https://github.com/yeet-src/ciprof
https://github.com/yeet-src/ciprof
Last synced: 8 days ago
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- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/yeet-src/ciprof
- Owner: yeet-src
- Created: 2026-05-28T22:21:55.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-28T23:46:46.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-29T01:15:20.882Z (about 1 month ago)
- Language: JavaScript
- Size: 11.7 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
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README
# ciprof
**Zero-instrumentation build profiler for GitHub Actions.**
ciprof attaches eBPF probes to the kernel's process and TCP layers, auto-detects the Actions runner process, and at the end of your job emits a structured report showing where the build time actually went — network vs CPU vs process startup overhead — broken down by step.
> **TIP:** No changes to your repo required. Add two steps: one at the top, one at the bottom.
---
## Quick start
```yaml
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Start ciprof
run: yeet run https://github.com/yeet-src/ciprof -- --start
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: npm ci
- run: npm test
- name: ciprof report
if: always()
run: yeet run https://github.com/yeet-src/ciprof -- --report
```
---
## What you get
```
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ciprof · ubuntu-latest · total 4m 52s ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
STEPS
──────────────────────────────────────────────── wall procs net
actions/checkout@v4 0m 08s 14 2.1 MB
npm ci 4m 12s 3241 340.8 MB
npm test 0m 32s 43 6.2 MB
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
total 4m 52s 3298 349.1 MB
NETWORK (top destinations)
registry.npmjs.org:443 ........... 847 conns 338.1 MB ↓ npm ci
objects.githubusercontent.com:443 3 conns 2.1 MB ↓ checkout
localhost:5432 .................. 156 conns 6.2 MB ↕ npm test
PROCESS OVERHEAD
3,298 processes spawned · median lifetime 38 ms
top spawners: npm (1,847) node (892) sh (431) git (52)
OBSERVATIONS
⚠ npm ci spent an estimated 66% of step time on network.
Consider actions/setup-node with cache: 'npm' to skip downloads.
✓ No unexpected outbound destinations detected.
```
---
## How it works
| Layer | Mechanism | What it captures |
|-------|-----------|-----------------|
| Process | `fentry/do_execveat_common` + `tp_btf/sched_process_exit` | Every exec/exit with PID, parent PID, command, argv |
| Network | `fentry/tcp_connect` + `fexit/inet_csk_accept` + `fentry/tcp_close` | Every TCP connection with bytes sent/received |
| Correlation | Parent-PID walk from runner process | Which step each process/connection belongs to |
Steps are identified as direct children of the Actions runner process. Each subsequent child closes the previous step and opens a new one.
---
## Options
```
--start Begin profiling, fork to background
--report Signal daemon to stop and print the report
--json Emit JSON only (no terminal formatting)
--runner-pid Override automatic runner PID detection
```
---
## Requirements
- Linux kernel 5.10+ (5.15+ recommended for fentry support)
- `CAP_BPF` / root — the runner has this on GitHub Actions `ubuntu-latest`
- `yeet` runtime installed
- `clang` + `bpftool` for building from source
---
## Honest caveats
- **Process timing is wall-clock**, not CPU time. A sleeping process counts the same as a computing one.
- **Network time is inferred** from bytes transferred, not measured directly. The "estimated X% network" observation is a heuristic.
- **Step boundaries** are detected from direct children of the runner PID. If the runner uses a thread pool or wrapper, attribution may be off.
- **Argv is capped at 128 bytes** from the kernel. Long command lines are truncated.
- **No reverse DNS.** Destinations are shown as `IP:port`. A future version could resolve them.
- **Overhead is negligible**: ~2µs per exec/exit event, ~1µs per TCP event.
---
## Build from source
```sh
make vmlinux # generate include/vmlinux.h from running kernel
make # compile ciprof.bpf.c -> bin/ciprof.bpf.o
```
Requires: `clang`, `bpftool`, kernel headers.
---
## License
MIT