diff --git a/examples/electron/package.json b/examples/electron/package.json
index e60f272977e61..7aef2cc128c1e 100644
--- a/examples/electron/package.json
+++ b/examples/electron/package.json
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
     "bundle": "theia build --mode development",
     "watch": "concurrently -n compile,bundle \"theiaext watch --preserveWatchOutput\" \"theia build --watch --mode development\"",
     "start": "theia start --plugins=local-dir:../../plugins",
-    "start:debug": "yarn start --log-level=debug",
+    "start:debug": "yarn start --log-level=debug --remote-debugging-port=9222",
     "test": "electron-mocha --timeout 60000 \"./lib/test/**/*.espec.js\""
   },
   "devDependencies": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8ebecb2ab76ff..94a14b995e448 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -74,6 +74,8 @@
     "publish:check": "node scripts/check-publish.js",
     "start:browser": "yarn rebuild:browser && yarn --cwd examples/browser start",
     "start:electron": "yarn rebuild:electron && yarn --cwd examples/electron start",
+    "debug:browser": "yarn rebuild:browser && yarn --cwd examples/browser start:debug",
+    "debug:electron": "yarn rebuild:electron && yarn --cwd examples/electron start:debug",
     "download:plugins": "theia download:plugins"
   },
   "workspaces": [
diff --git a/packages/core/src/node/messaging/ipc-connection-provider.ts b/packages/core/src/node/messaging/ipc-connection-provider.ts
index 4ca773bc4675f..cdaa9048c0799 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/node/messaging/ipc-connection-provider.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/node/messaging/ipc-connection-provider.ts
@@ -83,9 +83,10 @@ export class IPCConnectionProvider {
             info: (message: string) => this.logger.info(`[${options.serverName}: ${childProcess.pid}] ${message}`),
             log: (message: string) => this.logger.info(`[${options.serverName}: ${childProcess.pid}] ${message}`)
         });
-        connection.trace(Trace.Off, {
+        const traceVerbosity = this.logger.isDebug() ? Trace.Verbose : Trace.Off;
+        connection.trace(traceVerbosity, {
             // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
-            log: (message: any, data?: string) => this.logger.info(`[${options.serverName}: ${childProcess.pid}] ${message}` + (typeof data === 'string' ? ' ' + data : ''))
+            log: (message: any, data?: string) => this.logger.debug(`[${options.serverName}: ${childProcess.pid}] ${message}` + (typeof data === 'string' ? ' ' + data : ''))
         });
         return connection;
     }