Debug Hexo with VS Code

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Background

I need to add the code highlighting feature for ABAP language in Hexo, so I would need to debug the Hexo Node.js application. The tool I am using is Visual Studio Code.

The code for programing language is highlighted when the website files are generated from markdown files using Hexo command hexo generate. Actually, the hexo command hexo generate is the abbreviation for node <hexo_base_folder>/node_modules/hexo/node_modules/hexo-cli/bin/hexo generate. So, I will use the configuration Node.js: Launch Program in VS code to debug the Hexo application.

Steps to debug Hexo application

  1. Open the Hexo base folder in Visual Studio Code.

  2. Switch to Debug view, and choose Add Configuration... in the No Configuration dropdown box

  3. In the configuration file launch.json, choose {} Node.js: Launch Program, change the program parameter for the Hexo bin file location, and add a parameter args with value generate manually or by pressing Ctrl + Space. Save the configuration file.

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    {
        // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
        // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
        // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
        "version": "0.2.0",
        "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "node",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/node_modules/hexo/node_modules/hexo-cli/bin/hexo",
            "args": [
                "generate"
            ]
        }
        ]
    }

  4. Open a JavaScript file in VS code, like <hexo base folder>\node_modules\hexo\node_modules\hexo-cli\lib\hexo.js, and add a breakpoint in it

  5. Press the Start debugging button to start debugging, and the VS Code debugger will stop at the breakpoint.

    You will find the below information in DEBUG CONSOLE.

    node –inspect-brk=25386 node_modules\hexo\node_modules\hexo-cli\bin\hexo generate
    Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:25386/f253557e-17e7-4480-aa80-88b839ed4fe2