diff --git a/crates/dap/src/adapters.rs b/crates/dap/src/adapters.rs
index ebab0ecb1b..73e2881521 100644
--- a/crates/dap/src/adapters.rs
+++ b/crates/dap/src/adapters.rs
@@ -375,9 +375,10 @@ pub trait DebugAdapter: 'static + Send + Sync {
     ) -> Result<StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest> {
         let map = config.as_object().context("Config isn't an object")?;
 
-        let request_variant = map["request"]
-            .as_str()
-            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow!("request is not valid"))?;
+        let request_variant = map
+            .get("request")
+            .and_then(|val| val.as_str())
+            .context("request argument is not found or invalid")?;
 
         match request_variant {
             "launch" => Ok(StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest::Launch),
diff --git a/crates/dap_adapters/src/go.rs b/crates/dap_adapters/src/go.rs
index 8971605a5c..699b9f8ee8 100644
--- a/crates/dap_adapters/src/go.rs
+++ b/crates/dap_adapters/src/go.rs
@@ -289,7 +289,10 @@ impl DebugAdapter for GoDebugAdapter {
     ) -> Result<StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest> {
         let map = config.as_object().context("Config isn't an object")?;
 
-        let request_variant = map["request"].as_str().context("request is not valid")?;
+        let request_variant = map
+            .get("request")
+            .and_then(|val| val.as_str())
+            .context("request argument is not found or invalid")?;
 
         match request_variant {
             "launch" => Ok(StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest::Launch),
diff --git a/crates/dap_adapters/src/php.rs b/crates/dap_adapters/src/php.rs
index 1d787d9a68..cfb31c5bd5 100644
--- a/crates/dap_adapters/src/php.rs
+++ b/crates/dap_adapters/src/php.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use adapters::latest_github_release;
 use anyhow::Context as _;
 use anyhow::bail;
 use dap::StartDebuggingRequestArguments;
+use dap::StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest;
 use dap::adapters::{DebugTaskDefinition, TcpArguments};
 use gpui::{AsyncApp, SharedString};
 use language::LanguageName;
@@ -46,6 +47,13 @@ impl PhpDebugAdapter {
         })
     }
 
+    fn validate_config(
+        &self,
+        _: &serde_json::Value,
+    ) -> Result<StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest> {
+        Ok(StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest::Launch)
+    }
+
     async fn get_installed_binary(
         &self,
         delegate: &Arc<dyn DapDelegate>,
@@ -93,7 +101,7 @@ impl PhpDebugAdapter {
             envs: HashMap::default(),
             request_args: StartDebuggingRequestArguments {
                 configuration: task_definition.config.clone(),
-                request: dap::StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest::Launch,
+                request: self.validate_config(&task_definition.config)?,
             },
         })
     }
diff --git a/crates/dap_adapters/src/python.rs b/crates/dap_adapters/src/python.rs
index 1f0fdb7c3f..f9112d4137 100644
--- a/crates/dap_adapters/src/python.rs
+++ b/crates/dap_adapters/src/python.rs
@@ -201,7 +201,10 @@ impl DebugAdapter for PythonDebugAdapter {
     ) -> Result<StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest> {
         let map = config.as_object().context("Config isn't an object")?;
 
-        let request_variant = map["request"].as_str().context("request is not valid")?;
+        let request_variant = map
+            .get("request")
+            .and_then(|val| val.as_str())
+            .context("request is not valid")?;
 
         match request_variant {
             "launch" => Ok(StartDebuggingRequestArgumentsRequest::Launch),