Agent skill · nousresearch
node-inspect-debugger
Debug Node.js via --inspect + Chrome DevTools Protocol CLI.
What it needs
About 6k tokens when loaded.
What this skill does
Node.js Inspect Debugger Overview When console.log isn't enough, drive Node's built-in V8 inspector programmatically from the terminal. You get real breakpoints, step in/over/out, call-stack walking, local/closure scope dumps, and arbitrary expression evaluation in the paused frame. Two tools, pick one: node inspect — built-in, zero install, CLI REPL. Best for quick poking. ndb / CDP via chrome-remote-interface — scriptable from Node/Python; best when you want to automate many breakpoints, collect state across runs, or debug non-interactively from an agent loop. Prefer node inspect first. It's always available and the REPL is fast. When to Use A Node test fails and you need to see intermediate state ui-tui crashes or behaves wrong and you want to inspect React/Ink state pre-render tuigateway child processes (SlashWorker, PTY bridge workers) misbehave You need to inspect a value in a closure that console.log can't reach without patching Perf: attach to a running process to capture a CPU profile or heap snapshot Don't use for: things console.log solves in under a minute. Breakpoint-driven debugging is heavier; use it when the payoff is real. Quick Reference: node inspect REPL Launch paused on first line: The debug> prompt accepts: Command Action --- --- c or cont continue n or next step over s or step step into o or out step out pause pause running code sb('file.js', 42) set breakpoint at file.js line 42 sb(42) set breakpoint at line 42 of current file sb('functionName') break when function is called cb('file.js', 42) clear breakpoint breakpoints list all breakpoints bt backtrace (call stack) list(5) show 5 lines of source around current position watch('expr') evaluate expr on every pause watchers show watched expressions repl drop into REPL in current scope (Ctrl+C to exit REPL) exec expr evaluate expression once restart restart script kill kill the script .exit quit debugger In the repl sub-mode: type any JS expression, including access to locals/closure variables. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills nousresearch/node-inspect-debugger--bc4eac