How to debug a nodemon project in VSCode

Question

I have a NodeJs project and I run it using nodemon,
I wish to run it in debug mode for development tasks, but I am unable to do so.

I found that I'll need to add the right configuration to the launch.json file under .vscode folder,
I have a app.js file which is the main app file.
And the application runs on node version 4.6.2 and on Port 8080.
In usual case I run the App using npm run dev command.

Following is my launch.json file -

{     // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.     // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.     // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387     "version": "0.2.0",     "configurations": [         {             "type": "node",             "request": "launch",             "name": "MyApp",             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/app.js",             "runtimeVersion": "4.6.2",             "protocol": "legacy",             "port": 8080             //"runtimeExecutable": "/home/user/.nvm/versions/node/v4.6.2/bin/node"         },         {             "type": "node",             "request": "launch",             "name": "nodemon",             "runtimeExecutable": "nodemon",             "program": "${workspaceRoot}/app.js",             "restart": true,             "console": "integratedTerminal",             "internalConsoleOptions": "neverOpen",             "runtimeVersion": "4.6.2",             "protocol": "legacy",             "port": 8080         },         {             "type": "node",             "request": "launch",             "name": "DEBUG",             "runtimeExecutable": "nodemon",             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/app.js",             "restart": true,             "console": "integratedTerminal",             "internalConsoleOptions": "neverOpen",             "runtimeVersion": "4.6.2",             "protocol": "legacy",             "port": 8080         }     ] } 

The package.json is as follows -

{   "name": "myapp",   "description": "myapp",   "version": "1.35.0",   "private": true,   "scripts": {     "dev": "nodemon app.js",     "debug": "nodemon app.js"   },   "dependencies": {     "async": "1.3.0",     "aws-sdk": "2.7.20",     "aws-xray-sdk": "^2.1.0",     "aws-xray-sdk-restify": "^1.3.0-beta",     "bcrypt": "0.8.5",     "body-parser": "1.12.3",     "compression": "^1.7.0",     "connect-flash": "0.1.1",     "cookie-parser": "1.3.4",     "cron": "1.0.9",     "csurf": "^1.9.0",     "csvtojson": "^1.1.2",     "date-utils": "1.2.16",     "dotenv": "4.0.0",     "email-templates": "1.2.1",     "express": "4.12.3",     "express-handlebars": "2.0.0",     "express-jwt": "^5.1.0",     "express-mailer": "0.2.4",     "express-session": "1.11.1",     "express-validator": "3.1.3",     "handlebars": "^3.0.3",     "helmet": "^3.5.0",     "html-pdf": "1.4.0",     "json-2-csv": "2.0.12",     "jsonwebtoken": "^7.3.0",     "multer": "^0.1.8",     "mysql": "2.6.2",     "newrelic": "1.25.0",     "node-schedule": "^1.3.0",     "nodemailer": "^1.3.4",     "nodemailer-ses-transport": "1.2.0",     "passport": "0.2.1",     "passport-local": "1.0.0",     "path": "0.11.14",     "promise": "7.0.0",     "qs": "^2.4.1",     "replaceall": "0.1.6",     "request": "2.55.0",     "run-parallel": "1.1.0",     "validator": "^7.0.0",     "winston": "^2.3.1",     "winston-daily-rotate-file": "^1.7.0",     "xlsx": "0.8.8"   },   "devDependencies": {     "nodemon": "^1.17.3"   } } 

The App gets launched when I run the DEBUG and nodemon configurations,
But the code is not getting paused on the breakpoints I put on the app.js file.

Reference links -
1. https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-recipes/tree/master/nodemon
2. https://github.com/bdspen/nodemon_vscode
3. Can Visual Studio Code be configured to launch with nodemon
4. Cannot debug in VSCode by attaching to Chrome
5. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging

What changes are required in package.json, or any corrections in Launch configuration - launch.json, that would help me to debug the application in VSCode for my usecase?

Answer 1

Change package.json to

"scripts": {     "dev": "node app.js",     "debug": "nodemon --inspect app.js" } 

--inspect is for versions >= 6.3. --legacy or --auto for older versions

And launch.json to:

"version": "0.2.0", "configurations": [     {         "type": "node",         "request": "attach",         "name": "Node: Nodemon",         "processId": "${command:PickProcess}",         "restart": true,         "protocol": "inspector"     } ] 

the restart flag is the key here.

Start app via new debug script

npm run debug

• In Debug view, select the Node: Nodemon configuration and press play or F5
• Choose the process started above

See more: vscode nodemon recipe