Several weeks ago, when we reported on the JetBrains's roadmap for CLion 2025.2, we mentioned a specific gem called "Live Watches" as something to eagerly anticipate. Well, it feels like Christmas came a bit early for some, because that very feature has now made its way into the latest CLion 2025.2 Early Access Program build (252.18003.25).
Live Watches lets you monitor global variables as they change, live and in real-time, without hitting the pause button on your debugger or, more importantly, your program's execution. To get your hands on it, you will need to have Debug Servers enabled in your settings. Once that is set up, and you have configured your debug server, you can just run a debug session and pop open the "Live Watches" pane to add variables. For now, this feature works with SEGGER J-Link and ST-LINK debug servers, or a generic one connected to those probes.
Now, it's an EAP, so there are a few rough edges, and JetBrains is upfront about its current limitations: you will not get suggestions or autocompletion for variable names just yet, and watching complex data types like structures or peripheral registries is still on the to-do list. Also, settings for data format (like hex or binary) and data history with export options are not there, but the company plans to iron these out for the full CLion 2025.2 release.
The latest EAP build also brings the ability to skip non-user code when using "Step Into" during debugging. Plus, JetBrains has bundled CMake version 4.0.0, which means some older CMake project configurations might need a little tweak if they are using versions older than 3.5, but there are ways to manage that. If you are keen to try these new features, especially "Live Watches", you can grab the EAP build for free from JetBrains's website, through the Toolbox App, or as a snap package on Ubuntu.
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