# microsoft/debug-adapter-protocol

Defines a common protocol for debug adapters.

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/debug-adapter-protocol
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/debug-adapter-protocol
Homepage: https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol/
Language: HTML
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-09T16:01:43+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3500, "days_push": 24, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1776, forks 173 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:34.520848+00:00)

## What it is
The Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) is a JSON-based protocol specification that standardizes communication between development tools (IDEs/editors) and debuggers via debug adapters. This repository hosts the specification, documentation website, and a list of implementations.

## Use cases
- implement a debug adapter for a new programming language
- add debugger support to an IDE or editor
- understand how DAP messages are structured
- find existing debug adapter implementations
- contribute to the DAP specification

## When to choose
- you are building a debugger integration for an editor or IDE
- you want to make your language's debugger work with multiple tools
- you need the authoritative DAP specification

## When to avoid
- you need an actual debugger or debug adapter implementation rather than the protocol spec
- you want a client library - this repo is documentation, not code

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: developer-tools, documentation, sdk
- domain: developer-tools, documentation, apis
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: debug-adapter-protocol, dap, debugging, specification, json-protocol, ide-integration, microsoft

## Member repositories
- microsoft/debug-adapter-protocol (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.520848+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:25:16.866077+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/microsoft/debug-adapter-protocol (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:34.520848+00:00, sha 6895a5af15a3)
  - homepage: https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol/ (fetched 2026-08-29T11:03:38.665182+00:00, sha 514938945f3c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.