How to debug a Cordova's hook?

Question

I was wondering if is it possible to debug a javascript hook in Cordova?

My hook is triggered before prepare. My command is

cordova prepare ios

I currently use Visual Studio Code and there is a plugin "Cordova tools" to debug an app at runtime. But my need is to debug at build time.

Any recommandation?

PS : what I mean with debug is real debug, that is to say with breakpoints and display of variables, etc..

Answer 1

Updated answer 25 Nov 2019

Since node-inspector is deprecated, here is how I would now do this:

• Open chrome://inspect in Chrome browser
• Run node --inspect --inspect-brk /path/to/node_modules/cordova/bin/cordova prepare from the root of my Cordova app project which contains the hook scripts I wish to debug
• In the Chrome tab, press inspect on the target to open Chrome Dev Tools
• Under Filesystem tab, select Add folder to workspace and select the directory inside my Cordova project containing the hook scripts
• Add a breakpoint to my hook script
• Press Play in Chrome Dev Tools to proceed and hit my breakpoint

Original answer 7 Jun 2017 Here's how I debug my hook scripts:

• Install node inspector: npm install -g node-inspector

• From the Cordova project root directory, run the Cordova command via node inspector with appropriate options to trigger my hook script, for example:

  node-debug /path/to/node_modules/cordova/bin/cordova prepare

• When node inspector opens in a Chrome tab, browse Sources to find your hook script

• Add a breakpoint
• Press Resume to continue execution to your breakpoint
• Then you can interactively debug your hook script: