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node.jsherokuremote-debuggingfacebook-chatbot

How to remote debug a node.js app on heroku?

I'm currently building a node.js chatbot which I then deploy on heroku. The app uses webhooks which must be at a public URL that the servers can reach. Therefore, running the server locally on my machine will not work. Is there a way I can remote debug my app? Any tips?

Solution

  • I would consider using a tool to connect public URLs to an instance of your app running locally.

    Option 1: ngrok

    An easy one would be ngrok

    Option 2: ssh reverse tunneling

    If you have access to any Internet-facing server with ssh and admin rights to enable the GatewayPorts yes sshd configuration, you can do it with ssh remote tunneling. For example:

    ssh -n -R 8080:localhost:3000 myserver.example.com

    Will allow webhooks sent to http://myserver.example.com:8080 to tunnel to your local app listening on port 3000.

    More details on ssh tunneling can be found here