oxc-project/oxc · warning

`debugger` statement is not allowed

Error message

`debugger` statement is not allowed

What it means

This diagnostic comes from the `no_debugger` rule in oxlint, the Oxc linter. It is a port of the ESLint rule with the same name. The rule reports every `debugger` statement it finds during the AST walk. A `debugger` statement halts execution only when a debugger is attached, and it must not ship in production code. The report is a warning with a label on the statement span.

Source

Thrown at crates/oxc_linter/src/rules/eslint/no_debugger.rs:9

use oxc_ast::AstKind;
use oxc_diagnostics::OxcDiagnostic;
use oxc_macros::declare_oxc_lint;
use oxc_span::Span;

use crate::{AstNode, ast_util::outermost_paren_parent, context::LintContext, rule::Rule};

fn no_debugger_diagnostic(span: Span) -> OxcDiagnostic {
    OxcDiagnostic::warn("`debugger` statement is not allowed").with_label(span)
}

const REMOVE_DEBUGGER: &str = "Remove the debugger statement";

#[derive(Debug, Default, Clone)]
pub struct NoDebugger;

declare_oxc_lint!(
    /// ### What it does
    ///
    /// Checks for usage of the `debugger` statement.
    ///
    /// ### Why is this bad?
    ///
    /// `debugger` statements do not affect functionality when a debugger isn't attached.
    /// They're most commonly an accidental debugging leftover.
    ///
    /// ### Examples

View on GitHub (pinned to e1e7af627c)

Solutions

1. Delete the `debugger;` statement.
2. Replace it with `breakpoint()` from the `debug` npm package, which stays inert in production.
3. If you must keep it, add `// oxlint-disable-next-line no-debugger` on the line above.
4. Turn the rule off in .oxlintrc.json under `rules` for files where it is expected.

Example fix

// before
function calc(x) {
  debugger;
  return x * 2;
}

// after
function calc(x) {
  return x * 2;
}

// run before oxlint in CI: fail on any debugger statement
const src = require('node:fs').readFileSync(file, 'utf8');
if (/^[ \t]*debugger\b/m.test(src)) throw new Error('debugger statement found');

When it happens

Trigger: Any `debugger;` statement in a linted JavaScript or TypeScript file. The rule matches the `Debugger` node during statement traversal. Typical input: `function f() { debugger; return 1; }`.

Common situations: A developer sets a breakpoint while debugging in an IDE, then commits without removing it. CI runs oxlint with the recommended rule set, where `no_debugger` is active, so the report fails the build. Old files with leftover `debugger` lines trigger the same report after a project adopts oxlint.

Related errors

• Variables should not be deleted
• A regular expression literal can be confused with '/='.
• Duplicate class member: {member_name:?}
• Duplicate conditions in if-else-if chain
• Duplicate key '{key}'

AI-assisted analysis of oxc-project/oxc@e1e7af627c (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/cbcd739b95c7c931. Report an issue: GitHub.