diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index a0a7d18de2e2..f1e4a2249a26 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -51,17 +51,17 @@
 
 
     // @sentry/nextjs - Run a specific integration test file
-    // Must have file in currently active tab when hitting the play button
+    // Must have test file in currently active tab when hitting the play button, and must already have run `yarn` in test app directory
     {
       "name": "Debug @sentry/nextjs integration tests - just open file",
       "type": "node",
       "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/packages/nextjs",
       "request": "launch",
-      // TODO create a build task
-      // "preLaunchTask": "yarn build",
-
-      // this is going straight to `server.js` (rather than running the tests through yarn) in order to be able to skip
-      // having to reinstall dependencies on every new test run
+      // since we're not using the normal test runner, we need to make sure we're using the current version of all local
+      // SDK packages and then manually rebuild the test app
+      "preLaunchTask": "Prepare nextjs integration test app for debugging",
+      // running `server.js` directly (rather than running the tests through yarn) allows us to skip having to reinstall
+      // dependencies on every new test run
       "program": "${workspaceFolder}/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/server.js",
       "args": [
         "--debug",
@@ -69,10 +69,29 @@
         "--filter",
         "${fileBasename}"
       ],
-      "sourceMaps": true,
+
       "skipFiles": [
-        "<node_internals>/**", "**/tslib/**"
+        "<node_internals>/**",
+        // this prevents us from landing in a neverending cycle of TS async-polyfill functions as we're stepping through
+        // our code
+        "${workspaceFolder}/node_modules/tslib/**/*"
       ],
+      "sourceMaps": true,
+      // this controls which files are sourcemapped
+      "outFiles": [
+        // our SDK code
+        "${workspaceFolder}/**/dist/**/*.js",
+        // the built test app
+        "${workspaceFolder}/packages/nextjs/test/integration/.next/**/*.js",
+        "!**/node_modules/**"
+      ],
+      "resolveSourceMapLocations": [
+        "${workspaceFolder}/**/dist/**",
+        "${workspaceFolder}/packages/nextjs/test/integration/.next/**",
+        "!**/node_modules/**"
+      ],
+      "internalConsoleOptions": "openOnSessionStart"
+
     },
   ]
 }
diff --git a/.vscode/tasks.json b/.vscode/tasks.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6e797a064c61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/tasks.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558 for documentation about `tasks.json` syntax
+	"version": "2.0.0",
+	"tasks": [
+		{
+			"label": "Prepare nextjs integration test app for VSCode debugger",
+			"type": "npm",
+			"script": "predebug",
+			"path": "packages/nextjs/test/integration/",
+			"detail": "Link the SDK (if not already linked) and build test app"
+		}
+	]
+}
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/package.json b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/package.json
index cd117b39ec31..5523ee933d20 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/package.json
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/package.json
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "next",
     "build": "next build",
+    "predebug": "source ../integration_test_utils.sh && link_monorepo_packages '../../..' && yarn build",
     "start": "next start"
   },
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/api/http/index.ts b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/api/http/index.ts
index 5804f79bb085..958dc09ad6f6 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/api/http/index.ts
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/api/http/index.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ import { get } from 'http';
 import { NextApiRequest, NextApiResponse } from 'next';
 
 const handler = async (_req: NextApiRequest, res: NextApiResponse): Promise<void> => {
+  // make an outgoing request in order to test that the `Http` integration creates a span
   await new Promise(resolve => get('http://example.com', resolve));
+
   res.status(200).json({});
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/fetch.tsx b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/fetch.tsx
index 44e0a4ceb68d..1b538c936494 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/fetch.tsx
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/pages/fetch.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const ButtonPage = (): JSX.Element => (
   <button
     onClick={() => {
+      // test that a span is created in the pageload transaction for this fetch request
       fetch('http://example.com').catch(() => {
         // no-empty
       });
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.client.config.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.client.config.js
index 4bbe2973f0d4..e8da7a90914b 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.client.config.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.client.config.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { Integrations } from '@sentry/tracing';
 Sentry.init({
   dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
   tracesSampleRate: 1,
+  debug: process.env.SDK_DEBUG,
+
   integrations: [
     new Integrations.BrowserTracing({
       // Used for testing http tracing
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.server.config.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.server.config.js
index 9df15d30523c..da0759f4475e 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.server.config.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/sentry.server.config.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import * as Sentry from '@sentry/nextjs';
 Sentry.init({
   dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
   tracesSampleRate: 1,
+  debug: process.env.SDK_DEBUG,
 
