How to Debug Hono Applications with Telescope

If you've ever used Laravel Telescope, you know how game-changing it is for debugging. Now imagine having that same power for your Hono.js applications.

Introducing Hono Telescope — a Laravel Telescope-inspired debugging tool built for Bun and Node.js, specifically designed for Hono developers.

Why Debugging Matters

Debugging is where we spend most of our development time. But traditional debugging can be frustrating:

🤔 Where did that error come from?

🔍 How long did that database query take?

📊 Which requests are hitting my API?

🧠 What logs did my app output?

These questions get answered in seconds with the right tool.

Introducing Hono Telescope

Hono Telescope is a powerful, production-ready debugging and monitoring tool for Hono applications. Works seamlessly with Bun and Node.js.

It captures:

✅ HTTP Requests — Every incoming and outgoing request with headers, payload, and response

✅ Exceptions — Errors with full stack traces

✅ Logs — All console.log output organized by level

✅ Database Queries — SQL queries from Prisma, Sequelize, MongoDB, or Bun SQLite with execution times

✅ Beautiful Dashboard — Modern React UI to visualize everything

All in real-time. Zero configuration.

Quick Start with Bun — 30 Seconds

Install it:

bun add hono-telescope

Or with npm/yarn/pnpm:

npm install hono-telescope
# yarn add hono-telescope
# pnpm add hono-telescope

Use it:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { setupTelescope } from 'hono-telescope';

const app = new Hono();

// One line – that's it!
setupTelescope(app);

app.get('/api/users', async (c) => {
console.log('Fetching users');
const users = await db.query('SELECT * FROM users');
return c.json(users);
});

export default app;

Run it with Bun:

bun run src/index.ts

Open http://localhost:3000/telescope and start debugging!

Features in Action

1. Request Monitoring 📊

See every HTTP request in real-time:

Request path, method, and status
Headers and request body
Response time
Request context

Perfect for understanding your API flow during development.

2. Exception Tracking 🚨

Never miss an error:

Full stack traces
Error message and type
Request that triggered it
Timestamp

Catch bugs before your users do.

3. Database Query Inspection 🗄️

Monitor database performance:

Query text and bindings
Execution time
Parent request context
Error information if query fails

Works with:

Prisma — $queryRaw and $executeRaw
Sequelize — All queries
MongoDB — Document operations
Bun SQLite — Native queries ⚡

4. Log Monitoring 📝

Centralized logging:

console.log capture
Organized by severity level
Searchable and filterable
Linked to requests

All your debug logs in one place.

Configuration

Want fine-grained control?

setupTelescope(app, {
enabled: true, // Enable/disable
path: '/telescope', // Dashboard URL
max_entries: 1000, // Max entries to store
ignored_paths: ['/health'], // Paths to skip
watchers: {
requests: true, // Monitor requests
exceptions: true, // Monitor errors
logs: true, // Monitor logs
queries: true, // Monitor queries
},
});

Live Demo — Try It Now

No installation needed!

🎮 Live Dashboard

Test the API:

# Get all users
curl https://hono-telescope-9lvpv.ondigitalocean.app/api/users

# Create a user
curl -X POST https://hono-telescope-9lvpv.ondigitalocean.app/api/users \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name":"John","email":"john@example.com"}'

# Trigger an error
curl https://hono-telescope-9lvpv.ondigitalocean.app/api/error

# Run all tests at once
bash <(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jubstaaa/hono-telescope/main/src/example/test-all-endpoints.sh)

Then check the dashboard to see everything!

Perfect For

🔧 Development — Debug during active development with Bun's speed

🐛 Testing — Understand request/response flows

📈 Performance — Track database query times and optimize

🚀 Production Issues — See exactly what's happening

🎯 API Development — Monitor API behavior

Why Bun + Telescope?

Bun is lightning-fast. But you still need to see what's happening in your app. Hono Telescope gives you that visibility with zero overhead.

Perfect combo for modern API development.

Roadmap 🗺️

We're actively developing:

💾 Data export (JSON, CSV)
🔔 Real-time alerts
📈 Advanced analytics
🔐 Dashboard authentication
🌍 Multi-tenancy support
📱 Enhanced mobile dashboard
🧩 Plugin system

Get Started