A method, apparatus and article of manufacture is provided for debugging within a computer system network. The method uses XML dataflows from/to a console for debugging of instructions located in a server, which has a database management system for retrieving data from a database stored in an electronic storage device coupled to the server. The method uses a debugger manager at the console for commanding and monitoring debugging operations of the server-side instructions, performed by a debugger engine, and uses XML command and status report dataflows for providing a database communication interface between the debugger manager and the debugger engine. Some preferred embodiments use stored procedures in addition to the XML dataflows, and the debugger manager executes in a multi-threaded environment.