@arqade/parachute

Standalone CDP runtime sidecar for Node.js debugging.

Part of Arqade — your AI QA partner for Electron and web apps. Used by @arqade/agent as the runtime-observation channel, but ships and runs standalone — drop it on any Node.js process to capture console output, exceptions, and on-demand evaluation.

Renamed from @thymic/parachute in 0.2.0-alpha.1 (and previously from @ladyfix/parachute in 0.2.0-alpha.0). Old packages are deprecated; install @arqade/parachute instead.

Runtime debugging sidecar for Node.js applications. Attaches to any Node.js process via the V8 Inspector Protocol, captures console output and uncaught exceptions, and exposes a local HTTP API for external tools to query.

Quick Start

npx @arqade/parachute your-app.js

This will:

1. Launch your-app.js with the Node.js inspector enabled
2. Connect to the inspector via Chrome DevTools Protocol
3. Start capturing all console output and uncaught exceptions
4. Expose a local API at http://127.0.0.1:7700

API

GET /events

Returns all captured events. Supports query parameters:

• ?type=console, ?type=exception, or ?type=probe — filter by event type
• ?since=<event-id> — return events after a given ID

POST /evaluate

Evaluate a JavaScript expression in the running process.

curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:7700/evaluate \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"expression": "process.memoryUsage()"}'

GET /health

Health check with event count. Returns { status: "ok", events: <number> }.

Other endpoints

Parachute's source also exposes endpoints for probes (/probes, /probes/{trace,condition,watch}), Chrome DevTools-style debugging (/breakpoints, /debugger/{status,scopes,evaluate,resume,step-over,step-into,step-out}), runtime context (/context), capture sessions (/sessions, /sessions/:id/stream, /sessions/:id/actions), and an SSE alert stream (/alerts/stream). These are used by @arqade/agent today and will be documented per-endpoint in a later release — see packages/parachute/src/api-server.ts for the source of truth.

CLI Options

parachute <entrypoint> [options]

Options:
  -p, --port <number>          API server port (default: 7700)
  --inspect-port <number>      Node.js inspector port (default: 9229)
  --buffer-size <number>       Max events in memory (default: 1000)
  -V, --version                Show version
  -h, --help                   Show help

How It Works

Parachute runs as a separate process alongside your app. It uses the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) to connect to the V8 inspector, subscribe to runtime events, and evaluate expressions — all without any code changes to your application.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

See also

• @arqade/agent — MCP server that drives the browser; depends on this package.
• Root README — what Arqade is, who it's for.
• CHANGELOG — release notes.