puppeteer/docs/guides/debugging.md
jrandolf 8c9308d3dc
docs: remove unsupported debugging method (#9182)
`ndb` is no longer maintained.
2022-10-28 11:04:05 +02:00

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# Debugging
Debugging with Puppeteer can be an arduous task. There is no _single_ method for
debugging all possible issues since Puppeteer touches many distinct components
of a browser such as network requests and Web APIs. On a high note, Puppeteer
provides _several_ methods for debugging which hopefully does cover all possible
issues.
## Background
In general, there are two possible sources of an issue: Code running on Node.js
(which we call _server code_), and
[code running in the browser](<[`Page.evaluate()`](../api/puppeteer.page.evaluate)>)
(which we call _client code_). There is also a third possible source being the
browser itself (which we call _internal code_), but if you suspect this is the
source **after attempting the methods below**, we suggest
[searching existing issues](https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/issues)
before
[filing an issue](https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/issues/new/choose).
## Debugging methods for all situations
These methods can be used to debug any situation. These should be used as a
quick sanity check before diving into more complex methods.
### Turn off [`headless`](../api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.headless)
Sometimes it's useful to see what the browser is displaying. Instead of
launching in
[`headless`](../api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.headless) mode,
launch a full version of the browser with
[`headless`](../api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.headless) set to
`false`:
```ts
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({headless: false});
```
### Puppeteer "slow-mo"
The [`slowMo`](../api/puppeteer.browserconnectoptions.slowmo) option slows down
Puppeteer operations by a specified amount of milliseconds. It's another way to
help see what's going on.
```ts
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
headless: false,
slowMo: 250, // slow down by 250ms
});
```
## Debugging methods for client code
### Capture `console.*` output
Since client code runs in the browser, doing `console.*` in client code will not
directly log to Node.js. However, you can [listen](../api/puppeteer.page.on) for
the [`console`](../api/puppeteer.pageeventobject.console) event which returns a
payload with the logged text.
```ts
page.on('console', msg => console.log('PAGE LOG:', msg.text()));
await page.evaluate(() => console.log(`url is ${location.href}`));
```
### Use the debugger in the browser
1. Set [`devtools`](../api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.devtools) to
`true` when launching Puppeteer:
```ts
const browser = await puppeteer.launch({devtools: true});
```
2. Add `debugger` inside any client code you want debugged. For example,
```ts
await page.evaluate(() => {
debugger;
});
```
The Browser will now stop in the location the `debugger` word is found in
debug mode.
## Debugging methods for server code
### Use the debugger in Node.js (Chrome/Chromium-only)
Since server code intermingles with client code, this method of debugging is
closely tied with the browser. For example, you can step over
`await page.click()` in the server script and see the click happen in the
browser.
Note that you won't be able to run `await page.click()` in DevTools console due
to this
[Chromium bug](https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=833928), so
if you want to try something out, you have to add it to your test file.
1. Set [`headless`](../api/puppeteer.browserlaunchargumentoptions.headless) to
`false`.
2. Add `debugger` to any server code you want debugged. For example,
```ts
debugger;
await page.click('a[target=_blank]');
```
3. Run your server code with `--inspect-brk`. For example,
```sh
node --inspect-brk path/to/script.js
```
4. In the opened Chrome/Chromium browser, open `chrome://inspect/#devices` and
click `inspect`.
5. In the newly opened test browser, press `F8` to resume test execution.
6. Now your `debugger` statement will be hit and you can debug in the test
browser.
### Log DevTools protocol traffic
If all else fails, it's possible there may be an issue between Puppeteer and the
DevTools protocol. You can debug this by setting the `DEBUG` environment
variable before running your script. This will log internal traffic via
[`debug`](https://github.com/visionmedia/debug) under the `puppeteer` namespace.
```sh
# Basic verbose logging
env DEBUG="puppeteer:*" node script.js
# Protocol traffic can be rather noisy. This example filters out all Network domain messages
env DEBUG="puppeteer:*" env DEBUG_COLORS=true node script.js 2>&1 | grep -v '"Network'
```