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Node.js did come with a built-in debugger.

How to use

1. Add breakpoint into code

To add a breakpoint, add this line of code:

debugger;

Yup, just 1 word to break there.

2. Run in debug mode

Say the script you run is app.js, you will run node with a debug.

node debug app.js

Your script will run and break on the line as specified.

For example:

break in /some/path/app.js:1
  1 x = 5;
  2 setTimeout(function () {
  3   debugger;
debug>

3. The commands to stepping around

At this point of time, you can issue the following commands to step around the code:

• c - Continue execution
• n - Step next
• s - Step in
• o - Step out
• pause - Pause running code

Or these commands for breakpoints:

• sb() - Set breakpoint on current line
• sb(line) - Set breakpoint on specific line
• sb('fn()') - Set breakpoint on a first statement in functions body
• sb('script.js', 1) - Set breakpoint on first line of script.js
• cb - Clear breakpoint

Or more info:

• bt - Print backtrace of current execution frame
• list(5) - List scripts source code with 5 line context (5 lines before and after)
• watch(expr) - Add expression to watch list
• unwatch(expr) - Remove expression from watch list
• watchers - List all watchers and their values (automatically listed on each breakpoint)

Bonus: REPL

This is one of the best feature. It kinds of like code inspection in interative mode.

• repl - Open debugger’s repl for evaluation in debugging script’s context

Nice tool from node (even better than Python)!