diff --git a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp
index 9cdb6427..86e2bdae 100644
--- a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp
+++ b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.cpp
@@ -3,11 +3,62 @@
 #include "engine/Engine.hpp"
 #include "network/Network.hpp"
 #include "debug/Logger.hpp"
+#include "coders/json.hpp"
 
 using namespace devtools;
 
 static debug::Logger logger("debug-server");
 
+ClientConnection::~ClientConnection() {
+    if (auto connection = dynamic_cast<network::ReadableConnection*>(
+        network.getConnection(this->connection, true)
+    )) {
+        connection->close();
+    }
+}
+
+std::string ClientConnection::read() {
+    auto connection = dynamic_cast<network::ReadableConnection*>(
+        network.getConnection(this->connection, true)
+    );
+    if (connection == nullptr) {
+        return "";
+    }
+    if (messageLength == 0) {
+        if (connection->available() >= sizeof(int32_t)) {
+            int32_t length = 0;
+            connection->recv(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&length), sizeof(int32_t));
+            if (length <= 0) {
+                logger.error() << "invalid message length " << length;
+            } else {
+                messageLength = length;
+            }
+        }
+    } else if (connection->available() >= messageLength) {
+        std::string string(messageLength, 0);
+        connection->recv(string.data(), messageLength);
+        return string;
+    }
+    return "";
+}
+
+void ClientConnection::send(const dv::value& object) {
+    auto connection = dynamic_cast<network::ReadableConnection*>(
+        network.getConnection(this->connection, true)
+    );
+    if (connection == nullptr) {
+        return;
+    }
+    auto message = json::stringify(object, false);
+    int32_t length = message.length();
+    connection->send(reinterpret_cast<char*>(&length), sizeof(int32_t));
+    connection->send(message.data(), length);
+}
+
+void ClientConnection::sendResponse(const std::string& type) {
+    send(dv::object({{"type", type}}));
+}
+
 static network::Server& create_tcp_server(
     DebuggingServer& dbgServer, Engine& engine, int port
 ) {
@@ -15,12 +66,14 @@ static network::Server& create_tcp_server(
     u64id_t serverId = network.openTcpServer(
         port,
         [&network, &dbgServer](u64id_t sid, u64id_t id) {
-            auto& connection = *network.getConnection(id, true);
+            auto& connection = dynamic_cast<network::ReadableConnection&>(
+                *network.getConnection(id, true)
+            );
             connection.setPrivate(true);
             logger.info() << "connected client " << id << ": "
                           << connection.getAddress() << ":"
                           << connection.getPort();
-            dbgServer.setClient(connection);
+            dbgServer.setClient(id);
         }
     );
     auto& server = *network.getServer(serverId, true);
@@ -64,14 +117,55 @@ DebuggingServer::DebuggingServer(
 )
     : engine(engine),
       server(create_server(*this, engine, serverString)),
-      client(nullptr) {
+      connection(nullptr) {
 }
 
 DebuggingServer::~DebuggingServer() {
     logger.info() << "stopping debugging server";
+    server.close();
 }
 
 
 bool DebuggingServer::update() {
-    return false;
+    if (connection == nullptr) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    std::string message = connection->read();
+    if (message.empty()) {
+        return true;
+    }
+    logger.debug() << "received: " << message;
+    try {
+        auto obj = json::parse(message);
+        if (!obj.has("type")) {
+            logger.error() << "missing message type";
+            return true;
+        }
+        const auto& type = obj["type"].asString();
+        return performCommand(type, obj);
+    } catch (const std::runtime_error& err) {
+        logger.error() << "could not to parse message: " << err.what();
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool DebuggingServer::performCommand(
+    const std::string& type, const dv::value& map
+) {
+    if (type == "terminate") {
+        engine.quit();
+        connection->sendResponse("success");
+    } else if (type == "detach") {
+        connection->sendResponse("success");
+        connection.reset();
+        return false;
+    } else {
+        logger.error() << "unsupported command '" << type << "'";
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
+void DebuggingServer::setClient(u64id_t client) {
+    this->connection =
+        std::make_unique<ClientConnection>(engine.getNetwork(), client);
 }
diff --git a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp
index 7f557935..b8b103b8 100644
--- a/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp
+++ b/src/devtools/DebuggingServer.hpp
@@ -3,14 +3,38 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 
+#include "typedefs.hpp"
+
 namespace network {
     class Server;
     class Connection;
+    class ReadableConnection;
+    class Network;
+}
+
+namespace dv {
+    class value;
 }
 
 class Engine;
 
 namespace devtools {
+    class ClientConnection {
+    public:
+        ClientConnection(network::Network& network, u64id_t connection)
+            : network(network), connection(connection) {
+        }
+        ~ClientConnection();
+
+        std::string read();
+        void send(const dv::value& message);
+        void sendResponse(const std::string& type);
+    private:
+        network::Network& network;
+        size_t messageLength = 0;
+        u64id_t connection;
+    };
+
     class DebuggingServer {
     public:
         DebuggingServer(Engine& engine, const std::string& serverString);
@@ -18,12 +42,12 @@ namespace devtools {
 
         bool update();
 
-        void setClient(network::Connection& client) {
-            this->client = &client;
-        }
+        void setClient(u64id_t client);
     private:
         Engine& engine;
         network::Server& server;
-        network::Connection* client;
+        std::unique_ptr<ClientConnection> connection;
+
+        bool performCommand(const std::string& type, const dv::value& map);
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.cpp b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
index 23018946..65a0be87 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
@@ -282,6 +282,12 @@ void Engine::postUpdate() {
     network->update();
     postRunnables.run();
     scripting::process_post_runnables();
+
+    if (debuggingServer) {
+        if (!debuggingServer->update()) {
+            debuggingServer.reset();
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 void Engine::updateFrontend() {
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.hpp b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
index c523acb8..b0f0918d 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.hpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ struct CoreParameters {
     std::filesystem::path userFolder = ".";
     std::filesystem::path scriptFile;
     std::filesystem::path projectFolder;
-    std::string debugServerString;
+    std::string debugServerString = "tcp:9030";
     int tps = 20;
 };