Debugging python with nvim-dap

Sam Salling-Dysch · January 11, 2026

python   neovim   debugging

Thanks to this video for a cool overview of nvim-dap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7XPedIn4G4

I recently went down a deeper rabbit hole than expected trying to debug python code in neovim (nvim) using nvim-dap while running my projects via uv.

Historically I have used pdb++ for python debugging (with nvim shortcuts for toggling breakpoint()), but I wanted to try out nvim-dap.

The problem

My usual workflow is to edit files in nvim and run them with

uv run path/to/script.py

However, this fails in codebases where debugpy is not installed. A common workaround is to install debugpy globally (not ideal) and run:

uv run --with debugpy path/to/script.py

But manually toggling between these two scenarios is incovenient.

The solution

The correct approach is:

1. Check if the project venv has debugpy
2. If yes, run nvim-dap directly inside the venv
3. If no, run with uv --with debugpy

nvim-dap adapter configuration

local function python_adapter()
	vim.fn.system({ 'uv', 'run', 'python', '-c', 'import debugpy' })

	if vim.v.shell_error == 0 then
		local python = vim.fn.trim(vim.fn.system({ 'uv', 'run', 'python', '-c', 'import sys; print(sys.executable)' }))
		return { type = 'executable', command = python, args = { '-m', 'debugpy.adapter' } }
	end

	return { type = 'executable', command = 'uv', args = { '--with', 'debugpy', 'run', 'python', '-m', 'debugpy.adapter' } }
end

dap.adapters.python = python_adapter()

Launching programs

preLaunchTask = function()
	return 'uv run ' .. vim.fn.expand('${file}')
end

Full config

My full config can be found here