diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f8f8e687c6791..2cb016405e016 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # VSCode extension
-.vscode/
+
+# Store launch config in repo but not settings
+.vscode/settings.json
 /.favorites.json
 
 # TypeScript incremental build states
diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..66f6db80dcd14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
+  // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
+  // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
+  "version": "0.2.0",
+  "configurations": [
+    {
+      // Has convenient settings for attaching to a NodeJS process for debugging purposes
+      // that are NOT the default and otherwise every developers has to configure for
+      // themselves again and again.
+      "type": "node",
+      "request": "attach",
+      "name": "Attach to NodeJS",
+      // If we don't do this, every step-into into an async function call will go into
+      // NodeJS internals which are hard to step out of.
+      "skipFiles": [
+        "<node_internals>/**"
+      ],
+      // Saves some button-pressing latency on attaching
+      "stopOnEntry": false
+    }
+  ]
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 468cdf8b09e1d..810267a9ab428 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ and let us know if it's not up-to-date (even better, submit a PR with your  corr
 - [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting)
 - [Debugging](#debugging)
   - [Connecting the VS Code Debugger](#connecting-the-vs-code-debugger)
+  - [Run a CDK unit test in the debugger](#run-a-cdk-unit-test-in-the-debugger)
 - [Related Repositories](#related-repositories)
 
 ## Getting Started
@@ -327,7 +328,7 @@ All packages in the repo use a standard base configuration found at [eslintrc.js
 This can be customized for any package by modifying the `.eslintrc` file found at its root.
 
 If you're using the VS Code and would like to see eslint violations on it, install the [eslint
-extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=dbaeumer.vscode-eslint). 
+extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=dbaeumer.vscode-eslint).
 
 #### pkglint
 
@@ -910,6 +911,24 @@ To debug your CDK application along with the CDK repository,
 6. The debug view, should now have a launch configuration called 'Debug hello-cdk' and launching that will start the debugger.
 7. Any time you modify the CDK app or any of the CDK modules, they need to be re-built and depending on the change the `link-all.sh` script from step#2, may need to be re-run. Only then, would VS code recognize the change and potentially the breakpoint.
 
+### Run a CDK unit test in the debugger
+
+If you want to run the VSCode debugger on unit tests of the CDK project
+itself, do the following:
+
+1. Set a breakpoint inside your unit test.
+2. In your terminal, depending on the type of test, run either:
+
+```
+# (For tests names test.xxx.ts)
+$ node --inspect-brk /path/to/aws-cdk/node_modules/.bin/nodeunit -t 'TESTNAME'
+
+# (For tests names xxxx.test.ts)
+$ node --inspect-brk /path/to/aws-cdk/node_modules/.bin/jest -i -t 'TESTNAME'
+```
+
+3. On the `Run` pane of VSCode, select the run configuration **Attach to NodeJS** and click the button.
+
 ## Related Repositories
 
 * [Samples](https://github.com/aws-samples/aws-cdk-examples): includes sample code in multiple languages