
clearall	Deletes multiple breakpoints.
condition	Set breakpoint condition.
on	Executes a command when a breakpoint is hit.
trace	Set tracepoint.

Viewing program variables and memory

Command	Description
args	Print function arguments.
display	Print value of an expression every time the program stops.
examinemem	Examine memory:
locals	Print local variables.
print	Evaluate an expression.
regs	Print contents of CPU registers.
set	Changes the value of a variable.
vars	Print package variables.
whatis	Prints type of an expression.

Listing and switching between threads and goroutines

Command	Description
goroutine	Shows or changes current goroutine
goroutines	List program goroutines.
thread	Switch to the specified thread.
threads	Print out info for every traced thread.

Viewing the call stack and selecting frames

Command	Description
deferred	Executes command in the context of a deferred call.
down	Move the current frame down.
frame	Set the current frame, or execute command on a different frame.
stack	Print stack trace.
up	Move the current frame up.

Other commands

Command	Description
check	Creates a checkpoint at the current position.
checkpoints	Print out info for existing checkpoints.
clear-checkpoint	Deletes checkpoint.
config	Changes configuration parameters.
disassemble	Disassembler.
edit	Open where you are in $DELVE_EDITOR or $EDITOR
exit	Exit the debugger.
funcs	Print list of functions.
help	Prints the help message.
libraries	List loaded dynamic libraries
list	Show source code.
source	Executes a file containing a list of delve commands
sources	Print list of source files.
types	Print list of types

args

Print function arguments.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] args [-v] [<regex>]

If regex is specified only function arguments with a name matching it will be returned. If -v is specified more information about each function argument will be shown.

break

Sets a breakpoint.

break [name] <linespec>

See Documentation/cli/locspec.md for the syntax of linespec.

See also: "help on", "help cond" and "help clear"

Aliases: b

breakpoints

Print out info for active breakpoints.

Aliases: bp

call

Resumes process, injecting a function call (EXPERIMENTAL!!!)

call [-unsafe] <function call expression>

Current limitations:

only pointers to stack-allocated objects can be passed as argument.
only some automatic type conversions are supported.
functions can only be called on running goroutines that are not executing the runtime.
the current goroutine needs to have at least 256 bytes of free space on the stack.
functions can only be called when the goroutine is stopped at a safe point.
calling a function will resume execution of all goroutines.
only supported on linux's native backend.

check

Creates a checkpoint at the current position.

checkpoint [note]

The "note" is arbitrary text that can be used to identify the checkpoint, if it is not specified it defaults to the current filename:line position.

Aliases: checkpoint

checkpoints

Print out info for existing checkpoints.

clear

Deletes breakpoint.

clear <breakpoint name or id>

clear-checkpoint

Deletes checkpoint.

clear-checkpoint <id>

Aliases: clearcheck

clearall

Deletes multiple breakpoints.

clearall [<linespec>]

If called with the linespec argument it will delete all the breakpoints matching the linespec. If linespec is omitted all breakpoints are deleted.

condition

Set breakpoint condition.

condition <breakpoint name or id> <boolean expression>.

Specifies that the breakpoint or tracepoint should break only if the boolean expression is true.

Aliases: cond

config

Changes configuration parameters.

config -list

Show all configuration parameters.

config -save

Saves the configuration file to disk, overwriting the current configuration file.

config <parameter> <value>

Changes the value of a configuration parameter.

config substitute-path <from> <to>
config substitute-path <from>

Adds or removes a path substitution rule.

config alias <command> <alias>
config alias <alias>

Defines as an alias to or removes an alias.

continue

Run until breakpoint or program termination.

Aliases: c

deferred

Executes command in the context of a deferred call.

deferred <n> <command>

Executes the specified command (print, args, locals) in the context of the n-th deferred call in the current frame.

disassemble

Disassembler.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] disassemble [-a <start> <end>] [-l <locspec>]

If no argument is specified the function being executed in the selected stack frame will be executed.

-a <start> <end>	disassembles the specified address range
-l <locspec>		disassembles the specified function

Aliases: disass

display

Print value of an expression every time the program stops.

display -a <expression>
display -d <number>

The '-a' option adds an expression to the list of expression printed every time the program stops. The '-d' option removes the specified expression from the list.

If display is called without arguments it will print the value of all expression in the list.

down

Move the current frame down.

down [<m>]
down [<m>] <command>

Move the current frame down by . The second form runs the command on the given frame.

edit

Open where you are in $DELVE_EDITOR or $EDITOR

edit [locspec]

If locspec is omitted edit will open the current source file in the editor, otherwise it will open the specified location.

Aliases: ed

examinemem

Examine memory:

examinemem [-fmt <format>] [-len <length>] <address>

Format represents the data format and the value is one of this list (default hex): bin(binary), oct(octal), dec(decimal), hex(hexadecimal),. Length is the number of bytes (default 1) and must be less than or equal to 1000. Address is the memory location of the target to examine.

