Memory

Execute all four phases in order.

Phase 1 — Isolation

1. Identify the code suspected of leaking.
2. Write a wrapper that runs it in an infinite loop or for ≥1,000,000 iterations.

Phase 2 — Instrumentation

Inject memory tracking into the wrapper:

• Node.js: process.memoryUsage().heapUsed before and after each iteration.
• Python: tracemalloc.start() / tracemalloc.get_traced_memory().
• PowerShell: [System.GC]::GetTotalMemory($false).

If memory continuously grows without recovering after GC, the leak is confirmed. Show the growth numerically:

Iteration      0:  10 MB
Iteration 100k:  14 MB
Iteration 500k:  40 MB

Phase 3 — Fix

Identify the uncollected reference:

• Event listeners not removed from detached DOM nodes
• Global arrays or caches growing without a size limit
• Closures retaining large outer-scope objects

Apply the fix:

• removeEventListener for DOM event listeners
• WeakMap / WeakRef for object-keyed associations that should not prevent GC
• Object pooling to reuse memory instead of allocating new objects per cycle

Phase 4 — Report

Re-run the instrumented wrapper and present:

| Metric | Before | After | |---|---|---| | Memory growth per 10k ops | +50MB | +0MB | | GC pause frequency | High | Stable |

Explain the root cause and the specific reference that was being retained.

Source & license

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

• Author: v0idOS
• Source: v0idOS/performance-deity
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://v0idos.github.io/performance-deity/

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