Audit Performance

Single-Session Performance Audit

Pre-Audit Validation

Step 1: Check Thresholds

Run npm run review:check and report results.

• If no thresholds triggered: "⚠️ No review thresholds triggered. Proceed anyway?"
• Continue with audit regardless (user invoked intentionally)

Step 2: Gather Current Baselines

Collect these metrics by running commands:

# Build output (bundle sizes)
npm run build 2>&1 | tail -30

# Count client vs server components
grep -rn "use client" app/ components/ --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | wc -l
grep -rn "use server" app/ components/ --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | wc -l

# Count useEffect hooks (potential performance issues)
grep -rn "useEffect" --include="*.tsx" --include="*.ts" 2>/dev/null | wc -l

# Count real-time listeners
grep -rn "onSnapshot" --include="*.ts" --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | wc -l

# Image optimization check
grep -rn "<img" --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | wc -l
grep -rn "next/image" --include="*.tsx" 2>/dev/null | wc -l

Step 3: Load False Positives Database

Read docs/audits/FALSE_POSITIVES.jsonl and filter findings matching:

• Category: performance
• Expired entries (skip if expires date passed)

Note patterns to exclude from final findings. If file doesn't exist, proceed with no exclusions.

Step 4: Check Template Currency

Read docs/templates/MULTI_AI_PERFORMANCE_AUDIT_PLAN_TEMPLATE.md and verify:

• Stack versions match package.json
• Bundle size baseline is recent
• Performance-critical paths are accurate

If outdated, note discrepancies but proceed with current values.

Audit Execution

Focus Areas (6 Categories):

1. Bundle Size & Loading (large deps, code splitting, dynamic imports)
2. Rendering Performance (re-renders, memoization, virtualization)
3. Data Fetching & Caching (query optimization, caching strategy)
4. Memory Management (effect cleanup, subscription leaks)
5. Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS optimization)
6. Offline Support (NEW - 2026-01-17):
   • Offline state storage (localStorage, IndexedDB, cache API)
   • Sync strategy (optimistic updates, conflict resolution)
   • Failure mode handling (network errors, retry logic)
   • Offline-first data patterns (queue writes, batch sync)
   • Service worker caching strategy
   • Offline testability (can app function without network?)

For each category:

1. Search relevant files using Grep/Glob
2. Identify specific issues with file:line references
3. Classify severity: S0 (>50% impact) | S1 (20-50%) | S2 (5-20%) | S3 (<5%)
4. Estimate effort: E0 (trivial) | E1 (hours) | E2 (day) | E3 (major)
5. Note affected metric (LCP, bundle, render, memory)
6. Assign confidence level (see Evidence Requirements below)

Performance Patterns to Find:

• Inline arrow functions in JSX props
• Object literals in JSX props
• Missing React.memo on frequently re-rendered components
• useEffect without cleanup
• Large components without code splitting
• Queries without limits
• onSnapshot where one-time fetch would suffice

Scope:

• Include: app/, components/, lib/, hooks/
• Exclude: node_modules/, .next/, docs/, tests/

Evidence Requirements (MANDATORY)

All findings MUST include:

1. File:Line Reference - Exact location (e.g., components/List.tsx:45)
2. Code Snippet - The actual problematic code (3-5 lines of context)
3. Verification Method - How you confirmed this is an issue (build output, grep, profiling)
4. Impact Estimate - Quantified performance impact (% improvement, KB saved, ms saved)

Confidence Levels:

• HIGH (90%+): Confirmed by build output, Lighthouse, or profiling data; verified file exists, code snippet matches
• MEDIUM (70-89%): Found via pattern search, file verified, performance impact estimated
• LOW (<70%): Pattern match only, impact uncertain, needs profiling to confirm

S0/S1 findings require:

• HIGH or MEDIUM confidence (LOW confidence S0/S1 must be escalated)
• Dual-pass verification (re-read the code after initial finding)
• Quantified impact estimate with methodology

Cross-Reference Validation

Before finalizing findings, cross-reference with:

1. Build output - Mark bundle findings as "TOOL_VALIDATED" if build shows large chunks
2. Lighthouse data - Mark Web Vitals findings as "TOOL_VALIDATED" if Lighthouse flagged
3. React DevTools - Mark rendering findings as "TOOL_VALIDATED" if profiler confirms re-renders
4. Prior audits - Check docs/audits/single-session/performance/ for duplicate findings

Findings without tool validation should note: "cross_ref": "MANUAL_ONLY"

Dual-Pass Verification (S0/S1 Only)

For all S0 (>50% impact) and S1 (20-50% impact) findings:

1. First Pass: Identify the issue, note file:line and initial evidence
2. Second Pass: Re-read the actual code in context
   • Verify the performance issue is real
   • Check for existing optimizations (memo, useMemo, useCallback)
   • Confirm file and line still exist
3. Decision: Mark as CONFIRMED or DOWNGRADE (with reason)

