Debug Node Express Project From Visual Studio Code

In this tutorial, you’ll learn a quick tip on how to debug Node Express project from visual studio code.

Let’s start by creating a simple Express web app. Create a folder called basicExpress. Navigate to the folder and initialize the Node project.

mkdir basicExpress
cd basicExpress
npm init

Once you have the project created, create a file called app.js. You’ll be using express framework, so install express using npm.

# install express using npm
npm install express --save

Add the following code to app.js .

const express = require('express')
const app = express()
const port = 3000

app.get('/', (req, res) => {
    res.send('How to Debug Node Express App !')
});

app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Example app listening on port ${port}!`))

Debug Node Express Project From Visual Studio Code

Now go to the Debug option in Visual Studio Code and click on the Start Debugging option.

[caption id=“attachment_1538” align=“aligncenter” width=“720”] Debug Node Express Using Visual Studio Code[/caption]

Now the application will be running at http://localhost:3000 in debug mode. Add a breakpoint inside / route inside app.js code.

[caption id=“attachment_1539” align=“aligncenter” width=“720”] Add Breakpoint Visual Studio Code[/caption]

When the / route gets hit the break point will come into action and you can debug your code.

You can also follow the YouTube video to learn how to debug express node web app in visual studio code.