Using the following configuration I managed to debug flawlessly Node.js applications written in Typescript using the Visual Studio Code IDE. I have tested it on Mac OS and almost every Linux distro like Debian, Ubuntu, Arch.

Configure tsconfig.json

First of all, enable source maps "sourceMap": true and declarations "declarationMap": true, "declaration": true.

Don't forget to specify the destination folder using the outDir parameter.

Configure VSCODE

Paste the following snippet and change __MYAPP__ to the typescript file you want to debug and __MYDIST_FOLDER__ to the dist folder of your project.

Don't forget to whitelist (OUTPUT) port 9229 locally on your iptables.

Examples:
__MYAPP__ = src/app.ts
__MYDIST_FOLDER__ = dist

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Debug Node.js",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/__MYAPP__.ts",
            "outFiles": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/__MYDIST_FOLDER__/**/*.js"
            ],
            "sourceMaps": true,
            "port": 9229,
            "runtimeArgs": [
                "--inspect-brk=9229"
            ],
            "console": "integratedTerminal"
        }
    ]
}

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