Debug Mocha Tests in Visual Studio Code

In order to debug Mocha tests in Visual Studio:

Click on the Debug button in the left sidebar.

Click the dropdown next to the DEBUG title and choose ‘Add Configuration’.

From the list that appears, choose Node.js: Mocha Tests

Visual Studio will automatically provide a configuration, but you need to edit the args element.

Your Mocha configuration block should like this after the edit

       {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Mocha Tests",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha",
            "args": [
                "--inspect-brk",
                "${workspaceFolder}/Tests/Dummy/unitTestsSample.js"
            ],
            "internalConsoleOptions": "openOnSessionStart"
        }

Update the ${workspaceFolder}/Tests/**/*.js element according to where your tests are residing. In my code it means to run all the tests inside all the folders that reside inside ${workspaceFolder}/Tests.

Save the file.

Choose your Mocha configuration by clicking the dropdown again: