TTD (Time Travel Debugging) for NodeJS

TTD (TimeTravel Debugging) makes it possible to travel back in time to previous states of your application by getting a snapshot of when each line is executed. You can step over each line of the code and track the values of the variables captured during execution. 
With the help of TTD (TimeTravel Debugging), you can see how your applications behave at every level, giving you in-depth monitoring capabilities along with micro-tracing capability even inside the method by tracing code execution line by line with the snapshots (values) of arguments, local variables and fields.
TTD (TimeTravel Debugging) is disabled by default,  but can be enabled by configuration (environment variables, etc ...).
Time Travel Debugging (TTD) Panel
Configuration
To configure TTD (Time Travel Debugging) behavior through environment variables without any code change, the traceLineByLine attribute of the THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG environment variable must be configured for the modules/files or methods to be traced line by line.
Environment variable names must be in the THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG... format, meaning a name must start with the THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG. For example, THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG, THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG1, THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG2, etc ... So multiple definitions can be defined through multiple environment variables starting with THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG environment variable name.
Environment variable values must be in the <module-def>.<method-def>[...] format, The asterisk character (*) in the <module-def> and <method-def> is supported. For example
If you want to enable TTD (Time Travel Debugging) for all methods in a module (let say that src/user/service.js) using environment variables, the THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG environment variable can be specified as src.user.service.*[traceLineByLine=true].
THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG: src.user.service.*[traceLineByLine=true]
Here, src.user.service part specifies the file location of your module, and * means line by line tracing for all the methods in this file will be enabled. 
If you want to debug just one method (for ex. getUser), in a module (let say that src/user/service.js) you can specify its name directly, such as:
THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG: src.user.service.getUser[traceLineByLine=true]
Here, src.user.service part specifies the file location of your module, and getUser means line by line tracing will be enabled only for the getUser method in this file. 
If you need to enable TTD (Time Travel Debugging) for all files under a directory (let say that src/user/), you can specify the directory name and owned files by using wildcard, such as:
THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG: src.user.*.*[traceLineByLine=true]
Here src.user.* part specifies all the files located under src.user directory, and * means line by line tracing for all the methods in these files will be enabled. 
If you need to enable TTD (Time Travel Debugging) for multiple files in different folders/files, you can specify multiple configurations using the same environment variable key, THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG, as the prefix, such as in the following example:
THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG_1: src.user.service.*[traceLineByLine=true]
THUNDRA_AGENT_TRACE_INSTRUMENT_TRACEABLECONFIG_2: src.product.api.*[traceLineByLine=true]
Using With Webpack
If you are using Webpack to bundle your applications, you need use thundra-webpack-plugin to activate TTD (Time-Travel Debugging) during compilation.
Install Webpack Plugin
npm install --save-dev @thundra/webpack-plugin
Configure Webpack Plugin
In your Webpack config file (lets say webpack.config.js), you need to configure and add Thundra Webpack plugin as shown in the following example:
webpack.config.js
const { ThundraWebpackPlugin } = require('@thundra/webpack-plugin');
​
module.exports = {
    mode: 'development',
    target: 'node',
    plugins: [new ThundraWebpackPlugin([
        'src.user.service.*[traceLineByLine=true]',
    ])],
}
To use the plugin, an instance of the ThundraWebpackPlugin should be added to the list of plugins in the Webpack configuration file. The constructor for ThundraWebpackPlugin requires a list of strings, where each string defines the file and the methods that you want to instrument in the syntax/format as described in the Configuration section above.
Using With Esbuild
If you are using Esbuild to bundle your applications, you need use thundra-esbuild-plugin to activate TTD (Time-Travel Debugging) during compilation.
Install Esbuild Plugin
npm install --save-dev @thundra/esbuild-plugin
Configure Esbuild Plugin
In your build script file (where you initiate and configure Esbuild), you need to configure and add Thundra Esbuild plugin as shown in the following example:
build.js
const { ThundraEsbuildPlugin } = require('@thundra/esbuild-plugin');
​
require('esbuild').build({
  entryPoints: ['...'],
  bundle: ....,
  outfile: ...,
  plugins: [
    ThundraEsbuildPlugin({
      traceableConfigs: [
        'src.api.*.*[traceLineByLine=true]', // activate line by line tracing for all files/methods under src/api folder
      ]
    })
  ],
});
To use the plugin, ThundraEsbuildPlugin instance must be added into plugins. The constructor of ThundraEsbuildPlugin takes the following arguments to be configured:
Name
Requirement
Description
traceableConfigs
Required
Array of instrumentation definitions
Syntax/Format of the traceableConfigs argument is described in the Configuration section above.
Using With SST
If you use SST and your code is bundled, you can use thundra-esbuild-plugin to activate TTD (Time-Travel Debugging).
You can create an Esbuild configuration file as shown in the following example:
esbuild.js
const { ThundraEsbuildPlugin } = require('@thundra/esbuild-plugin');
​
module.exports = {
  ...
  plugins: [
    ThundraEsbuildPlugin({
      traceableConfigs: [
        'src.api.*.*[traceLineByLine=true]', // activate line by line tracing for all files/methods under src/api folder
        // see Configure Esbuild Plugin title for expression details
      ]
    })
  ]
};
And then, in resource definition (like Function) at your stack, add the Esbuild plugin in the bundle configuration as show in the following example:
stacks/MyStack.js
new Function(this, "MyFunction", {
    // ...
    handler: "src/index.main",
    bundle: {
        esbuildConfig: {
            plugins: "esbuild.js",
        },
    },
    // ...
});    
​
Name	Requirement	Description
traceableConfigs	Required	Array of instrumentation definitions
Last modified 11mo ago