Three ways to activate an inspector in Node.js
There are multiple methods to activate the Node.js inspector. I used to use two ways but recently learned about a third one, so I published this quick post to share it with you. Have a look!
node --inspect index.mjs
node --inspect-brk index.mjs
NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect' node index.mjs
Activating an inspector using a NODE_OPTIONS environment variable is handy for debugging a process that runs node indirectly.
NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect' gatsby serve
NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect' next dev
NODE_OPTIONS='--inspect' jest
If you are new to Node.js debugger, I published two articles in the past that you may find helpful — “Basic Node.js debugging in Google Chrome” and “Continue, Step Over, Step Into and Step Out actions in Visual Studio Code debugger explained”. I hope that helps!