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Justino Contingo
Justino Contingo

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Debugging Node.js? console.log isn't enough anymore

#node #debug #typescript

We've all been there.

Deeply nested objects. Circular references. Repeated structures.

At some point, you stop debugging and start trying to understand what you're even looking at.

That's why I built DumpKit — a small debugging tool inspired by Laravel's dump() and dd(), designed for Node.js.

import { dump } from 'dumpkit';

dump(complexObject);
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It handles common debugging pain points:

  • Safe handling of circular references
  • Support for shared references
  • Large and deeply nested structures

You can also inspect data in different formats:

dump(data, { view: 'tree' });   // hierarchical view
dump(data, { view: 'table' });  // structured collections
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Another useful feature is dump and pause (dp):

await dp(data);
// Execution pauses until you press ENTER
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This makes it easier to inspect application state at critical points in execution.

DumpKit also exposes a structured internal representation (AnalysisNode), which can be used to build custom debugging tools on top of it.

DumpKit doesn't replace the console.

It simply gives you more clarity when complexity grows beyond simple logs.

Debugging isn't just about finding bugs — it's about understanding structure.

GitHub: https://github.com/Justino-code/dumpkit

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