How to Use CPU and Memory Profiles in CI

Go does not provide built-in CPU or memory profiling flags for CI; instead, you must generate pprof profiles using the runtime/pprof package and analyze them with the go tool pprof command. Add profiling logic to your test or build script to capture CPU usage over time or memory allocations, then save the output to a file for inspection.

import (
	"os"
	"runtime/pprof"
)

func main() {
	// Start CPU profiling
	f, _ := os.Create("cpu.prof")
	pprof.StartCPUProfile(f)
	defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
	defer f.Close()

	// Your application logic here
	// ...

	// Write memory profile
	mf, _ := os.Create("mem.prof")
	pprof.WriteHeapProfile(mf)
	mf.Close()
}

Run the analysis in your CI pipeline using:

go tool pprof -top cpu.prof
go tool pprof -top mem.prof

Profiling in Go means recording how much CPU time or memory your program uses while it runs. You start a recording session, let your code execute, and then save the data to a file. Later, you use a tool to read that file and show you exactly which parts of your code are slow or using too much memory, similar to a doctor checking a patient's vital signs to find the source of an illness.