Debugger doesn't properly catch execution in TypeScript

[antoineol]

Issue Type: Bug

When:

I started noticing the issue today. It has likely started today or in the past few days.
The only noticeable actions are VSCode and docker updates that have been installed recently. I can't relate it to any other event (no change in the dev env, stack, tooling...)

What:

• When I start the debugger client, it seems to connect to the app as expected.
• If I add a breakpoint through VSCode code editor, it does NOT catch the execution.
• If I add a "debugger" keyword, it catches the execution and I can see the variable and their values. BUT:
  • The code editor does NOT show the current line the execution is on
  • The call stack is shown but grayed, with "Unknown Source" for all entries. Clicking them does not seem to do anything in the code editor.

Screenshot illustrating those:

The breakpoint was skipped. In this screenshot, the execution is paused on the debugger instruction (I can check it with the variables panel). No highlight and "Unknown Source" in the stacktrace.

The line number in the stack trace matches the JS file, not the TS file.

What I tried:

• Downgrade VSCode to 1.67.1 and 1.67.0, no luck.
• Downgrade Docker Desktop to 4.8.1, no luck.
• Reinstalling both (latest version), no luck.

Maybe it's related to a plugin (core or external) update? But I have no idea how to downgrade them, so I couldn't check.

Environment info

• VSCode UI is running on Windows
• The source code is on WSL2, and I'm using the "Remote - WSL" extension to open the source code.
• The nodejs app is running on a Docker container (in WSL2). So it's a "remote" debugging.
• The nodejs app (NestJS) starts with the command: nest start --watch --debug 0.0.0.0:9229
• VSCode attaches the debugger with a config in launch.js (workspace):

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Docker: Attach to Node",
      "type": "node",
      "request": "attach",
      "restart": true,
      "remoteRoot": "/app",
      "localRoot": "${workspaceFolder}/backend-clapy"
    }
  ]
}

When running the node app in WSL2 directly (not inside a docker container), it works as expected.

---

VS Code version: Code 1.67.0 (57fd6d0, 2022-05-04T12:06:02.889Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.19044
Restricted Mode: No
Remote OS version: Linux x64 5.10.60.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz (4 x 2904)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on oop_rasterization: enabled opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	31.89GB (13.79GB free)
Process Argv	--crash-reporter-id 1f4c768f-1a7b-4358-bdc4-d730daa1828d
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Item	Value
Remote	WSL: Ubuntu-20.04
OS	Linux x64 5.10.60.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
CPUs	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz (4 x 2904)
Memory (System)	24.97GB (19.10GB free)
VM	0%

Extensions (20)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
vscode-eclipse-keybindings	alp	0.16.0
tsl-problem-matcher	amo	0.6.2
dotenv	mik	1.0.1
vscode-language-pack-fr	MS-	1.67.3
remote-containers	ms-	0.234.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.66.3
mdx	sil	0.1.0
svg-preview	Sim	2.8.3
vscode-css-modules	cli	0.4.1
css-theme-completions	con	0.0.4
vscode-eslint	dba	2.2.2
gitlens	eam	12.0.6
vscode-html-css	ecm	1.12.2
code-runner	for	0.11.7
vscode-graphql	Gra	0.4.4
git-graph	mhu	1.30.0
vscode-docker	ms-	1.22.0
vscode-language-pack-fr	MS-	1.67.3
LiveServer	rit	5.7.5
vscode-surround	yat	1.3.0

A/B Experiments

vsliv368cf:30146710
vsreu685:30147344
python383cf:30185419
vspor879:30202332
vspor708:30202333
vspor363:30204092
vswsl492cf:30256860
pythonvspyl392:30443607
pythontb:30283811
pythonvspyt551cf:30345471
pythonptprofiler:30281270
vshan820:30294714
vstes263:30335439
pythondataviewer:30285071
vscod805:30301674
pythonvspyt200:30340761
binariesv615:30325510
bridge0708:30335490
bridge0723:30353136
vsaa593cf:30376535
vsc1dst:30438360
pythonvs932:30410667
wslgetstarted:30449410
pythonvsnew555:30457759
vscscmwlcmt:30465135
cppdebug:30492333
vsclangdc:30486549

[vscodenpa]

Thanks for creating this issue! It looks like you may be using an old version of VS Code, the latest stable release is 1.67.2. Please try upgrading to the latest version and checking whether this issue remains.

