steps to install xdebug on mac

macOS Big Sur - version 11.5.2 ;

PHP 8.0.7 (cli) (built: Jun  3 2021 18:50:48) ( NTS )
Copyright (c) The PHP Group
Zend Engine v4.0.7, Copyright (c) Zend Technologies
    with Xdebug v3.0.4, Copyright (c) 2002-2021, by Derick Rethans
    with Zend OPcache v8.0.7, Copyright (c), by Zend Technologies

install PHP with homebrew
install xdebug using this command: pecl install xdebug according to this answer on stackoverflow
run the command: php --ini to see the location of your .ini file. Open it in your editor. You will notice that the first line has zend_extension="xdebug.so" now add two more lines and you have:

; add this to your php.ini file
zend_extension="xdebug.so"
xdebug.mode=debug
xdebug.start_with_request=yes

You can read the guide for Upgrading from Xdebug 2 to 3

add the line below to your .zshrc file:

#add this to your .zshrc file
export XDEBUG_CONFIG="idekey=VSCODE"

install the PHP Debug extension

THE END

Sweet PHP Debugging in Four Minutes