SLAppForge Debugger for NodeJS

Debug Lambda functions live as they execute on AWS

SLAppForge Debugger for NodeJS is a toolkit that can be utilized to perform step-through debugging for the Lambda functions executing on live AWS environment, using your own local IDE.

Quick Start Guide

Get started Serverless debugging with the hands on content that will guide you on how to utilize SLAppForge Lambda Debugging Toolkit to remote debug live running AWS Lambda functions.

This toolkit has been currently tested with Jetbrains IntelliJ IDEA, Jetbrains WebStorm and VS Code IDEs. It might work with other IDEs that generally support NodeJS remote debugging.

How it works?

This toolkit contains 3 components as below.

1. Lambda Proxy
2. Local Client
3. Broker Server

Lambda Proxy

This is a NPM package that should be added as a dependency to the lambda project. Once added it acts as a wrapper for the actual lambda code by reaching up into the parent and swap the specified lambda handler with its own handler before the lambda code is executed. Then the proxy code takes over and launches the actual handler in as a child process.

Then this Lambda Proxy acts as the intermediary that exchanges V8 protocol messages between the lambda process and the remote broker server.

Local Client

This is a NPM command line tool that should be installed as a global package in the developer machine. Once invoked with the required parameters, it acts as the intermediary that exchanges V8 protocol messages between the IDE debugger and the remote broker server.

Broker Server

This is basically a WebSocket based server running on a publicly accessible IP. Both Lambda Proxy and the Local Client connect to this server and the server acts as the intermediary that exchanges V8 protocol messages between them.

In summary, Lambda Proxy, Broker Server and the Local Client connect together to create a WebSocket channel between the Lambda running on AWS and the IDE debugger on your local machine.