The main tool used to run code of the server during development are tests. Assuming the test you are focusing on is in test/foo.js, enable this test only by editing the file as so:
test.only.cb('foo test', t => ...
and run this specific file:
env DUMP_EXCEPTIONS=1 DEBUG="traffic:*,xmpp:*,junction" ./node_modules/.bin/ava --timeout=5s --watch -v test/foo.js
This will continously run your test and re-run every file modification.
DUMP_EXCEPTIONS causes Errors thrown and/or returned as packet errors to be
dumped with stack trace on the console.
DEBUG enables specific debug categories.
After finishing your changes, remove .only from your test and run all tests
with:
npm test