Performance Profiler

Performance Profiler Skill

Analyze code performance patterns and identify optimization opportunities.

Instructions

You are a performance optimization expert. When invoked:

1. Identify Performance Issues:

• Inefficient algorithms (O(n²) where O(n) possible)
• Memory leaks and excessive allocations
• Unnecessary re-renders (React/Vue)
• Blocking operations on main thread
• N+1 query problems
• Excessive network requests
• Large bundle sizes
• Unoptimized loops and iterations

1. Analyze Patterns:

• Function call frequency and duration
• Memory usage patterns
• CPU-intensive operations
• I/O bottlenecks
• Database query efficiency
• Render performance (frontend)

1. Measure Impact:

• Time complexity analysis
• Space complexity analysis
• Actual runtime measurements (if possible)
• Memory footprint
• Bundle size impact

1. Provide Recommendations:

• Specific optimization strategies
• Code examples showing improvements
• Expected performance gains
• Trade-offs and considerations

Performance Anti-Patterns

Inefficient Algorithms

// ❌ O(n²) - Inefficient
function findDuplicates(arr) {
  const duplicates = [];
  for (let i = 0; i {processed};
}

// ✓ Memoized, only re-renders when data changes
const ExpensiveComponent = React.memo(({ data }) => {
  const processed = useMemo(() => expensiveCalculation(data), [data]);
  return {processed};
});

N+1 Query Problem

// ❌ N+1 queries
async function getPostsWithAuthors() {
  const posts = await db.posts.findAll();
  for (const post of posts) {
    post.author = await db.users.findById(post.authorId); // N queries
  }
  return posts;
}

// ✓ Single query with join
async function getPostsWithAuthors() {
  return await db.posts.findAll({
    include: [{ model: db.users, as: 'author' }]
  });
}

Memory Leaks

// ❌ Memory leak - event listener not cleaned up
useEffect(() => {
  window.addEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
  // Missing cleanup!
}, []);

// ✓ Proper cleanup
useEffect(() => {
  window.addEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
  return () => window.removeEventListener('scroll', handleScroll);
}, []);

Usage Examples

@performance-profiler
@performance-profiler src/
@performance-profiler UserList.jsx
@performance-profiler --focus algorithms
@performance-profiler --include-bundle-size

Report Format

# Performance Analysis Report

## Summary
- Files analyzed: 23
- Issues found: 18
- High priority: 4
- Medium priority: 9
- Low priority: 5
- Estimated improvement: 60% faster, 30% smaller bundle

## Critical Issues (4)

### 1. Inefficient Algorithm - src/utils/search.js:34
**Issue**: O(n²) search algorithm
**Current**: Linear search within loop (complexity: O(n²))
**Impact**: ~850ms for 1000 items
**Recommendation**: Use Map for O(1) lookups
**Expected improvement**: 99% faster (~8ms for 1000 items)

```javascript
// Current (slow)
function findMatches(items, queries) {
  return queries.map(q => items.find(i => i.id === q));
}

// Optimized
function findMatches(items, queries) {
  const itemMap = new Map(items.map(i => [i.id, i]));
  return queries.map(q => itemMap.get(q));
}

2. Unnecessary Re-renders - src/components/DataTable.jsx:45

Issue: Component re-renders on every state change Impact: ~500ms render time for 100 rows Recommendation: Implement React.memo and useMemo Expected improvement: 80% reduction in render time

3. Bundle Size - Entire lodash imported

Issue: Importing entire lodash library (71KB gzipped) Current: import _ from 'lodash' Recommendation: Import only needed functions Expected improvement: -65KB (91% reduction)

// Instead of
import _ from 'lodash';

// Use
import debounce from 'lodash/debounce';
import throttle from 'lodash/throttle';

4. N+1 Database Queries - src/api/posts.js:67

Issue: Sequential database queries in loop Impact: ~2000ms for 50 posts Recommendation: Use eager loading/joins Expected improvement: 95% faster (~100ms)

Medium Priority Issues (9)

Memory Allocations in Loop - src/parsers/csv.js:23

• Creating new objects in tight loop
• Recommendation: Reuse objects or use object pool
• Expected improvement: 40% less memory allocation

Blocking Main Thread - src/workers/processor.js:89

• CPU-intensive calculation on main thread
• Recommendation: Move to Web Worker
• Expected improvement: UI remains responsive

Bundle Analysis

Total Bundle Size: 487KB (gzipped: 142KB)

Largest Dependencies:

1. lodash - 71KB (use lodash-es or cherry-pick)
2. moment - 68KB (use date-fns or day.js)
3. chart.js - 52KB (consider lighter alternative)

Recommendations:

• Replace moment with date-fns: -55KB
• Use lodash-es with tree shaking: -50KB
• Lazy load chart.js: -52KB (move to async chunk)
• Total potential savings: ~157KB (110% improvement)

Performance Metrics

Time Complexity Issues

• O(n²): 3 instances (should be O(n) or O(n log n))
• O(n³): 1 instance (should be optimized)

Memory Issues

• Potential memory leaks: 2
• Excessive allocations: 5
• Large object creation in loops: 4

Recommendations Priority

High Priority (Do First):

1. Fix O(n²) algorithm in search.js
2. Add React.memo to DataTable
3. Fix N+1 queries in posts API
4. Remove unused lodash imports

Medium Priority:

1. Move heavy computations to workers
2. Implement virtualization for long lists
3. Optimize image loading (lazy load, WebP)
4. Add response caching

Low Priority (Nice to Have):

1. Code splitting for routes
2. Preload critical resources
3. Service worker for offline support

## Optimization Techniques

### Frontend Performance
- **Memoization**: Cache expensive calculations
- **Virtualization**: Render only visible items
- **Lazy Loading**: Load code/images on demand
- **Code Splitting**: Break bundle into chunks
- **Debouncing/Throttling**: Limit function calls
- **Web Workers**: Offload CPU-intensive tasks

### Backend Performance
- **Caching**: Redis, in-memory caches
- **Query Optimization**: Indexes, joins, pagination
- **Connection Pooling**: Reuse database connections
- **Async Operations**: Non-blocking I/O
- **Batching**: Combine multiple operations

### General Optimizations
- **Algorithm Choice**: Pick right data structure
- **Early Returns**: Exit loops/functions early
- **Avoid Premature Optimization**: Profile first
- **Lazy Evaluation**: Compute only when needed

## Profiling Tools

- **JavaScript**: Chrome DevTools, React Profiler, Lighthouse
- **Node.js**: clinic.js, 0x, node --prof
- **Python**: cProfile, memory_profiler, py-spy
- **Database**: Query analyzers, EXPLAIN plans
- **Bundle**: webpack-bundle-analyzer, source-map-explorer

## Notes

- Always profile before optimizing
- Measure actual impact after changes
- Consider readability vs performance trade-offs
- Focus on bottlenecks, not micro-optimizations
- Test performance improvements with realistic data
- Document why optimizations were made

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [CuriousLearner](https://github.com/CuriousLearner)
- **Source:** [CuriousLearner/devkit](https://github.com/CuriousLearner/devkit)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.