Set up your IDE

This chapter will help you to install an IDE and Extensions for code-completion and debugging

IDEs

Visual Studio Code

Code editing. Redefined. Free. Built on open source. Runs everywhere.

PyCharm

The Python IDE for Professional Developers

Install IDE and Extensions

Several IDEs and Code Editors support the development of Robot Framework tests.
The support ranges from simple code-highlighting, code-completion to test execution and debugging.
We list several IDEs and Extensions here, but there are many more.

Visual Studio Code

An Open Source and Lightweight Code-Editor developed by Microsoft. https://code.visualstudio.com/ It provides extensions for a lot of different languages and technologies.

Popular extensions for Robot Framework:

• Robot Code
• Robot Framework Language Server
  • ⚠️ No longer maintained and does not work with Robot Framework 7+

Install Visual Studio Code

See the VS Code setup guide for more information.

Windows

1. Download the Windows installer from Visual Studio Code
2. Run the Installer with default settings
3. Start Visual Studio Code either by
   1. Pressing Windows key + R, typing code and pressing Enter
   2. Opening the start menu, searching for Visual Studio Code and clicking on it

Linux Snap

1. Open a terminal
2. Execute sudo snap install code --classic
3. Start Visual Studio Code by executing code

Linux Deb

1. Download the deb package from Visual Studio Code
2. Open a terminal
3. Type sudo dpkg -i <path_to_deb_package>
   e.g. sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/code_1.65.2-1646927742_amd64.deb
4. Start Visual Studio Code by executing code

Linux Rpm

1. Download the rpm package from Visual Studio Code
2. Open a terminal
3. Type sudo rpm -i <path_to_rpm_package>
   e.g. sudo rpm -i ~/Downloads/code-1.65.2-1646927812.el7.x86_64.rpm
4. Start Visual Studio Code by executing code

Visual Studio Code Extensions

Only install one Robot Framework Extension

Make sure that only a single Robot Framework extension is installed.
We strongly recommend to only install RobotCode

Robot Code

RobotCode is a Visual Studio Code extension for Robot Framework.

1. Open Visual Studio Code
2. Click on Extensions icon or press Ctrl + Shift + X
3. Search for RobotCode and click on it
4. Click on Install

Check out this extended Tutorial about Robot Code

Robot Framework Language Server

Robot Framework Language Server is a Visual Studio Code extension for Robot Framework.

⚠️ No longer maintained and does not work with Robot Framework 7+

1. Open Visual Studio Code
2. Click on Extensions icon or press Ctrl + Shift + X
3. Search for Robot Framework Language Server and click on it
4. Click on Install

PyCharm

PyCharm is a free and open-source IDE for Python.

Popular extensions for Robot Framework:

• Robot Framework Language Server
• Hyper RobotFramework Support

Install PyCharm

See the PyCharm installation instructions for more information.

There two installation approaches

• The recommended one by JetBrains using the Toolbox App.
• The alternative stand alone installation

Make sure to install the free PyCharm Community Edition and not the PyCharm Professional version.

PyCharm extensions

Only install one Robot Framework Extension

Make sure that only a single Robot Framework extension is installed.

Robot Framework Language Server

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + S to open the settings dialog
2. Select Plugins
3. Select the Marketplace tab
4. Search for Robot Framework Language Server and click on Install
5. Add a Debug Configuration for Robot Framework to run current test suite
   
6. Add a Debug Configuration for Robot Framework to run current test case (via selected text)

Robot Framework Language Server

⚠️ No longer maintained and does not work with Robot Framework 7+

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + S to open the settings dialog
2. Select Plugins
3. Select the Marketplace tab
4. Search for Robot Framework Language Server and click on Install
5. Add a Debug Configuration for Robot Framework to run current test suite
   
6. Add a Debug Configuration for Robot Framework to run current test case (via selected text)

Hyper RobotFramework Support

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + S to open the settings dialog
2. Select Plugins
3. Select the Marketplace tab
4. Search for Hyper RobotFramework Support and click on Install

Run and Debug Robot Framework Tests

Visual Studio Code with RobotCode

Run

Debug

Add a breakpoint to your test suite or resource file, by clicking on the left-hand side of the line.

Right-Click on the Play button

Select Debug Test from the context menu.
Test Execution will begin and stop at the breakpoint.

Use Debug Toolbar to select actions like step over, step into, step out, continue, pause, etc.

Run Robot Frameworm commands while debugging from Debug Console.

PyCharm with Robot Framework Language Server

Run

Run current test suite

Run current test case (via selected text)

Debug