How do I debug Node.js applications?

How do I debug a Node.js server application?

Right now I'm mostly using *alert debugging* with print statements like this:

sys.puts(sys.inspect(someVariable));

There must be a better way to debug. I know that [Google Chrome][1] has a command-line debugger. Is this debugger available for Node.js as well?

[1]:

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Node.js version 0.3.4+ has built-in debugging support.

`node debug script.js`

Manual:

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[Theseus](

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) is a project by Adobe research which lets you debug your Node.js code in their Open Source editor [Brackets](

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). It has some interesting features like real-time code coverage, retroactive inspection, asynchronous call tree.


![screenshot][1]


[1]:

node-debug -p 8888 scriptFileName.js

If you need a powerful logging library for Node.js, [Tracer

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is a better choice.

It outputs log messages with a timestamp, file name, method name, line number, path or call stack, support color console, and support database, file, stream transport easily. I am the author.

I personally use [JetBrains WebStorm](

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) as it's the only JavaScript IDE that I've found which is great for both frontend and backend JavaScript.

It works on multiple OS's and has Node.js debugging built-in (as well as a ton of other stuff](

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).

My only 'issues'/wishlist items <del>are</del> **were**:

1. <del>It seems to be more resource hungry on Mac than Windows</del> It no longer seems an issue in version 6.
2. <del>It would be nice if it had Snippet support (like those of [Sublime Text 2]() - i.e. type 'fun' and tap 'tab' to put in a function.</del> See @WickyNilliams comment below - With Live Templates you also have snippet support.

Assuming you have node-inspector installed on your computer (if not, just type 'npm install -g node-inspector') you just have to run:

node-inspector & node --debug-brk scriptFileName.js

And paste the URI from the command line into a WebKit (Chrome / Safari) browser.

[Node.js Tools for Visual Studio][1] 2012 or 2013 includes a debugger. The overview [here][2] states "Node.js Tools for Visual Studio includes complete support for debugging node apps.". Being new to Node.js, but having a background in .NET, I've found this add in to be a great way to debug Node.js applications.

[1]:

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[2]:

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[IntelliJ][1] works wonderfully for Node.js.

In addition, IntelliJ supports 'Code Assistance' well.


[1]:

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Just for completeness:

The [PyCharm 3.0 + Node.js Plugin offers an awesome development + run + debug experience][1].

[1]:

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