Can anyone provide a short list of steps on how to connect a Meteor app to the WebStorm debugger please?
WebStorm is the only IDE with native support for debugging Meteor server code - check this video. Even on Windows, debugging is very simple:
Go to Run --> Debug --> Edit configurations... , click the plus sign, click "Meteor". You can add environment variable like ROOT_URL if you need to.
This answer is kept only for historical purposes. You should upgrade WebStorm.
On older WebStorms, you used to have to create a Node.js debugging configuration.
on the server, export the environment variable NODE_OPTIONS=--debug=47977. For instance,
NODE_OPTIONS=--debug=47977 meteor # Linux/Mac
set NODE_OPTIONS=--debug=47977 & meteor` # Windows
create a WebStorm/PhpStorm Run/Debug configuration using the port above (47977) and the server host. Leave 127.0.0.1 if you're debugging locally.
Now you can set breakpoints, have access to local variables etc.
For client debugging, just use the Chrome debugger, or Firebug.
Process disconnected unexpectedly - this happens when meteor restarts automatically because of lack of specific support for Meteor. Just Run -> Debug <myapp>, or press Shift+F9 again.
you can't connect to the server - make sure the firewall rules allow incoming connections to whatever port you chose for the Node.js debugger (47977 here).
The other answers are now out of date. Don't add a Node.js debug configuration as described above, or bother with spyjs.
If you're using Webstorm 9.0, it's as simple as going to Run --> Debug --> Edit configurations... , click the plus, click "Meteor".
WebStorm may also ask you to install a browser add-on, but that's just for client-side debugging; just add a breakpoint in the server-side code and you'll see it works out of the box.
JetBrains have updated the video which was linked to in Dan Dascalescu's answer above, and it shows you the process I just described.
WebStorm 9 will have Meteor support. While WS 9 isn't released yet (as of Oct 7, 2014), there is an early access program for WS 9.
Read the JetBrains WebStorm blog which describes some of the Meteor support features and includes a brief video.
I'm new to Meteor, WebStorm (and JavaScript for that matter) and have been using the WS 9 EAP build 138.2406 for a couple of weeks. I can launch my project from within the IDE, set breakpoints, walk though code, inspect values, jump to definitions, and issue completions. It's quite helpful.
You can try spyjs plugin for Webstorm: http://blog.jetbrains.com/webstorm/2014/04/spy-js-webstorm-secret-service/