For example:

x -fmt hex -len 20 0xc00008af38

Aliases: x

exit

Exit the debugger.

exit [-c]

When connected to a headless instance started with the --accept-multiclient, pass -c to resume the execution of the target process before disconnecting.

Aliases: quit q

frame

Set the current frame, or execute command on a different frame.

frame <m>
frame <m> <command>

The first form sets frame used by subsequent commands such as "print" or "set". The second form runs the command on the given frame.

funcs

Print list of functions.

funcs [<regex>]

If regex is specified only the functions matching it will be returned.

goroutine

Shows or changes current goroutine

goroutine
goroutine <id>
goroutine <id> <command>

Called without arguments it will show information about the current goroutine. Called with a single argument it will switch to the specified goroutine. Called with more arguments it will execute a command on the specified goroutine.

Aliases: gr

goroutines

List program goroutines.

goroutines [-u (default: user location)|-r (runtime location)|-g (go statement location)|-s (start location)] [-t (stack trace)] [-l (labels)]

Print out info for every goroutine. The flag controls what information is shown along with each goroutine:

-u	displays location of topmost stackframe in user code
-r	displays location of topmost stackframe (including frames inside private runtime functions)
-g	displays location of go instruction that created the goroutine
-s	displays location of the start function
-t	displays goroutine's stacktrace
-l	displays goroutine's labels

If no flag is specified the default is -u.

Aliases: grs

help

Prints the help message.

help [command]

Type "help" followed by the name of a command for more information about it.

Aliases: h

libraries

List loaded dynamic libraries

list

Show source code.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] list [<linespec>]

Show source around current point or provided linespec.

Aliases: ls l

locals

Print local variables.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] locals [-v] [<regex>]

The name of variables that are shadowed in the current scope will be shown in parenthesis.

If regex is specified only local variables with a name matching it will be returned. If -v is specified more information about each local variable will be shown.

on

Executes a command when a breakpoint is hit.

on <breakpoint name or id> <command>.

Supported commands: print, stack and goroutine)

print

Evaluate an expression.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] print <expression>

See Documentation/cli/expr.md for a description of supported expressions.

Aliases: p

regs

Print contents of CPU registers.

regs [-a]

Argument -a shows more registers.

restart

Restart process.

For recorded targets the command takes the following forms:

restart				resets ot the start of the recording
restart [checkpoint]		resets the recording to the given checkpoint
restart -r [newargv...]		re-records the target process

For live targets the command takes the following forms:

restart [newargv...]		restarts the process

If newargv is omitted the process is restarted (or re-recorded) with the same argument vector. If -noargs is specified instead, the argument vector is cleared.

Aliases: r

rev

Reverses the execution of the target program for the command specified. Currently, only the rev step-instruction command is supported.

rewind

Run backwards until breakpoint or program termination.

Aliases: rw

set

Changes the value of a variable.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] set <variable> = <value>

See Documentation/cli/expr.md for a description of supported expressions. Only numerical variables and pointers can be changed.

source

Executes a file containing a list of delve commands

source <path>

If path ends with the .star extension it will be interpreted as a starlark script. See Documentation/cli/starlark.md for the syntax.

If path is a single '-' character an interactive starlark interpreter will start instead. Type 'exit' to exit.

sources

Print list of source files.

sources [<regex>]

If regex is specified only the source files matching it will be returned.

stack

Print stack trace.

[goroutine <n>] [frame <m>] stack [<depth>] [-full] [-offsets] [-defer] [-a <n>] [-adepth <depth>] [-mode <mode>]

-full		every stackframe is decorated with the value of its local variables and arguments.
-offsets	prints frame offset of each frame.
-defer		prints deferred function call stack for each frame.
-a <n>		prints stacktrace of n ancestors of the selected goroutine (target process must have tracebackancestors enabled)
-adepth <depth>	configures depth of ancestor stacktrace
-mode <mode>	specifies the stacktrace mode, possible values are:
		normal	- attempts to automatically switch between cgo frames and go frames
		simple	- disables automatic switch between cgo and go
		fromg	- starts from the registers stored in the runtime.g struct

Aliases: bt

step

Single step through program.

Aliases: s

step-instruction

Single step a single cpu instruction.

Aliases: si

stepout

Step out of the current function.

Aliases: so

thread

Switch to the specified thread.

thread <id>

Aliases: tr

threads

Print out info for every traced thread.

trace

Set tracepoint.

trace [name] <linespec>

A tracepoint is a breakpoint that does not stop the execution of the program, instead when the tracepoint is hit a notification is displayed. See Documentation/cli/locspec.md for the syntax of linespec.