PyCharm 2021.
Upcoming webinar Beginner Concurrency With asyncio Tuesday, February 22, 2022, 17:00-18:00 UTC ⟶
Web Development / JavaScript / Debug JavaScript in Chrome / Configuring JavaScript debugger
Configuring JavaScript debugger
Last modified: 02 September 2021
Professional feature: download PyCharm Professional ↗ to try.
Debugging of JavaScript code is only supported in Google Chrome ↗ and in other Chromium-
based browsers ↗.
Debugging JavaScript in PyCharm is supported through the JavaScript Debugger plugin. The JavaScript
Debugger plugin is bundled with PyCharm and activated by default. If the plugin is disabled, enable it on
the Installed tab of the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, as described in Managing plugins.
To ensure successful debugging, it is enough to specify the built-in web server port and accept the
default settings that PyCharm suggests for other debugger options.
Before you start
• Make sure the JavaScript Debugger plugin is enabled on the Settings/Preferences |
Plugins page, tab Installed. See Managing plugins for details.
Set the built-in web server port
1. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Build, Execution, Deployment |
Debugger.
2. In the Built-in server area, specify the port where the built-in web server runs. By default
this port is set to the default PyCharm port 63342 through which PyCharm accepts
connections from services. You can set the port number to any other value starting from
1024.
Optionally
• Suppress calls to the files on the built-in server from other computers or from outside
PyCharm by clearing the Can accept external connections or Allow unsigned requests
checkbox respectively.
• Choose the way to remove breakpoints, the default setting is Click.
• On the Debugger. Data Views page under the Debugger node, configure advanced
debugger options: enable or disable Inline Debugging, specify when you want to see
tooltips with object values and expressions evaluation results, and so on.
Starting a debugging session with your default
Chrome user data
You may notice that your debugging session starts in a new window with a custom Chrome user data ↗
instead of your default one. As a result, the window looks unusual, for example, your bookmarks, the
browser history, and the extensions are missing, which altogether breaks your development experience.
That happens because PyCharm uses Chrome Debugging Protocol ↗ and runs Chrome with the --
remote-debugging-port option. However, if Chrome is already started, a debugging port can't be
opened for any new or existing Chrome instance that has the same user data. Therefore, when Chrome
Debugging Protocol is used, PyCharm always starts a debugging session with in a new window with a
custom user data.
To open a new Chrome instance with your familiar look-and-feel, configure Chrome in PyCharm to start
with your user data. In this case, before starting a debugging session, always make sure that Chrome is
not already running with your user data. Otherwise PyCharm still launches another instance of Chrome
with your user data but is unable to open a debugging port for it. As a result, PyCharm debugger fails to
connect to the application in the new Chrome instance and the debugging session does not start.
Configure Chrome in PyCharm to start with your
Chrome user data
1. Save your Chrome user data ↗ anywhere on your machine.
2. Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Tools | Web Browsers.
3. To create a new Chrome configuration, click . A new item appears in the list. In the Path
field, specify the path to the Chrome installation folder.
4. Select the new configuration and click . The Chrome Settings dialog opens.
5. Select the Use custom user data directory checkbox and specify the path to your user
data directory ↗ in the PyCharm settings.
6. Mark your Chrome browser configuration default as described in Choosing the default
PyCharm browser, and don't forget to choose Default from the Browser list when creating
a run/debug configuration.
Alternatively, always choose this Chrome browser configuration from the
Browser list.
