pudb
Full-screen terminal debugger for Python — provides a visual TUI (text user interface) debugging experience in the terminal. pudb features: full-screen terminal layout with code view, variable inspector, stack view, and breakpoint list, pdb-compatible commands, breakpoint() and import pudb; pudb.set_trace() integration, post-mortem debugging, remote debugging support, variable display customization, source navigation, thread-safe debugging, pytest integration via --pudb flag, vim-style keybindings, and theme support. Replaces pdb with a visual debugger that works over SSH.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
Remote debugging (pudb.remote) has NO authentication or encryption — anyone who can connect to the port can control the debugger and read all program state including secrets. Only use remote debugging on loopback or with SSH tunnel. Never leave pudb.set_trace() or remote debug in production code.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
Interactive debugging of complex Python code in terminal environments — pudb's full-screen layout shows code, variables, and stack simultaneously, eliminating the context-switching of pdb.
Avoid When
Production code, CI pipelines, or when GUI debugging (VS Code/PyCharm) is available.
Use Cases
- • Agent debugging session — import pudb; pudb.set_trace() — visual TUI breakpoint; agent code drops into full-screen debugger; code view shows current position; variables panel shows all locals; stack panel shows call stack; pdb commands (n, s, c, q) work; much more informative than pdb
- • Agent post-mortem — import pudb; try: agent.run(); except Exception: pudb.post_mortem() — crash analysis; agent catches exception and opens debugger at crash point; inspect variables at time of error; examine full stack trace interactively
- • Agent pytest debugging — pytest --pudb tests/ — pytest integration; agent test failures open pudb at failure point; inspect test state interactively; alternative to --pdb flag; requires pip install pudb
- • Agent remote debugging — import pudb.remote; pudb.remote.set_trace(host='0.0.0.0', port=6899) — telnet-based remote debugger; agent running in Docker/remote server debugged from local terminal; telnet localhost 6899 connects to debugger session; useful for debugging containerized agents
- • Agent quick inspection — python -m pudb script.py — whole-script debugging; agent script launched in pudb from start; set breakpoints visually by clicking/pressing b; navigate with vim-style keys; ideal for understanding unfamiliar agent code
Not For
- • Production code — debuggers add overhead and expose internals; remove pudb calls before deployment
- • Non-TTY environments — pudb requires terminal; CI/CD pipelines use standard pdb or logging instead
- • GUI debugging — pudb is terminal-only; for GUI debugging use VS Code, PyCharm, or Wing IDE
Interface
Authentication
No auth — local debugging tool.
Pricing
pudb is MIT licensed. Free for all use.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ pudb.set_trace() fails in non-TTY — pudb requires a real terminal; agent code with pudb.set_trace() in scripts run via subprocess or CI hangs waiting for terminal input; detect TTY: import sys; if sys.stdout.isatty(): pudb.set_trace(); else: breakpoint() — fall back to standard pdb
- ⚠ Terminal must support Unicode and colors — pudb uses Unicode box-drawing characters and ANSI colors; minimal terminals or broken locale settings show garbage characters; set TERM=xterm-256color and LANG=en_US.UTF-8; SSH connections must forward terminal settings with ssh -t host
- ⚠ Remote debugging requires telnet client — pudb.remote.set_trace() waits for telnet connection; agent blocks at set_trace until client connects; only one client at a time; telnet localhost 6899 to connect; no SSL — remote debugger should only be used on trusted networks or with SSH tunnel
- ⚠ Breakpoints reset between runs — pudb saves breakpoints in ~/.config/pudb/saved-breakpoints; breakpoints set visually persist; but breakpoints set with pudb.set_trace() are hardcoded; agent code using both: visual breakpoints and code breakpoints can conflict; clear saved breakpoints: rm ~/.config/pudb/saved-breakpoints
- ⚠ Variable display for large objects is slow — pudb inspector tries to repr() all local variables; large DataFrames, numpy arrays, or deeply nested dicts cause lag in variable panel; use pudb's '?' key to view custom repr; or add # noqa pudb:hide comment convention for large objects
- ⚠ Thread debugging limited — pudb debugs the thread that calls set_trace(); other threads continue running; agent code with race conditions may behave differently under debugger; thread-safe debugging requires explicit per-thread set_trace() calls or using pdb with threading
Alternatives
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.