General • "Run Without Debugging" behaviour under VSCode (C/C++)

I have a Pi Pico W and a picotool for uploading/debugging. I am programming with VSCode and the Raspberry Pi Pico extension (from a mac).

Using the picotool, I am able to upload and run code using the menu item "Run...Start Debugging", and the code always breaks at the first line, which is expected behaviour. But I don't always want to do that -- sometimes, I just want the code to run.

Naturally, I tried "Run...Run Without Debugging", but the program fails to run in that case. It does upload, however, as I am able to run the code by either disconnecting/reconnecting the USB cable or resetting the chip by pulling 3V3_EN low.** But the whole point of running without debugging is to run the code without having to manually do anything (otherwise, I'd just unplug, press BOOTSEL, replug, and upload...sigh).

Can someone explain to me what is happening/supposed to happen with "Run Without Debugging"?

Can someone explain to me how to upload and run code using the picotool in a way that doesn't require manual intervention?

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** I know it is uploading new code, as I have changed blink timings between uploads.

Statistics: Posted by gcl8a — Sat Jun 28, 2025 1:55 pm

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