diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index bab4f22e0..5d5db1d63 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -127,6 +127,19 @@
       "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
       "console": "integratedTerminal",
       "env": {}
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "node",
+      "request": "launch",
+      "name": "Dev Launch CLI",
+      "runtimeExecutable": "npm",
+      "runtimeArgs": ["run", "dev"],
+      "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],
+      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+      "console": "integratedTerminal",
+      "env": {
+        "GEMINI_SANDBOX": "false"
+      }
     }
   ],
   "inputs": [
diff --git a/scripts/dev.js b/scripts/dev.js
index e0adcaea0..8432a32ce 100644
--- a/scripts/dev.js
+++ b/scripts/dev.js
@@ -67,13 +67,16 @@ register('${loaderUrl}', pathToFileURL('./'));
 `;
 writeFileSync(registerPath, registerCode);
 
+// Preserve existing NODE_OPTIONS (e.g. VS Code debugger injects --inspect flags via NODE_OPTIONS)
+const existingNodeOptions = process.env.NODE_OPTIONS || '';
+const importFlag = `--import ${pathToFileURL(registerPath).href}`;
+
 const env = {
   ...process.env,
   DEV: 'true',
   CLI_VERSION: 'dev',
   NODE_ENV: 'development',
-  // Use --import with register() instead of deprecated --loader
-  NODE_OPTIONS: `--import ${pathToFileURL(registerPath).href}`,
+  NODE_OPTIONS: `${existingNodeOptions} ${importFlag}`.trim(),
 };
 
 const nodeArgs = [tsxPath, cliEntry, ...process.argv.slice(2)];