   integrations: defaults => [
     ...defaults.filter(
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/runner.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/runner.js
index 582396e1caf4..0871284d32f4 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/runner.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/runner.js
@@ -14,10 +14,13 @@ const argv = yargs(process.argv.slice(2))
   .option('silent', {
     type: 'boolean',
     description: 'Hide all stdout and console logs except test results',
+    conflicts: ['debug'],
   })
   .option('debug', {
-    type: 'boolean',
-    description: 'Log intercepted requests and debug messages',
+    type: 'string',
+    description: 'Log intercepted requests and/or debug messages',
+    choices: ['', 'requests', 'logs'], // empty string will be equivalent to "logs"
+    conflicts: ['silent'],
   })
   .option('depth', {
     type: 'number',
@@ -82,6 +85,22 @@ module.exports.run = async ({
         scenarios.forEach(s => log(`⊙ Scenario found: ${path.basename(s)}`));
       }
     }
+
+    // Turn on the SDK's `debug` option or the logging of intercepted requests, or both
+
+    // `yarn test:integration --debug` or
+    // `yarn test:integration --debug logs` or
+    // `yarn test:integration --debug logs --debug requests`
+    if (argv.debug === '' || argv.debug === 'logs' || (Array.isArray(argv.debug) && argv.debug.includes('logs'))) {
+      process.env.SDK_DEBUG = true; // will set `debug: true` in `Sentry.init()
+    }
+
+    // `yarn test:integration --debug requests` or
+    // `yarn test:integration --debug logs --debug requests`
+    if (argv.debug === 'requests' || (Array.isArray(argv.debug) && argv.debug.includes('requests'))) {
+      process.env.LOG_REQUESTS = true;
+    }
+
     // Silence all the unnecessary server noise. We are capturing errors manualy anyway.
     if (argv.silent) {
       for (const level of ['log', 'warn', 'info', 'error']) {
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/server/tracingHttp.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/server/tracingHttp.js
index edb31393048c..3494c5054582 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/server/tracingHttp.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/server/tracingHttp.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ const { getAsync, interceptTracingRequest } = require('../utils/server');
 module.exports = async ({ url: urlBase, argv }) => {
   const url = `${urlBase}/api/http`;
 
+  // this intercepts the outgoing request made by the route handler (which it makes in order to test span creation)
   nock('http://example.com')
     .get('/')
     .reply(200, 'ok');
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/client.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/client.js
index 760541963ce6..d2c11837db3d 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/client.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/client.js
@@ -20,13 +20,13 @@ const createRequestInterceptor = env => {
     }
 
