ndebug
Using ndebug you can easily launch the Google Chrome developer tools to interactively debug your Node.js scripts while they run, providing a very pleasant and extremely producitive debugging workflow.
Under the hood, ndebug leverages the excellent node-inspector which handles all the complexity of connecting the Chrome developer tools to your running Node process. ndebug simply automates the otherwise combersome multi-step process normally required when using node-inspector by itself.
Prerequisites
- Currently runs only on Mac
- Node.js must be installed
- Google Chrome must be installed at the default location
/Applications/Google Chrome.app
Quick Start
Learn how to install and use ndebug in less than 2 minutes by watching this video. Or, continue reading...
Installation
Install ndebug globally using the following command...
$ sudo npm install -g ndebug
That's it!
Usage
To debug a Node.js script you're working on use the following command...
$ ndebug myscript.js
This will start your script, launch the Google Chrome developer tools, and pause your script's execution on the first line. At that point, you can add breakpoints and then resume execution of your code.
To pass arguments to your script simply append them after the command...
$ ndebug myscript.js apple banana
If, after your script has completed execution, you are not returned to a command prompt simply type Control-C to terminate the ndebug command.
To Note
This tool currently uses port 8543 for communication between Chrome and node-inspector. Customization of this port number may be provided in a future release.
Example
A simple example Node script has been provided for you to practice with. You'll find that example and instructions on how to use it here: