Source maps are crucial for debugging minified JavaScript by providing a mapping between the minified code and the original source code. However, the current specification lacks self-description and identification for both JavaScript files and their sourcemaps, causing usability issues and practical difficulties.

Enter debug IDs: a proposed stage 2 tc39 proposal for the source map standard that fixes these issues. Debug IDs ensure that you always get the right source map for your minified JavaScript, fixing debugging headaches and improving the developer experience in every tool you use.

In this talk we'll dive deep into debug IDs. We'll look at how they were developed, the current implementations in the ecosystem (including in Vite, Rolldown and Rollup!) and what the next steps are to get this standardized in JavaScript.

Designed as a Lightning Talk