debugger - Node.js v0.5.3 Manual & Documentation

## Debugger

V8 comes with an extensive debugger which is accessible out-of-process via a simple TCP protocol. Node has a built-in client for this debugger. To use this, start Node with the `debug` argument; a prompt will appear:

    % node debug myscript.js
    debug>

At this point `myscript.js` is not yet running. To start the script, enter the command `run`. If everything works okay, the output should look like this:

    % node debug myscript.js
    debug> run
    debugger listening on port 5858
    connecting...ok

Node's debugger client doesn't support the full range of commands, but simple step and inspection is possible. By putting the statement `debugger;` into the source code of your script, you will enable a breakpoint.

For example, suppose `myscript.js` looked like this:

    // myscript.js
    x = 5;
    setTimeout(function () {
      debugger;
      console.log("world");
    }, 1000);
    console.log("hello");

Then once the debugger is run, it will break on line 4.

    % ./node debug myscript.js
    debug> run
    debugger listening on port 5858
    connecting...ok
    hello
    break in #<an Object>._onTimeout(), myscript.js:4
      debugger;
      ^
    debug> next
    break in #<an Object>._onTimeout(), myscript.js:5
      console.log("world");
      ^
    debug> print x
    5
    debug> print 2+2
    4
    debug> next
    world
    break in #<an Object>._onTimeout() returning undefined, myscript.js:6
    }, 1000);
    ^
    debug> quit
    A debugging session is active. Quit anyway? (y or n) y
    %

The `print` command allows you to evaluate variables. The `next` command steps over to the next line. There are a few other commands available and more to come type `help` to see others.

### Advanced Usage

The V8 debugger can be enabled and accessed either by starting Node with the `--debug` command-line flag or by signaling an existing Node process with `SIGUSR1`.