Debug function commands in Outlook add-ins

This article describes how to use the Office Add-in Debugger Extension in Visual Studio Code to debug function commands. Function commands are initiated through an add-in command button on the ribbon. For more information about add-in commands, see Add-in commands.

This article assumes that you already have an add-in project that you'd like to debug. To create an add-in with a function command to practice debugging, follow the steps in Tutorial: Build a message compose Outlook add-in.

Mark your add-in for debugging

If you used the Yeoman generator for Office Add-ins to create your add-in project, skip to the Configure and run the debugger section later in this article. When you run npm start to build your add-in and start the local server, the command also sets the UseDirectDebugger value of the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\WEF\Developer\[Add-in ID] registry key to mark your add-in for debugging.

Otherwise, if you used another tool to create your add-in, perform the following steps.

1. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\WEF\Developer\[Add-in ID] registry key. Replace [Add-in ID] with the <Id> from your add-in's manifest.

   Note

   If the Developer key (folder) doesn't already exist under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\WEF\, complete the following steps to create it.

   1. Right-click (or select and hold) the WEF key (folder) and select New > Key.
   2. Name the new key Developer.

2. Set the key's UseDirectDebugger value to 1.

Configure and run the debugger

Now that you've enabled debugging on your add-in, you're ready to configure and run the debugger. Step-by-step instructions are found in the article Debug add-ins on Windows using Visual Studio Code and Microsoft Edge WebView2.

See also

• Add-in commands
• Overview of debugging Office Add-ins
• Debug event-based and spam-reporting add-ins