     if (isEventRequest(request)) {
-      logIf(env.argv.debug, 'Intercepted Event', extractEventFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
+      logIf(process.env.LOG_REQUESTS, 'Intercepted Event', extractEventFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
       env.requests.events.push(request);
     } else if (isSessionRequest(request)) {
-      logIf(env.argv.debug, 'Intercepted Session', extractEnvelopeFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
+      logIf(process.env.LOG_REQUESTS, 'Intercepted Session', extractEnvelopeFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
       env.requests.sessions.push(request);
     } else if (isTransactionRequest(request)) {
-      logIf(env.argv.debug, 'Intercepted Transaction', extractEnvelopeFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
+      logIf(process.env.LOG_REQUESTS, 'Intercepted Transaction', extractEnvelopeFromRequest(request), env.argv.depth);
       env.requests.transactions.push(request);
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/server.js b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/server.js
index 3cb0ad1588b2..09c460986d96 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/server.js
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration/test/utils/server.js
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const interceptEventRequest = (expectedEvent, argv, testName = '') => {
   return nock('https://dsn.ingest.sentry.io')
     .post('/api/1337/store/', body => {
       logIf(
-        argv.debug,
+        process.env.LOG_REQUESTS,
         '\nIntercepted Event' + (testName.length ? ` (from test \`${testName}\`)` : ''),
         body,
         argv.depth,
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ const interceptSessionRequest = (expectedItem, argv, testName = '') => {
     .post('/api/1337/envelope/', body => {
       const { envelopeHeader, itemHeader, item } = parseEnvelope(body);
       logIf(
-        argv.debug,
+        process.env.LOG_REQUESTS,
         '\nIntercepted Session' + (testName.length ? ` (from test \`${testName}\`)` : ''),
         { envelopeHeader, itemHeader, item },
         argv.depth,
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ const interceptTracingRequest = (expectedItem, argv, testName = '') => {
     .post('/api/1337/envelope/', body => {
       const { envelopeHeader, itemHeader, item } = parseEnvelope(body);
       logIf(
-        argv.debug,
+        process.env.LOG_REQUESTS,
         '\nIntercepted Transaction' + (testName.length ? ` (from test \`${testName}\`)` : ''),
         { envelopeHeader, itemHeader, item },
         argv.depth,
diff --git a/packages/nextjs/test/integration_test_utils.sh b/packages/nextjs/test/integration_test_utils.sh
index 48d76685f234..c067ab9c227d 100644
--- a/packages/nextjs/test/integration_test_utils.sh
+++ b/packages/nextjs/test/integration_test_utils.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 function link_package() {
   local package_abs_path=$1
-  local package_name=$2
+  # strip the 'sentry-' prefix from the repo name of packages not in the monorepo (`cli`, `webpack-plugin`, and `wizard`)
+  local package_name=$(basename $package_abs_path | sed s/sentry-//)
 
   echo "Setting up @sentry/${package_name} for linking"
   pushd $package_abs_path
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ function linkcli() {
 
   # check to make sure the repo directory exists
   if [[ -d $LINKED_CLI_REPO ]]; then
-    link_package $LINKED_CLI_REPO "cli"
+    link_package $LINKED_CLI_REPO
   else
     # the $1 lets us insert a string in that spot if one is passed to `linkcli` (useful for when we're calling this from
     # within another linking function)
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ function linkplugin() {
 
   # check to make sure the repo directory exists
   if [[ -d $LINKED_PLUGIN_REPO ]]; then
-    link_package $LINKED_PLUGIN_REPO "webpack-plugin"
+    link_package $LINKED_PLUGIN_REPO
 
     # the webpack plugin depends on `@sentry/cli`, so if we're also using a linked version of the cli package, the
     # plugin needs to link to it, too
@@ -49,3 +50,30 @@ function linkplugin() {
     echo "ERROR: Can't link @sentry/wepack-plugin because $LINKED_PLUGIN_REPO does not exist."
   fi
 }
+
+# This is only really useful for running tests in the debugger, as the normal test runner reinstalls all SDK packages
+# from the local files on each test run
+function link_monorepo_packages() {
+  local repo_packages_dir=$1
+
+  for abs_package_path in ${repo_packages_dir}/*; do
+    local package_name=$(basename $abs_package_path)
+
+    # Skip packages under the `@sentry-internal` namespace (our function is only linking packages in the `@sentry`
+    # namespace, and besides, there's no reason to link such packages, as they're purely SDK dev dependencies).
+    #
+    # (The regex test ( `=~` ) is a sneaky way of testing if `package_name` is any of the three packages listed: if the
+    # string containing all of the packages containes a match to the regex solely consisting of the current package
+    # name, the current package must be in the list.)
+    if [[ "eslint-config-sdk eslint-plugin-sdk typescript" =~ $package_name ]]; then
+      continue
+    fi
+
+    # `-L` tests if the given file is a symbolic link, to see if linking has already been done
+    if [[ ! -L node_modules/@sentry/$package_name ]]; then
+      echo "Linking @sentry/$package_name"
+      link_package $abs_package_path >/dev/null 2>&1
+    fi
+
+  done
+}