PhpStorm provides a built-in debugger for your client-side JavaScript code that works with Chrome. The video and the instructions below walk you through the basic steps to get started with this debugger.

1. Phpstorm React Support
2. Intellij Community Edition
3. Phpstorm Reaction
4. Phpstorm Activation Key

To learn how to debug PHP and JavaScript code simultaneously from within PhpStorm, see Debug PHP and JavaScript code at the same time.

Before you start

• Make sure the JavaScript Debugger bundled plugin is enabled on the Settings/Preferences | Plugins page, see Managing plugins for details.

Phpstorm React Support

Couldn't find any decent React/JSX plugins for Intellij either, except from the above mentioned 'React-Templates' which did wonders in the past. But it seems Intellij's native (I guess) support for JSX & React is not bad, except for annoying things like this.

Debugging an application running on the built-in server

Setting Up VS Code. Firstly, you should have installed VS Code. If you haven’t, do so by downloading it from its official source. By default, VS Code does not come with out-of-the-box support for many languages like PHP, Java, Ruby, etc or even frameworks like React, Vue, Svelte, Symfony, etc. Thankfully, there are extensions to support almost every language and framework. Get your free course on React: Today I’m going to be discussing 6 of the plugins I use for Webstorm when I’m building React apps. A more efficient way is to take advantage of PhpStorm's Insert Live Template shortcut. Press Cmd + J and type as many letters as you want to filter the resulates. For example, to create a new ReactJS class, type rcc and press Tab or press Cmd + J and write rcc or React.

PhpStorm has a built-in web server that can be used to preview and debug your application. This server is always running and does not require any manual configuration. All the project files are served on the built-in server with the root URL http://localhost:<built-in server port>/<project root>, with respect to the project structure.

Start debugging

1. Set the breakpoints in the JavaScript code, as required.

2. Open the HTML file that references the JavaScript to debug or select the HTML file in the Project tool window.

3. From the context menu of the editor or the selection, choose Debug <HTML_file_name>. PhpStorm generates a debug configuration and starts a debugging session through it. The file opens in the browser, and the Debug tool window appears.

   To save the automatically generated configuration for further re-use, choose Save <HTML_file_name> from the context menu after the debugging session is over.

4. In the Debug tool window, proceed as usual: step through the program, pause and resume the program execution, examine it when suspended, view actual HTML DOM, run JavaScript code snippets in the Console, and so on..

By default, a debugging session starts in a new window with a custom Chrome user data. To open a new Chrome instance with your familiar look-and-feel, configure Chrome in PhpStorm to start with your user data, see Starting a debugging session with your default Chrome user data for details.

Example

Suppose you have a simple application that consists of an index.html file and an index.js file, where index.html references index.js. To start debugging this application using the built-in server, open index.html in the editor and choose Debug 'index.html' from the context menu:

Intellij Community Edition

PhpStorm creates a run/debug configuration automatically, and a debugging session starts:

To restart the new run/debug configuration, click in the upper right-hand corner of the PhpStorm window or choose Run | Debug from the main menu:

Debugging an application running on an external web server

Often you may want to debug client-side JavaScript running on an external development web server, for example powered by Node.js.

Start debugging

1. Set the breakpoints in the JavaScript code, as required.

2. Run the application in the development mode. Often you need to run npm start for that.

   When the development server is ready, copy the URL address at which the application is running in the browser - you will need to specify this URL address in the run/debug configuration.

3. Create a debug configuration of the type JavaScript Debug: from the main menu, select Run | Edit Configuration, click on the toolbar and select JavaScript Debug from the list. In the Run/Debug Configuration: JavaScript Debug dialog that opens, specify the URL address at which the application is running. This URL can be copied from the address bar of your browser as described in Step 2 above. Click OK to save the configuration settings.

4. Select the newly created configuration from the Select run/debug configuration list on the toolbar and click next to the list. The URL address specified in the run configuration opens in the browser and the Debug tool window appears.

5. In the Debug tool window, proceed as usual: step through the program, pause and resume the program execution, examine it when suspended, view actual HTML DOM, run JavaScript code snippets in the Console, and so on..

See Debugging React Applications and Debugging Angular Applications for examples.

Phpstorm Reaction

Debugging asynchronous code

PhpStorm supports debugging asynchronous client-side JavaScript code. PhpStorm recognizes breakpoints inside asynchronous code, stops at them, and lets you step into such code. As soon as a breakpoint inside an asynchronous function is hit or you step into asynchronous code, a new element Async call from <caller> is added in the Frames pane of the Debugger tab. PhpStorm displays a full call stack, including the caller and the entire way to the beginning of the asynchronous actions.

The image below shows an example of a JavaScript debugging session. The debugger stops at line3(breakpoint), then at line5(breakpoint). On clicking Step into, the debugger will stop at line5 (on function ), then will move to line6.

The asynchronous debugging mode is turned on by default. To disable asynchronous stack traces, set js.debugger.async.call.stack.depth in Registry to 0.

Debugging workers

PhpStorm supports debugging Service Workers and Web Workers. PhpStorm recognizes breakpoints in each worker and shows the debug data for it as a separate thread in the Frames pane on the Debugger tab of the Debug tool window.

Note that PhpStorm can debug only dedicated workers, debugging for shared workers is currently not supported.

Phpstorm Activation Key

1. Set the breakpoints in the Workers to debug.

2. If you are using Service Workers, make sure the Allow unsigned requests checkbox on the Debugger page is selected. Otherwise your service workers may be unavailable during a debug session:

3. Create a debug configuration of the type JavaScript Debug as described above in Debugging client-side JavaScript running on an external web server.

4. Select the newly created configuration from the Select run/debug configuration list on the toolbar and click Debug .

   The HTML file specified in the run configuration opens in the chosen browser and the Debug tool window opens with the Frames list showing all the Workers:

   To examine the data (variables, watches, and so on) for a Worker, select its thread in the list and view its data in the Variables and Watches panes. When you select another Worker, the contents of the panes are updated accordingly.