tomevault-io Collect a Go pprof Profile
Step 1 — Determine Profile Type and Endpoint
Ask the user:
- Profile type — one of:
cpu,heap,goroutine,mutex,block,trace,threadcreate,allocs. Default:heap. - Do they already have the profile file? If yes, get the absolute path and stop — this skill is complete.
- pprof endpoint URL (e.g.,
http://localhost:8082/debug/pprof/<type>).
Step 2 — Kubernetes Port-Forward (if needed)
If the target is running in Kubernetes:
- Ask for namespace, pod name, and metrics port (the port exposing
/debug/pprof). - Ask for a local port (default: same as metrics port).
- Start the port-forward:
kubectl port-forward -n <namespace> <pod> <local-port>:<metrics-port> - Update the endpoint URL to
http://localhost:<local-port>/debug/pprof/<type>.
Step 3 — Collect the Profile
Set the output filename: <type>-<timestamp>.pb.gz (e.g., cpu-20250520T1345Z.pb.gz).
Use whichever tool is available on the system. Prefer curl; fall back to alternatives if unavailable.
CPU profiles (duration-based)
Ask for duration in seconds (default: 30). Warn the user the request will block for this duration.
# curl
curl -sK -o <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# wget
wget -q -O <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# go tool pprof (fetches and saves interactively — also opens analysis)
go tool pprof -proto -output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# HTTPie
http --download --output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
Heap, mutex, block, allocs, threadcreate profiles (instant snapshot)
# curl
curl -sK -o <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# wget
wget -q -O <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# go tool pprof
go tool pprof -proto -output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# HTTPie
http --download --output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
Goroutine profiles
Collect the pb.gz:
# curl
curl -sK -o <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# wget
wget -q -O <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# go tool pprof
go tool pprof -proto -output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
# HTTPie
http --download --output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>"
Also collect a debug=2 text dump (better for leak detection — shows goroutine IDs, ages, and states):
# curl
curl -sK -o goroutine-debug2-<timestamp>.txt "<endpoint_url>?debug=2"
# wget
wget -q -O goroutine-debug2-<timestamp>.txt "<endpoint_url>?debug=2"
# HTTPie
http --download --output goroutine-debug2-<timestamp>.txt "<endpoint_url>?debug=2"
Trace profiles (duration-based)
Ask for duration in seconds (default: 5).
# curl
curl -sK -o <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# wget
wget -q -O <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# go tool pprof
go tool pprof -proto -output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
# HTTPie
http --download --output <output_file> "<endpoint_url>?seconds=<duration>"
Step 4 — Validate
- Confirm the output file exists and is non-empty:
// turbo ls -la <output_file> - If the file is empty or missing, report the error and suggest checking:
- Is the endpoint correct?
- Is the port-forward still running?
- Does the process have pprof enabled (
import _ "net/http/pprof")?
- Report the absolute path of the collected file(s) to the user.
Source: rumstead/golang-pprof-skills — distributed by TomeVault.