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Run/debug configurations

Last modified: 28 October 2021

Configure: Run | Edit Configurations

PyCharm uses run/debug configurations to run, debug, and test your code. Each configuration is a named set of startup properties that define what to execute and what parameters and environment should be used.

When you create a new configuration for a specific kind of executable context, you create it from one of the dedicated configuration templates, which implement the startup logic, define the list of parameters and their default values. The list of available templates is predefined in the installation and can only be extended via plugins. However, you can edit default values of parameters in each template to streamline the creation of new configurations.

With different startup properties, you can define different ways that PyCharm uses to execute your script. For example, you can execute the same code with different Python interpreters, providing various sets of environment variables, and getting input values from alternative files.

If the Navigation bar is visible (View | Appearance | Navigation Bar), you can access all available run/debug configurations from the selector on the toolbar.

Choosing PyCharm run/debug configurations

Run/debug configurations can be created as:

  • Temporary — created every time you run or debug functions or tests.

    The maximum number of temporary configurations is 5. The older ones are automatically deleted when new ones are added. If necessary, you can increase this limit in Settings/Preferences | Advanced Settings | IDE | Temporary Run/Debug configurations limit.

  • Permanent — created explicitly from a template or by saving a temporary configuration. Permanent configurations remain as part of your project until you remove them.

So whenever you run/debug or test your code, PyCharm either uses an existing permanent run/debug configuration or creates a new temporary one.

Permanent configurations have opaque icons while the icons of temporary configurations are semi-transparent.