inspector: introduce the --inspect-wait flag

doc/api/cli.md

@@ -1292,6 +1292,15 @@ Specify ways of the inspector web socket url exposure.
 By default inspector websocket url is available in stderr and under `/json/list`
 endpoint on `http://host:port/json/list`.
 
+### `--inspect-wait[=[host:]port]`
+
+<!-- YAML
+added: REPLACEME
+-->
+
+Activate inspector on `host:port` and wait for debugger to be attached.
+Default `host:port` is `127.0.0.1:9229`.
+
 ### `-i`, `--interactive`
 
 <!-- YAML
@@ -2676,6 +2685,7 @@ one is included in the list below.
 * `--inspect-brk`
 * `--inspect-port`, `--debug-port`
 * `--inspect-publish-uid`
+* `--inspect-wait`
 * `--inspect`
 * `--max-http-header-size`
 * `--napi-modules`

doc/api/debugger.md

@@ -234,8 +234,10 @@ V8 Inspector can be enabled by passing the `--inspect` flag when starting a
 Node.js application. It is also possible to supply a custom port with that flag,
 e.g. `--inspect=9222` will accept DevTools connections on port 9222.
 
-To break on the first line of the application code, pass the `--inspect-brk`
-flag instead of `--inspect`.
+Using the `--inspect` flag will execute the code immediately before debugger
+is connected. This could be problematic if you intend to debug the code from the beginning.
+In such cases, you can use the `--inspect-wait` flag instead, which waits for debugger to be attached,
+or the `--inspect-brk` flag to break on the first line of the code.
 
 ```console
 $ node --inspect index.js

src/inspector_agent.cc

@@ -743,20 +743,24 @@ bool Agent::Start(const std::string& path,
   }, parent_env_);
 
   bool wait_for_connect = options.wait_for_connect();
+  bool should_break_first_line = options.should_break_first_line();
   if (parent_handle_) {
-    wait_for_connect = parent_handle_->WaitForConnect();
-    parent_handle_->WorkerStarted(client_->getThreadHandle(), wait_for_connect);
+    should_break_first_line = parent_handle_->WaitForConnect();
+    parent_handle_->WorkerStarted(client_->getThreadHandle(),
+                                  should_break_first_line);
   } else if (!options.inspector_enabled || !options.allow_attaching_debugger ||
              !StartIoThread()) {
     return false;
   }
 
-  // Patch the debug options to implement waitForDebuggerOnStart for
-  // the NodeWorker.enable method.
-  if (wait_for_connect) {
-    CHECK(!parent_env_->has_serialized_options());
-    debug_options_.EnableBreakFirstLine();
-    parent_env_->options()->get_debug_options()->EnableBreakFirstLine();
+  if (wait_for_connect || should_break_first_line) {
+    // Patch the debug options to implement waitForDebuggerOnStart for
+    // the NodeWorker.enable method.
+    if (should_break_first_line) {
+      CHECK(!parent_env_->has_serialized_options());
+      debug_options_.EnableBreakFirstLine();
+      parent_env_->options()->get_debug_options()->EnableBreakFirstLine();
+    }
     client_->waitForFrontend();
   }
   return true;

src/node_options.cc

@@ -337,6 +337,14 @@ DebugOptionsParser::DebugOptionsParser() {
   Implies("--inspect-brk-node", "--inspect");
   AddAlias("--inspect-brk-node=", { "--inspect-port", "--inspect-brk-node" });
 
+  AddOption(
+      "--inspect-wait",
+      "activate inspector on host:port and wait for debugger to be attached",
+      &DebugOptions::inspect_wait,
+      kAllowedInEnvvar);
+  Implies("--inspect-wait", "--inspect");
+  AddAlias("--inspect-wait=", {"--inspect-port", "--inspect-wait"});
+
   AddOption("--inspect-publish-uid",
             "comma separated list of destinations for inspector uid"
             "(default: stderr,http)",

src/node_options.h

@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ class DebugOptions : public Options {
   bool allow_attaching_debugger = true;
   // --inspect
   bool inspector_enabled = false;
+  // --inspect-wait
+  bool inspect_wait = false;
   // --debug
   bool deprecated_debug = false;
   // --inspect-brk
@@ -93,6 +95,10 @@ class DebugOptions : public Options {
   }
 
   bool wait_for_connect() const {
+    return break_first_line || break_node_first_line || inspect_wait;
+  }
+
+  bool should_break_first_line() const {
     return break_first_line || break_node_first_line;
   }
 

test/parallel/test-inspector-wait.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import * as common from '../common/index.mjs';
+
+common.skipIfInspectorDisabled();
+
+import assert from 'node:assert';
+import { NodeInstance } from '../common/inspector-helper.js';
+
+
+async function runTests() {
+  const child = new NodeInstance(['--inspect-wait'], 'console.log(0);');
+  const session = await child.connectInspectorSession();
+  await session.send({ method: 'NodeRuntime.enable' });
+  await session.waitForNotification('NodeRuntime.waitingForDebugger');
+
+  // The execution should be paused until the debugger is attached
+  while (await child.nextStderrString() !== 'Debugger attached.');
+
+  await session.send({ 'method': 'Runtime.runIfWaitingForDebugger' });
+
+  // Wait for the execution to finish
+  while (await child.nextStderrString() !== 'Waiting for the debugger to disconnect...');
+
+  await session.send({ method: 'NodeRuntime.disable' });
+  session.disconnect();
+  assert.strictEqual((await child.expectShutdown()).exitCode, 0);
+}
+
+runTests().then(common.mustCall());