EDGEMODDERS / ANYONE CAN MOD
Wiki / REDnode

Debugging

REDnode gives you the same debugging tools web developers use, inside the game. Pick the one that fits:

You want to Use Status
See what a Node mod printed, and its errors The Mod log Passed in game
Inspect a window’s page: its HTML, styles, console The window debugger Passed in game, in the overlay and on the desktop
Stop a Node mod at a breakpoint and step through it The Node debugger Passed in game, in the overlay
Debug a Node mod from VS Code or REDcode Attach VS Code Documented, not yet tested in game
Let Claude read a window’s console The MCP server’s window_console tool Built in REDnode 0.16.0. See Agents and MCP

The Mod log

The Mod log is a built-in window with every line every Node mod prints, live. Switch it on in the launcher or the Mod Manager. It opens at the lower right.

Control Does
The bar of mod names Show one mod’s lines only
Errors only Show only errors
Pause Stop the list moving while you read
Clear Empty the window
Copy Put the lines shown on the clipboard, ready to paste into a bug report or a chat with Claude

Errors are red, and a crash shows only the stack lines from the mod’s own code, so you see the file and line that broke. The same lines are in red4ext\logs\rednode-mods.log, each tagged with the mod’s id.

Screenshot comingThe Mod log
The Mod log window with lines from several mods, one crash in red with its file and line, and the Errors only and Copy controls.

Developer mode

Developer mode is a switch at the bottom of the launcher, off by default so players never see debug buttons. With it on, every window built with the UI kit’s rn-window, and every Node mod’s window, gets a debug button on its title bar (under ⋯ if the bar is full). It opens the right debugger for that window: the Node debugger if the window belongs to a mod running with Debug on, otherwise the window debugger.

An app can hide the button on a window with no-debug.

The window debugger

Every overlay window is a web page, so Chromium’s own DevTools work on it: Elements, Styles, Console, Sources, breakpoints.

Open it from the window’s debug button in Developer mode, or from the Mod Manager: select the package, then Window debugger with:

Choice Opens DevTools
In the game As an overlay window, dragged and closed like any other, with a REDnode title bar in your theme
On the desktop In a normal desktop window, without taking the game’s focus. Alt+Tab to it. Useful with a second monitor
Screenshot comingThe window debugger in the game
Chromium DevTools drawn as an overlay window in the game, inspecting the Coords HUD, with the Console tab open.

The Node debugger

For a Node mod, select it in the Mod Manager and switch on Debug (Node inspector):

  1. The mod restarts alone, in its own process, with Node’s inspector on. The Mod Manager shows the inspector’s address, with Copy.
  2. Node debugger: In the game opens Chromium’s DevTools for Node as an overlay window. Its Console runs inside your mod.
  3. In Sources, press Ctrl+P and type your file’s name to open it. Click a line number to set a breakpoint.
  4. Do whatever runs that line, for example press your mod’s button. The mod stops there. Step through, then press Resume (F8).

On the desktop opens the same debugger in a desktop window.

Good to know  
Attach after start The inspector doesn’t wait for a debugger, so your mod’s first lines have already run when you attach. Set breakpoints in code that runs later: an event handler, a button, a timer
Not responding is expected While stopped at a breakpoint, the mod doesn’t answer. After 10 seconds the Mod Manager shows NOT RESPONDING. Resume and it recovers
Restart keeps you attached Restart gives the mod a new address. The in-game debugger follows it by itself; a desktop debugger or VS Code must attach again
Not saved Debug is off again after the game restarts, and the mod goes back to its normal process when you switch it off

The in-game Node debugger, breakpoints included, passed its in-game test in REDnode 0.16.0.

Attach VS Code or REDcode

You can also debug a Node mod from VS Code or REDcode, with breakpoints in your own editor:

  1. Switch on Debug (Node inspector) for the mod and press Copy beside the inspector’s address.
  2. In VS Code, add a launch configuration of type node with "request": "attach" and "websocketAddress" set to the address you copied.
  3. Start debugging.

This is how REDnode’s docs describe it, but it wasn’t part of the in-game test, so treat it as untested. Report how it goes on Discord.

Logs to read

Log In red4ext\logs Has
Mods rednode-mods.log Everything Node mods print, and their crashes
Overlay host rednode-overlay.log Packages found and started, permissions, spaces, the MCP server, performance lines
Plugin rednode-*.log The in-game side: loading, game calls that failed, F10 and cursor changes
RED4ext red4ext-*.log Whether REDnode loaded at all
redscript r6\logs\redscript_rCURRENT.log (not in red4ext) Script errors, if REDnode’s scripts failed to compile

Read them after the game has closed: some are only complete then.

Last reviewed 2026-10-16. Something wrong or missing? Tell us on Discord or open an issue.