dd418284db
Chased the "stream frame p95 = 60ms with ZERO longtasks" mystery to its actual cause: the default stream chunk had no paragraph breaks, so it grew into one giant ~22KB block that re-rendered fully every flush — defeating the block memoization real streaming relies on. Plain text = 21ms; realistic chunk with `\n\n` breaks (blocks settle, only the tail re-renders) = 23ms. Fixed the default chunk to model real LLM output; a break-less `--chunk` remains available as a single-block worst-case stress. Also hardened the isolated instance so measurements reflect real cost: - Wait for the gateway socket to actually connect before measuring (a booting/ absent backend's reconnect backoff churns the main thread). Exposed via a new __PERF_DRIVE__.connected() probe reading $gateway.connectionState. - Focus emulation + anti-throttle/occlusion flags so a backgrounded perf window isn't frame-throttled (no OS focus stealing). - Generation-guarded the rAF frame recorder so repeated runs don't leave overlapping recorders polluting frame intervals. Baseline re-captured as the median of 5 --spawn runs (darwin-arm64); all three CI scenarios now green and stable. Absolute values are dev-build (noted in _meta) — regression guards, not shipped numbers. |
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|---|---|---|
| .. | ||
| lib | ||
| scenarios | ||
| baseline.json | ||
| README.md | ||
| run.mjs | ||
| serve.mjs | ||
Desktop perf harness
One systematized way to measure desktop rendering/interaction performance,
diff it against a committed baseline, and fail on regressions. It replaces the
dozen one-off measure-* / profile-* scripts that each reinvented the CDP
client, arg parsing, stats, and output (and never had a baseline).
Quick start
# Isolated instance (recommended) — no running app or LLM credits needed.
# Its own --user-data-dir + HERMES_HOME means it never collides with `hgui`.
npm run perf -- --spawn
# Or: launch an isolated instance once, attach repeatedly (faster iteration).
npm run perf:serve # leaves an instance on :9222
npm run perf # attaches, runs the CI suite, gates on baseline
# One scenario, with a CPU profile:
npm run perf -- stream --cpuprofile --tokens 800
# Re-capture the baseline on your reference device, then commit baseline.json:
npm run perf -- --update-baseline
Why isolation matters
The measurement this harness exists to run was historically blocked: a running
hgui holds the Electron single-instance lock, so a second instance quit
immediately. --spawn / perf:serve launch with their own --user-data-dir
(separate lock scope), their own HERMES_HOME (separate backend + sessions),
and their own --remote-debugging-port. Synthetic scenarios drive $messages
directly via window.__PERF_DRIVE__, so no LLM credits are spent.
Scenarios
| scenario | tier | measures | replaces |
|---|---|---|---|
stream |
ci | streaming longtasks, frame p95/p99, mutation cadence | measure-synthetic-stream, profile-synth-stream, profile-long-stream |
stream --real |
backend | same, from a real LLM stream | measure-real-stream, profile-real-stream |
keystroke |
ci | composer keystroke → paint latency | measure-latency, profile-typing, leak-typing |
transcript |
ci | large-transcript mount + paint cost | (new) |
submit |
backend | Enter → cleared → user msg painted, scroll jump | measure-submit, measure-jump |
session-switch |
backend | route → first-paint → settle | profile-session-switch |
profile-switch |
backend | rail click → sidebar settled | measure-profile-switch |
ci scenarios need no backend/credits and are gated against baseline.json.
backend scenarios need a live backend (and --spawn or a real session) and
are report-only.
CPU profiling is a cross-cutting --cpuprofile flag on any scenario (it wraps
the run in Profiler.start/stop and prints a top-self-time table), replacing
every standalone profile-* script.
Adding a scenario
Create scenarios/<name>.mjs exporting { name, tier, description, run(cdp, opts) }
where run returns { metrics, detail } (metrics = flat numbers, lower is
better), then register it in scenarios/index.mjs. If it's ci, add a
baseline.json entry (or run --update-baseline).
Layout
lib/cdp.mjs— the one CDP client + target discovery + typing + CPU-profile wrapper + DOM selectors.lib/stats.mjs— percentiles, histograms, CPU-profile self-time ranking.lib/baseline.mjs— load/compare/update the baseline + regression gate.lib/launch.mjs— attach, or spawn a fully isolated instance.scenarios/— one module per measurement.run.mjs— entrypoint.serve.mjs— standalone isolated launcher.
Not migrated (kept as dev utilities)
eval.mjs, reload.mjs, reload-renderer.mjs, probe-renderer.mjs,
probe-thread.mjs, click-session.mjs, diag-*.mjs are interactive dev
helpers, not benchmarks. They can adopt lib/cdp.mjs in a follow-up.