Latex debugger?

Question

Are there any debugging capabilities in latex or any gui editors? That is, is there a way I can view the value of variables, commands, memory etc during compiling and at the exact moment compilation fails? Latex error messages are so vague and often are not enough to find what is wrong with my code.

tex messages are usually pretty accurate if you read them carefully, you can always increase \errorcontextlines to see more detail. \tracingall gives a full log of all expansions — David Carlisle, Oct 21 '22 at 06:17
See also tools - How to best debug LaTeX? - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange but... — user202729, Oct 21 '22 at 06:21
"view the value of variables, commands, memory etc" it sounds like you're not very familiar with how TeX works. Even if you're present with a debugger it wouldn't help much. If you really want, start with reading package writing - Where do I start LaTeX programming? - TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange but it's a horrible programming language, I say. — user202729, Oct 21 '22 at 06:22
@user202729 Looking at variables and commands using \show/\showthe seems a reasonable request — Joseph Wright, Oct 21 '22 at 07:05
Maybe not really what you're after, and doesn't work for everything, but there is the lovely package unravel! — Skillmon, Oct 21 '22 at 09:12
@JosephWright Was partially talking about how OP talks about "variables" and "memory" like in a typical programming language. Technically here everything are commands (kind of) and there's the concept of "input stream" but yes if it comes from someone who is good at TeX programming I'd have no problem with it — user202729, Oct 21 '22 at 19:13

Latex debugger?

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