pydevd-pycharm

What it is and what it does

PyCharm's debugger backend is a Python package that lets you attach a debugger to a Python process running on a remote machine and connect it to the PyCharm or PyDev IDE on your local machine. Normally this backend is bundled with the IDE itself; you only install it separately when you need to debug code running elsewhere—for example, in a container, on a server, or in a CI environment—and want to use your local IDE's debugger UI to step through it.

The package provides the `settrace()` function, which you call in your remote code to establish a connection back to your IDE. It supports a wide range of Python implementations and versions, including CPython, Jython, IronPython, and PyPy. Recent versions include Cython-based speedup modules for performance.

Use it for:

• Debug a Python application running in a Docker container or remote server by connecting to PyCharm on your local machine.
• Attach the debugger to a long-running process on another machine without manually copying debugger sources from the IDE.
• Step through and inspect code running in a CI/CD pipeline or cloud environment using your local PyCharm IDE.
• Debug Python code on a machine where PyCharm is not installed, using only pip and the IDE on your development machine.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

PyCharm's debugger backend for remote debugging of Python processes running on other machines via `pydevd_pycharm.settrace()`.

Yes, if you do remote debugging and your IDE is not already bundled with the debugger backend. No, if you use PyCharm or PyDev on the same machine where your code runs—the IDE already includes this. The high install friction (precompiled binary distribution) and explicit warning in the description make this a specialized tool, not a general-purpose package.

Install

pydevd-pycharm on PyPI

pip install pydevd-pycharm

uv add pydevd-pycharm

poetry add pydevd-pycharm

Installing pydevd-pycharm

Before you install

High install friction: the package is a compiled binary distribution (tar.gz with precompiled modules). The description explicitly warns that the debugger backend should NOT be installed separately if your IDE already bundles it. Only install this when doing remote debugging on a machine without PyCharm or PyDev.

License in practice

Apache 2.0 is permissive; you can use this package in commercial and private projects without restriction, though you must include a copy of the license.

Quickstart

pip install pydevd-pycharm

import pydevd_pycharm
pydevd_pycharm.settrace(host='10.1.1.1')

Requires PyCharm or PyDev IDE running on another machine to receive the debugger connection; this is a backend-only package.

Verify before relying

• Whether precompiled binaries are available for your specific Python version and platform (fact sheet does not enumerate supported wheels).
• Whether the package works correctly with Python 2.6 as claimed, or if modern versions have dropped that support.

Package facts

Evidence: pydevd_pycharm-262.8665.186.tar.gz

Keywords: pydev, pydevd, pydev.debugger, pycharm

Tags

More Debuggers packages