can we debug code in production in O11,
is it safe to debug a small piece of code in prod/ aggregate filters?
are there any special considerations we need to take?
Hi @Priya Naveen,
Technically yes, but strongly discouraged.
Only if absolutely necessary and the change has zero side effects.Even small debug sessions cause performance overhead and may expose data.
Special considerations
Debugging pauses server threads → risk of slowdowns or timeouts.
Never debug during peak traffic.
Avoid breakpoints on loops, timers, or frequently called actions.
Hi Priya,
You cannot debug in Production, at least not with OutSystems (though you could of course debug Reactive via dev tools). If you try to start the debugger in Production, Service Studio will warn you this is not possible.
Hallo @Priya Naveen
You can implement logs, but enabling debug is not technically or practically feasible at the production level. Additionally, avoid logging any sensitive data, and this should be done in coordination with the InfoSec team.
@Priya Naveen : To answer your query - You can enable debugging in Production, but it must be done carefully.
Steps to enable debugging in Production:
Note the below important points while doing this
I don't think any debugging symbols are generated: the "symbols" are already in the module. However, if you look at C# code generated with debugging enabled, you'll see that before every line of code there's a debug check statement (checking for break points etc.). So effectively the number of lines of code doubles, which makes it much slower.
Thanks @Kilian Hekhuis for the clarification. I just assumed it worked like regular .NET and generated PDB files in Debug mode. Your explanation makes it clear that OutSystems handles this differently.
Why do some people say that we can debug in Production, while others say we cannot? Which one is correct?
Can you share an official OutSystems documentation link that clearly explains whether debugging in a Production environment is allowed or not?
At my office, I see an option to debug in Production, but it still doesn’t work. Why is that?
Peter Hieu.
@Peter Hieu : You need to enable the Debug Mode for your module also inorder to debug. Please see if it works after enabling the same.
By default, in a production environment debugging is disabled. This is a good thing, because code with debugging enabled is much slower because before every instruction it checks breakpoints etc. It's also a good thing because when debugging is enabled, data manipulation from Service Studio is possible, something you definitely shouldn't want on production data!
This is not to say that you can't treat your production environment like a test or dev environment. It's just something you should never ever do.
Thanks for your response.
Peter Hieu
Hello @Priya Naveen ,
You cannot debug directly in Production in OutSystems 11 because it can affect real users. Small changes like updating an aggregate filter are usually safe, but any publish still restarts the module, so it should be done carefully. Always test changes in lower environments first, publish during low-traffic times, avoid heavy logic updates, and keep a rollback version ready.