Quickstart: Set Up HyperProbe and Capture Your First Probe

Install the VS Code extension, login to the Dashboard, add the Node.js SDK to your app, and capture your first production snapshot — end to end in under 10 minutes.

This guide walks you through the complete HyperProbe setup: installing the VS Code extension, connecting it to your backend, logging in to the dashboard, adding the SDK agent to your Node.js application, and capturing your first probe. By the end, you will have a live probe returning data from your running service.

1. Install the VS Code extension

   Open VS Code and go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X). Search for HyperProbe and click Install.

   The extension adds a HyperProbe icon to the activity bar. Click it to open the HyperProbe panel.

2. Configure the extension

   HyperProbe needs to know where your backend server is running. Open VS Code settings (Ctrl+, / Cmd+,) and search for hyperprobe.serverUrl.or you can directly open HyperProbe Settings.

   

   Set it to your HyperProbe backend URL:

   
3. Login and Access the Dashboard

   After completing the previous steps, a Login button will appear in the HyperProbe panel

   Clicking this button will redirect you to the HyperProbe dashboard.

   Before logging in, ensure that:

   • You are an authorized user
   • You have been added to at least one team by your administrator

   If you are not authorized or not part of any team, you will encounter an error.

   

   Once your access is confirmed:

   • Log in using SSO.
   • After successful login, you can create and manage your services from the dashboard.
     
4. Add a .hprc file to your project

   Create a .hprc file in the root of your project. This file tells HyperProbe which service the probes in this repository belong to.

   .hprc

   {
     "serviceId": "my-service"
   }
   

   The serviceId must match the value you pass to HyperProbe.start() in the next step. The VS Code extension reads this file automatically when you open the project.

5. Install the Node.js SDK

   Add the @hyperprobe/node-sdk package to your application:

   npm

   npm install @hyperprobe/node-sdk
   
6. Initialize the agent at startup

   Call HyperProbe.start() as early as possible in your application’s entry point — before any other application code runs. This gives the agent time to connect to the broker and receive active probes before your service starts handling requests.

   TypeScript

   import { HyperProbe } from '@hyperprobe/node-sdk';
   
   HyperProbe.start({
     serviceId: 'my-service',
     environment: 'production',
     brokerUrl: 'grpc://your-hyperprobe-broker:50051',
     commitSha: process.env.GIT_COMMIT,
   });
   

   commitSha is required. Without it, the agent cannot resolve source maps and will refuse to start. Pass it via the GIT_COMMIT environment variable or the commitSha option directly.

   The four required options are:

   Option	Description
   serviceId	Matches the serviceId in your .hprc file
   environment	The deployment environment (e.g. production, staging)
   brokerUrl	gRPC address of the HyperProbe broker
   commitSha	Git commit SHA for source map resolution

   You can also set commitSha via the GIT_COMMIT environment variable instead of passing it directly. Many CI systems inject this automatically.

7. Set your first probe

   With your application running and the extension configured:

   1. Open a source file in VS Code.
   2. Check for the line of code you want to instrument.
   3. Insert a Snapshot from the context menu.
      

   The Insert a Snapshot panel appears that lets you create a probe by selecting a source and specifying the target file and line number.

   

   You can optionally configure hit limits, watch expressions, and conditional logic to control when and what data gets captured.

8. View captured data

   The next time production code executes the instrumented line, the agent captures the local variables and call stack. Open the HyperProbe panel in VS Code to see the result.

   

   You can inspect variable values, navigate the call stack, and manage active probes — all without leaving your editor.

   The agent polls for active probes periodically (every 60 seconds by default). New probes may take up to one sync cycle to become active. You can reduce this with the syncIntervalMs option.

Next steps

How it works

Understand the full probe lifecycle, from VS Code to capture and display.

Probe types

Explore Snapshots, Logs, Counters, Metrics, and Tic & Toc probes.

SDK configuration

Tune safety guardrails, data limits, and queue behavior.

Safety guardrails

Learn how HyperProbe protects your application from instrumentation overhead.