Node.js Console Complete Reference

Last Updated : 3 Jun, 2026

The console module in Node.js is a built-in utility used for logging, debugging, monitoring, and troubleshooting applications through terminal output. It provides a simple debugging console similar to JavaScript browser consoles and supports displaying different levels of messages.

  • Browser Difference: In Node.js, console output is shown in the terminal or command line instead of the browser developer console.
  • Global Object: The console object is globally available, so it can be used directly without importing it using require().
  • Message Levels: Supports different types of messages such as normal logs, errors, warnings, and traces.

Node.js Console Methods

The Console Module in Node.js provides a variety of methods that help in outputting information to the console:

Basic Logging:

Used for displaying general messages and errors in the terminal for debugging and monitoring applications.

  • console.log()
  • console.error()

Formatting and Output:

Provides different message types and formatting options to organize console output more clearly.

  • console.info()
  • console.warn()
  • console.debug()

Advanced Features:

Offers specialized debugging and performance tools for tracing execution, measuring time, and displaying structured data.

  • console.table()
  • console.trace()
  • console.time()
  • console.timeEnd()

Customizing Console Output:

Helps inspect objects and validate conditions with more controlled and detailed console behavior.

  • console.assert()
  • console.dir()

Example:

JavaScript 
// Node.js program to demonstrate the
// console.trace() method

// Accessing console module
const console = require('console');

// Calling console.trace() method
console.trace("stack teace sample");

console.trace("stack trace sample with args: %d", 39);

Output:

Trace: stack trace sample
at Object.<anonymous> (C:\nodejs\g\console\console_trace.js:7:9)
at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:30)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:787:10)
at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:653:32)
at tryModuleLoad (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:593:12)
at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:585:3)

Trace: stack trace sample with args: 39
at Object.<anonymous> (C:\nodejs\g\console\console_trace.js:9:9)
at Module._compile (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:776:30)
at Object.Module._extensions..js (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:787:10)
at Module.load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:653:32)
at tryModuleLoad (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:593:12)
at Function.Module._load (internal/modules/cjs/loader.js:585:3)

The complete list of NodeJS Console are listed below:

Node.js Console Methods

Description

console.assert() Checks whether value is truthy. If it is falsy or omitted, it writes an assertion failure message to the console; otherwise, it does nothing.
console.clear() The console.clear() will work differently across different operating systems and terminal types.
console.count() This Ā is used to count label passed to it as a parameter, by maintaining an internal counter for that specific label.
console.countReset() This is used to reset the count for the specific label passed to it as a parameter.
console.debug() This is used to print messages to stdout in a newline. Alias of console.log().
console.dir() Prints an object using util.inspect().
console.error() Ā This is used to display an error messages on the console. It prints to stderr with newline.
console.info() This is used to print messages to stdout in a newline. Alias of console.log().
console.timeLog() Logs the elapsed time for a timer previously started with console.time(), along with any additional data.
console.time() Ā It is used to starts a timer that is used to compute the time taken by a piece of code or function.Ā 
console.table() It is used to print the table constructed from itā€™s parameters into the console.
new Console() Constructor Creates a new Console with one or two writable streams.
console.profile() The console.profile() (Added in v8.0.0) method is an inbuilt application programming interface of the ā€˜consoleā€˜ module which doesnā€™t display anything unless used in the inspector.
console.profileEnd() The console.profileEnd() (Added in v8.0.0) method is an inbuilt application programming interface of the ā€˜consoleā€™ module which does not display anything unless used in the inspector.
console.timeStamp() This is an inbuilt application programming interface of the ā€˜consoleā€˜ module which does not display anything unless used in the inspector.
console.timeEnd() Ā This method stops a timer that was previously started by using console.time() method and display the result using stdout.
console.trace() Prints a stack trace to stderr, prefixed with 'Trace: '.
console.warn()This is used to display the warning messages on the console. It prints to stderr with newline
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