microsoft/playwright · warning · Error

Debugger is not paused

Error message

Debugger is not paused

What it means

Thrown by Debugger.doResume (debugger.ts:96) when isPaused() is false. Resume is only valid against an active pause; calling it when the debugger is running has no work to do and is treated as a sequencing error.

Source

Thrown at packages/playwright-core/src/server/debugger.ts:96

    // (e.g. recorder action-point capture) have recorded their state.
    context.instrumentation.addListener(this, context, { order: 'last' });
    this._context.once(BrowserContext.Events.Close, () => {
      this._context.instrumentation.removeListener(this);
      if (this._apiCallsFlushTimer)
        clearTimeout(this._apiCallsFlushTimer);
    });
  }

  requestPause(progress: Progress) {
    if (this.isPaused())
      throw new Error('Debugger is already paused');
    this.setPauseBeforeWaitingActions();
    this.setPauseAt({ next: true });
  }

  doResume(progress: Progress) {
    if (!this.isPaused())
      throw new Error('Debugger is not paused');
    this.resume();
  }

  next(progress: Progress) {
    if (!this.isPaused())
      throw new Error('Debugger is not paused');
    this.setPauseBeforeWaitingActions();
    this.setPauseAt({ next: true });
    this.resume();
  }

  runTo(progress: Progress, location: { file: string, line?: number, column?: number }) {
    if (!this.isPaused())
      throw new Error('Debugger is not paused');
    this.setPauseBeforeWaitingActions();
    this.setPauseAt({ location });
    this.resume();
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to c8fc3bf8d3)

Solutions

1. Guard the call: only resume when isPaused() is true.
2. Track pause state externally and skip redundant resumes.
3. Treat 'Debugger is not paused' as a no-op in catch.

Example fix

// before
await dbg.doResume();
// after
if (dbg.isPaused()) await dbg.doResume();

// Only resume when the debugger is actually paused.
if (dbg.isPaused()) {
  await dbg.doResume();
}

const canResume = (dbg: { isPaused(): boolean }) => dbg.isPaused();

When it happens

Trigger: Calling resume() without a preceding pause; resuming after the page already auto-resumed; double-resume.

Common situations: Tooling that resumes defensively after timeouts; UI buttons wired to resume unconditionally; resume racing with an automatic step.

Related errors

• Debugger is already paused
• Element is not ${result.missingState}
• Clicking the checkbox did not change its state
• state: expected one of (attached|detached|visible|hidden)
• Invalid location "${params.location}", expected format is <f

AI-assisted analysis of microsoft/playwright@c8fc3bf8d3 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/fa2856dd03ce57d1. Report an issue: GitHub.