debug doesn't work on node v6

[Mirodil]

• VSCode Version: 1.0.0
• OS Version: Windows 10

Steps to Reproduce:

1. install node v6
2. generate express application
3. open the app folder with vscode
4. open console and run node --debug bin\www
5. attache to node process with vscode
6. set break point to users.js:line:6
7. and navigate in the web browser to '/users'

it works with node v5.10

[bpasero]

@weinand @isidorn fyi, node 6 was just released last week with V8 50.

[isidorn]

@weinand mentioned that we have not yet tested node v6 and that he is planning to take a look once he is back from vacation. I think Andre is back from vacation this week so forwarding to him.

[Mirodil]

the same issue with NodeJS v6.1.0 and VSCode 1.1.0

[weinand]

@Mirodil are you debugging node v6 with VS Code 1.1 in 'attach' mode? If yes, please launch node with --debug-brk instead of --debug. Does it make a difference?

[Mirodil]

yes, it works with --debug-brk flag

[weinand]

@Mirodil thanks for trying. Here is the explanation:

VS Code injects code into node.js to work around slowness issues with large data structures. For reasons we do not yet understand this injected code fixes the issue in node v6 that requesting the call stack results in an "Internal error: illegal access" error.
VS Code injects the code with an 'evaluate' request.
The injected code uses a require(...) which is only available if node is stopped. This is only the case if node is started with --debug-brk.
If only --debug is used, code injection fails and our magic 'fix' cannot work.

We hope that the node v6 issue will be eventually fixed.

[Mirodil]

thank you, I got it

[weinand]

Node-inspector has the same issue: node-inspector/node-inspector#864

Since code injection fixes the issue for the --debug-brk case, we only have to find a way to inject code when node has been started with --debug.

I've verified that debugging node v6 works in VS Code 1.1 if node has been started with --debug-brk.

[stevehipwell]

+1

[weinand]

I found a way to inject code into a node.js started with --debug. This fixes the initial problem.
The fix will be available in VS Code - alpha.

[matthiasg]

It is possible there is still an issue when a 'proxied' accessor method is used ?
I have VSC 1.7.1 and node 6.9.1 on Win10 x64 and whenever i debug onto a call accessing a proxied getter function the debugger just halts. Calling the getter in the Debug Console outputs illegal access.

Normal running of the code with attached debugger works fine.

[weinand]

@matthiasg yes, proxies are a problem with the old node debugger of VS Code. Please try the new node debugger by using the debug type "node2" in your launch config.