while debugging in vscode changes in nestjs file does not take effect

Question

I have a nestjs project in vscode and in debugging mode the changes in code does not take effect. Breakpoints hit normally, however, but for example a changed variable values are not to be seen - i.e. they stay as the previous ones (the ones before change).

My launch.json is the following:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
      {
        "type": "node",
        "request": "launch",
        "name": "Debug Nest Framework",
        "runtimeExecutable": "nodemon",
        "runtimeArgs": ["--nolazy", "-r", "ts-node/register", "--config", "nodemon-debug.json"],
        "program": "${workspaceFolder}/src/main.ts",
        "autoAttachChildProcesses": true,
        "restart": true
      }
    ]
  }

And the nodemon-debug.json file has the following:

{
"watch": ["src"],
"ext": "ts, js",
"ignore": ["src/**/*.spec.ts"]
}

And strangely enough, when I make change in the code, the nodemon really registers it and restart the app, as can seen from the console:

C:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\nodemon.cmd --nolazy -r ts-node/register --config nodemon-debug.json .\dist\main.js
[nodemon] 2.0.18
c:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\nodemon\lib\utils\log.js:34
[nodemon] to restart at any time, enter `rs`
c:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\nodemon\lib\utils\log.js:34
[nodemon] watching path(s): src\**\*
c:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\nodemon\lib\utils\log.js:34
[nodemon] watching extensions: ts,js
c:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\nodemon\lib\utils\log.js:34
[nodemon] starting `node --nolazy -r ts-node/register .\dist\main.js`
c:\...\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\nodemon\lib\utils\log.js:34

[WEB] http://localhost:3000

Can anyone figure out why changes are not taking effect?

Answer 1

I finally found solution from this https://stackoverflow.com/a/63325135/7625979

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
      {
        "type": "node",
        "request": "launch",
        "name": "Debug Nest Framework",
        "runtimeExecutable": "npm",
        "runtimeArgs": [
          "run",
          "start:debug",
          "--",
          "--inspect-brk"
        ],
        "autoAttachChildProcesses": true,
        "restart": true,
        "sourceMaps": true,
        "stopOnEntry": false,
        "console": "integratedTerminal",
      }
    ]
  }

This solution indeed works for me perfectly and does not need either the vscode's setting: Debug > Javascript: Auto Attach Filter to "Always". Also console: integratedTerminal -option is handy because debug-info comes directly into the same console. Also, nodemon-debug.json is not now needed.

Script command in Package.json file are now:

"scripts": {
    ...
    "start:debug": "nest start --debug --watch",
    ...
}

It seems that "--watch" is still needed here for the code changes to take effect.