WebStorm Node.js TypeScript Express debug stuck on connecting to localhost

Question

I'm trying to debug my TypeScript Express app using WebStorm.

I have this debug script in package.json

"scripts": {
    ...
    "debug": "node --inspect-brk=9229 --require ts-node/register -r tsconfig-paths/register server.ts"
}

I run npm run debug in the command line and the following loads

Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:9229/<somerandomid>
For help see https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector

Now I am able to debug from Chrome inspector by going to Chrome, type in chrome://inspect/ and server.ts would appear in Remote Target, and I can debug the TypeScript by clicking inspect. Hence I know that the problem is not my node.js configuration side.

The problem is, I can't debug when using WebStorm.

I tried the following WebStorm debug configuration:

Attach to Node.js/Chrome
Host: localhost
Port: 9229
Attach to: Chrome or Node.js > 6.3 started with --inspect

but when I debug in WebStorm the debugger keeps on saying "Connecting to localhost:9229" and nothing happens. It doesn't go to breakpoints even though I have set breakpoints in server.ts etc

I tried disabling firewall, still doesn't work. Tried using --inspect instead of --inspect-brk , still doesn't work.

What am I doing wrong, and how can I get WebStorm to debug into breakpoints using my node.js Express TypeScript configuration?

Answer 1

Works fine for me using your way to start the app/attach the debugger. What WebStorm version do you use? here are 2 other ways to debug your app:

• using Node.js run configuration (create similar configuration and press Debug ):

• using NPM run configuration:

  1. change your script to "debug": "node %NODE_DEBUG_OPTION% --require ts-node/register -r tsconfig-paths/register server.ts" (if you are on Linux/Mac OSX, replace %NODE_DEBUG_OPTION% with $NODE_DEBUG_OPTION

  2. click the arrow in the gutter, choose Debug