Happy Coding!

[roblourens]

What language or debug extension are you using? Please file this on the repo for the debug extension

[antoineol]

Thanks for the quick answer! I'm using TypeScript and I'm debugging using the embedded debugger.

I think I omitted an important piece (I've just edited):

Environment info

• VSCode UI is running on Windows
• The source code is on WSL2, and I'm using the "Remote - WSL" extension to open the source code.
• The nodejs app is running on a Docker container (in WSL2). So it's a "remote" debugging.
• The nodejs app (NestJS) starts with the command: nest start --watch --debug 0.0.0.0:9229
• VSCode attaches the debugger with a config in launch.js (workspace):

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Docker: Attach to Node",
      "type": "node",
      "request": "attach",
      "restart": true,
      "remoteRoot": "/app",
      "localRoot": "${workspaceFolder}/backend-clapy"
    }
  ]
}

Should I file it here: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-remote-release ?

[antoineol]

I added a screenshot above to illustrate the breakpoint thing. I also tried to reinstall VSCode + Docker, no luck :(

I don't know what else I can try to get back to a working debugging environment.

[antoineol]

Update: when I run the nodejs app in WSL2 directly (not inside a docker container), the debugger works as expected. I use it as a workaround now.

Another tip, just in case: the docker container debugging works from WebStorm (although they have another issue with their config, I assume unrelated).

[roblourens]

Not sure what's going on, but @connor4312 will need a log. From vscode-js-debug repo:

If you're able to, add `"trace": true` to your `launch.json` and reproduce the issue. The location of the log file on your disk will be written to the Debug Console. Share that with us.

⚠️ This log file will not contain source code, but will contain file paths. You can drop it into https://microsoft.github.io/vscode-pwa-analyzer/index.html to see what it contains. If you'd rather not share the log publicly, you can email it to connor@xbox.com

[antoineol]

Thanks! I've just sent 2 log files to Connor by email. Each log is on a different docker image, cf below.

It's super weird, now the debugging works almost well: the breakpoints are caught and the UI shows all the line highlights and other stuff...
Except that it's debugging in the compiled JS code instead of the source TS file.
I can't be sure whether it's a vscode issue, sourcemap issue... because I have changed nothing significant since last time it ran well.

What I did today: I tried another docker image to run the node app (node 16-alpine instead of 14-slim), but I have restored the previous version (altough maybe more up-to-date) and I have the new behavior (debug in JS) in both cases.
So it doesn't seem related, but I mention it because it's the only thing I've done in the node app that would have anything to do with debugging :)

No other idea.

In the meanwhile, I work with node running outside docker containers, as mentioned previously. The debugging works well there.

[connor4312]

Back from vacation 👋 And thanks for the logs.

It looks like in both the log files you sent, the remoteRoot is not configured. This is necessary in order to figure out how to map paths between your remote (in this case a docker container) and your local computer. Though in your comments it does look like it's set correctly -- can you make sure everything is set up like you commented?

If the remoteRoot is configured like it says it the comments, then it'll expect the compiled file to locally be at ${workspaceFolder}/dist/features/export-code/2-create-ts-compiler.js. If that's there then I'd expect it to work.

[antoineol]

Hey @connor4312 , hope you enjoyed your vacation!

Well, it seems the issue is now resolved, I have the debugging interface as it was back in the time :) Either I did something wrong I couldn't identify (and I fixed it, no idea how), or something was fixed somewhere in the background.

I confirm the config from my tests 3 weeks ago included the remoteRoot. And when it broke, I hadn't changed the config previously as far as I can remember.

But for the logs I've sent, they were probably missing the remoteRoot. I found I introduced another launch configuration without it 2 weeks ago, probably when testing around things, and I didn't realize I was breaking it. But the config 3 weeks ago was fine, so it doesn't explain the initial issue. Sorry for the misleading logs.

For the initial issue, all good on my side. Should I close this issue?

[connor4312]

Cool, thanks for confirming!

It sounds like this was just some confusion of the launch configs, so I'll go ahead and close this. If you run into further problems, do not hesitate to open issues 🙂