Ironbee Node Devtools Cli

IronBee Node DevTools CLI

Command-line interface for non-blocking debugging of Node.js backend processes. Part of IronBee DevTools. Connects via the Inspector Protocol (Chrome DevTools Protocol) and provides tracepoints, logpoints, exceptionpoints, and watch expressions without pausing execution.

Installation

# Install this skill (skills.sh)
npx skills add ironbee-ai/ironbee-devtools-skills

# Install the CLI binary (same package as the rest of IronBee DevTools)
npm install -g @ironbee-ai/devtools

Port note

The browser CLI (ironbee-devtools-cli / ironbee-browser-devtools-cli) and the node CLI both default to daemon port 2020. If you want both daemons running at once, start the node daemon on a different port and pass --port to every node CLI call:

PLATFORM=node ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon start --port 2021
ironbee-node-devtools-cli --port 2021 debug connect --pid 12345

Quick Start

# 1. Start daemon (if not running)
ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon start

# 2. Connect to a Node.js process (by PID)
ironbee-node-devtools-cli --session-id my-debug debug connect --pid 12345

# 3. Set a tracepoint on server.js line 42
ironbee-node-devtools-cli --session-id my-debug debug put-tracepoint \
  --url-pattern "server.js" \
  --line-number 42

# 4. Trigger the code path (e.g., make API request to your app)
# 5. Get captured snapshots
ironbee-node-devtools-cli --session-id my-debug --json debug get-probe-snapshots

Global Options

| Option | Description | Default | |--------|-------------|---------| | --port | Daemon server port | 2020 | | --session-id | Session for Node connection persistence | auto | | --json | Output as JSON (recommended for AI) | false | | --quiet | Suppress log messages | false | | --verbose | Enable debug output | false | | --timeout | Operation timeout | 30000 |

AI Agent Recommended:

ironbee-node-devtools-cli --json --quiet --session-id "debug-session" 

Tool Domains

| Domain | Description | Reference | |--------|-------------|-----------| | debug | Connection, tracepoints, logpoints, exceptionpoints, watch, snapshots | [debug](./references/debug.md) | | o11y | Outbound HTTP capture (get/clear-http-requests; in-process agent, proxy-free) + W3C trace context (new-trace-id, set/get-trace-context; traceparent injected on egress) | [o11y](./references/o11y.md) | | scenario | Reusable JS scripts (add, update, delete, list, search, run; scenario-run is a direct subcommand, optional typed params contract) — full surface registered on the node CLI; see the [scenario](./references/scenario.md) reference. Note: the page binding is browser-only; inside a node scenario script only callTool is available. | | execute | Batch JavaScript execution (run execute; CLI and MCP) — see the [execute](./references/execute.md) reference. Note: the page binding is browser-only; on node only callTool is available inside the VM. |

Connection Methods

Connect via debug connect with one of:

| Method | Option | Example | |--------|--------|---------| | PID | --pid | --pid 12345 | | Process name | --process-name | --process-name "server.js" | | Docker container | --container-id or --container-name | --container-name my-api | | Inspector port | --inspector-port | --inspector-port 9229 | | WebSocket URL | --ws-url | --ws-url "ws://127.0.0.1:9229/abc" |

If the process doesn't have --inspect active, the CLI activates it via SIGUSR1 (no code changes). For Docker: expose port 9229 and use --inspect=0.0.0.0:9229.

CLI Management Commands

Daemon

ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon status
ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon start
ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon stop
ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon restart
ironbee-node-devtools-cli daemon info

Session

ironbee-node-devtools-cli session list
ironbee-node-devtools-cli session info 
ironbee-node-devtools-cli session delete 

Tools

ironbee-node-devtools-cli tools list
ironbee-node-devtools-cli tools search 
ironbee-node-devtools-cli tools info 

Config & Updates

ironbee-node-devtools-cli config
ironbee-node-devtools-cli update --check

Examples

Connect by PID

SESSION="--session-id api-debug"

# Connect
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION debug connect --pid $(pgrep -f "node server.js")

# Set tracepoint on route handler
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION debug put-tracepoint \
  --url-pattern "routes/api.ts" \
  --line-number 25

# Trigger: curl http://localhost:3000/api/users
# Get snapshots
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION --json debug get-probe-snapshots

Connect by Process Name

ironbee-node-devtools-cli debug connect --process-name "api"

Docker Container

# App runs in container with -p 9229:9229
ironbee-node-devtools-cli debug connect \
  --container-name my-node-app \
  --host host.docker.internal \
  --inspector-port 9229

Exception Catching

SESSION="--session-id exc-debug"

ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION debug connect --pid 12345
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION debug put-exceptionpoint --state uncaught

# Trigger error in app
# Check snapshots
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION --json debug get-probe-snapshots --types exceptionpoint

Outbound HTTP Capture (egress)

SESSION="--session-id egress-debug"

# Connect, then start capture (first call installs the in-process agent — forward-looking)
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION debug connect --process-name "server.js"
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION --json o11y get-http-requests

# Trigger the code path, then read what the process called downstream
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION --json o11y get-http-requests --url-pattern "*/api/*" --include-headers

# Pin a trace id — the agent injects it as traceparent on every hooked outbound request
ironbee-node-devtools-cli $SESSION --json o11y new-trace-id

Batch with execute

# Run JavaScript in the session VM — node platform only exposes callTool (no `page`)
ironbee-node-devtools-cli run execute --code "await callTool('debug_status', {}, true); await callTool('debug_list-probes', {}, true);"

Interactive Mode

ironbee-node-devtools-cli interactive

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | help | Show commands | | exit, quit | Exit | | debug connect | Connect to process | | debug status | Connection status | | | Execute tool |

Shell Completions

eval "$(ironbee-node-devtools-cli completion bash)"
eval "$(ironbee-node-devtools-cli completion zsh)"

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: ironbee-ai
• Source: ironbee-ai/ironbee-devtools-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://ironbee.ai/products/ironbee-devtools

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.