Document dual-pass result in finding: "verified": "DUAL_PASS_CONFIRMED" or "verified": "DOWNGRADED_TO_S2"

Output Requirements

1. Markdown Summary (display to user):

## Performance Audit - [DATE]

### Baselines

- Build time: Xs
- Bundle size: X KB (gzipped)
- Client components: X
- useEffect hooks: X
- Real-time listeners: X

### Findings Summary

| Severity | Count | Affected Metric | Confidence  |
| -------- | ----- | --------------- | ----------- |
| S0       | X     | ...             | HIGH/MEDIUM |
| S1       | X     | ...             | HIGH/MEDIUM |
| S2       | X     | ...             | ...         |
| S3       | X     | ...             | ...         |

### Top 5 Optimization Opportunities

1. [file:line] - Description (S1/E1) - Est. X% improvement - DUAL_PASS_CONFIRMED
2. ...

### False Positives Filtered

- X findings excluded (matched FALSE_POSITIVES.jsonl patterns)

### Quick Wins (E0-E1)

- ...

### Recommendations

- ...

2. JSONL Findings (save to file):

Create file: docs/audits/single-session/performance/audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].jsonl

Each line (UPDATED SCHEMA with confidence and verification):

{
  "id": "PERF-001",
  "category": "Bundle|Rendering|DataFetch|Memory|WebVitals|Offline",
  "severity": "S0|S1|S2|S3",
  "effort": "E0|E1|E2|E3",
  "confidence": "HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW",
  "verified": "DUAL_PASS_CONFIRMED|TOOL_VALIDATED|MANUAL_ONLY",
  "file": "path/to/file.ts",
  "line": 123,
  "title": "Short description",
  "description": "Detailed issue",
  "affected_metric": "LCP|INP|CLS|bundle|render|memory",
  "estimated_improvement": "X%",
  "recommendation": "How to fix",
  "evidence": ["code snippet", "build output", "profiling data"],
  "cross_ref": "build|lighthouse|profiler|MANUAL_ONLY"
}

3. Markdown Report (save to file):

Create file: docs/audits/single-session/performance/audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].md

Full markdown report with all findings, baselines, and optimization plan.

Post-Audit Validation

Before finalizing the audit:

1. Run Validation Script:

   node scripts/validate-audit.js docs/audits/single-session/performance/audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].jsonl
   

2. Validation Checks:

   • All findings have required fields
   • No matches in FALSE_POSITIVES.jsonl (or documented override)
   • No duplicate findings
   • All S0/S1 have HIGH or MEDIUM confidence
   • All S0/S1 have DUAL_PASS_CONFIRMED or TOOL_VALIDATED

3. If validation fails:

   • Review flagged findings
   • Fix or document exceptions
   • Re-run validation

Post-Audit

1. Display summary to user
2. Confirm files saved to docs/audits/single-session/performance/
3. Run node scripts/validate-audit.js on the JSONL file
4. Validate CANON schema (if audit updates CANON files):

   npm run validate:canon
   

   Ensure all CANON files pass validation before committing.
5. Update AUDIT_TRACKER.md - Add entry to "Performance Audits" table:
   • Date: Today's date
   • Session: Current session number from SESSION_CONTEXT.md
   • Commits Covered: Number of commits since last performance audit
   • Files Covered: Number of performance-critical files analyzed
   • Findings: Total count (e.g., "2 S1, 4 S2, 3 S3")
   • Reset Threshold: YES (single-session audits reset that category's threshold)
6. Update Technical Debt Backlog - Re-aggregate all findings:

   npm run aggregate:audit-findings
   

   This updates docs/aggregation/MASTER_ISSUE_LIST.md and the Technical Debt Backlog section in ROADMAP.md. Review the updated counts and ensure new findings are properly categorized.
7. Ask: "Would you like me to fix any of these issues now? (Quick wins recommended first)"

Threshold System

Category-Specific Thresholds

This audit resets the performance category threshold in docs/AUDIT_TRACKER.md (single-session audits reset their own category; multi-AI audits reset all thresholds). Reset means the commit counter for this category starts counting from zero after this audit.

Performance audit triggers (check AUDIT_TRACKER.md):

• 30+ commits since last performance audit, OR
• Bundle size change detected, OR
• New heavy dependencies added

Multi-AI Escalation

After 3 single-session performance audits, a full multi-AI Performance Audit is recommended. Track this in AUDIT_TRACKER.md "Single audits completed" counter.

Adding New False Positives

If you encounter a pattern that should be excluded from future audits:

node scripts/add-false-positive.js \
  --pattern "regex-pattern" \
  --category "performance" \
  --reason "Explanation of why this is not a performance issue" \
  --source "AI_REVIEW_LEARNINGS_LOG.md#review-XXX"