
Openclaw Test Heap Leaks
- 230 installs
- 385k repo stars
- Updated August 3, 2026
- steipete/clawdis
Use openclaw-test-heap-leaks for development tasks
About
openclaw-test-heap-leaks: A skill for development. This provides functionality for development workflows.
- openclaw-test-heap-leaks
Openclaw Test Heap Leaks by the numbers
- 230 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- +5 installs in the week ending Jul 27, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
- Ranked #1,639 of 4,348 Backend & APIs skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Data as of Aug 3, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 230 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 385k |
| Last updated | August 3, 2026 |
| Repository | steipete/clawdis ↗ |
What it does
Use openclaw-test-heap-leaks for development tasks
Files
OpenClaw Test Heap Leaks
Use this skill for test-memory investigations. Do not guess from RSS alone when heap snapshots are available. Treat snapshot-name deltas as triage evidence, not proof, until retainers or dominators support the call.
For runtime fixes (e.g., closure leaks in long-running services like the gateway), see Validating runtime fixes below — that uses a dedicated harness, not the test-parallel snapshot machinery.
Workflow
1. Reproduce the failing shape first.
- Match the real entrypoint if possible. For Linux CI-style unit failures, start with:
pnpm canvas:a2ui:bundle && OPENCLAW_TEST_MEMORY_TRACE=1 OPENCLAW_TEST_HEAPSNAPSHOT_INTERVAL_MS=60000 OPENCLAW_TEST_HEAPSNAPSHOT_DIR=.tmp/heapsnap OPENCLAW_TEST_WORKERS=2 OPENCLAW_TEST_MAX_OLD_SPACE_SIZE_MB=6144 pnpm test- Keep
OPENCLAW_TEST_MEMORY_TRACE=1enabled so the wrapper prints per-file RSS summaries alongside the snapshots. - If the report is about a specific shard or worker budget, preserve that shape.
- Before you analyze snapshots, identify the real lane names from
[test-parallel] start ...lines orpnpm test --plan. Do not assume a singleunit-fastlane; local plans often split intounit-fast-batch-*.
2. Wait for repeated snapshots before concluding anything.
- Take at least two intervals from the same lane.
- Compare snapshots from the same PID inside the real lane directory such as
.tmp/heapsnap/unit-fast-batch-2/. - Use
.agents/skills/openclaw-test-heap-leaks/scripts/heapsnapshot-delta.mjsto compare either two files directly or the earliest/latest pair per PID in one lane directory. - If the helper suggests transformed-module retention, confirm the top entries in DevTools retainers/dominators before calling it solved.
3. Classify the growth before choosing a fix.
- If growth is dominated by Vite/Vitest transformed source strings,
Module,system / Context, bytecode, descriptor arrays, or property maps, treat it as likely retained module graph growth in long-lived workers. - If growth is dominated by app objects, caches, buffers, server handles, timers, mock state, sqlite state, or similar runtime objects, treat it as a likely cleanup or lifecycle leak.
- If the names are ambiguous, stop short of a confident label and inspect retainers/dominators in DevTools for the top deltas.
4. Fix the right layer.
- For likely retained transformed-module growth in shared workers:
- Prefer timing and hotspot-driven scheduling fixes first. Check whether the file is already represented in
test/fixtures/test-timings.unit.jsonand whetherscripts/test-update-memory-hotspots.mjsshould refresh the measured hotspot manifest before hand-editing behavior overrides. - Move hotspot files out of the real shared lane by updating
test/fixtures/test-parallel.behavior.jsononly when timing-driven peeling is insufficient. - Prefer
singletonIsolatedfor files that are safe alone but inflate shared worker heaps. - If the file should already have been peeled out by timings but is absent from
test/fixtures/test-timings.unit.json, call that out explicitly. Missing timings are a scheduling blind spot. - For real leaks:
- Patch the implicated test or runtime cleanup path.
- Look for missing
afterEach/afterAll, module-reset gaps, retained global state, unreleased DB handles, or listeners/timers that survive the file.
5. Verify with the most direct proof.
- Re-run the targeted lane or file with heap snapshots enabled if the suite still finishes in reasonable time.
- If snapshot overhead pushes tests over Vitest timeouts, fall back to the same lane without snapshots and confirm the RSS trend or OOM is reduced.
- For wrapper-only changes, at minimum verify the expected lanes start and the snapshot files are written.
Heuristics
- Do not call everything a leak. In this repo, large
unit-fastorunit-fast-batch-*growth can be a worker-lifetime problem rather than an application object leak. scripts/test-parallel.mjsandscripts/test-parallel-memory.mjsare the primary control points for wrapper diagnostics.- The lane names printed by
[test-parallel] start ...and[test-parallel][mem] summary ...tell you where to focus. - When one or two files account for most of the delta and they are missing from timings, reducing impact by isolating them is usually the first pragmatic fix.
- When the same retained object families grow across multiple intervals in the same worker PID, trust the snapshots over intuition, then confirm ambiguous calls with retainer evidence.
Snapshot Comparison
- Direct comparison:
node .agents/skills/openclaw-test-heap-leaks/scripts/heapsnapshot-delta.mjs before.heapsnapshot after.heapsnapshot- Auto-select earliest/latest snapshots per PID within one lane:
node .agents/skills/openclaw-test-heap-leaks/scripts/heapsnapshot-delta.mjs --lane-dir .tmp/heapsnap/unit-fast-batch-2- Useful flags:
--top 40--min-kb 32--pid 16133
Read the top positive deltas first. Large positive growth in module-transform artifacts suggests lane isolation; large positive growth in runtime objects suggests a real leak. If the names alone do not settle it, open the same snapshot pair in DevTools and inspect retainers/dominators for the top rows before declaring root cause.
Validating runtime fixes (not test-memory)
The workflow above is for diagnosing Vitest worker memory growth. For validating that a runtime/closure fix actually releases captured state, use the dedicated harness:
pnpm leak:embedded-run— runsscripts/embedded-run-abort-leak.ts. Loops N
aborted runs in a function-shaped scope mimicking runEmbeddedAttempt, writes heap snapshots, and reports a PASS/FAIL verdict on retention growth using FinalizationRegistry for tracked-instance counting plus RSS delta.
Modes:
closure-extracted(default) — production fix shape (helper at module scope).closure-inline— pre-fix shape (closure inside the runner scope). Use as a
sensitivity check: if it passes you've broken the harness, not fixed a bug.
synthetic-leak— deliberately retains via a module-level bucket. Use to
confirm the harness can detect leaks before trusting a PASS on a real fix.
Snapshots land in .tmp/embedded-run-abort-leak/. Diff with the same script as above:
node .agents/skills/openclaw-test-heap-leaks/scripts/heapsnapshot-delta.mjs \
.tmp/embedded-run-abort-leak/baseline-*.heapsnapshot \
.tmp/embedded-run-abort-leak/batch-N-*.heapsnapshot --top 30When fixing a different runtime leak, add a new harness alongside this one rather than retrofitting it. The fixture function should mimic the lexical scope of the function where the leak lives, not be a generic abort-loop.
Output Expectations
When using this skill, report:
- The exact reproduce command.
- Which lane and PID were compared.
- The dominant retained object families from the snapshot delta.
- Whether the issue is a likely real leak or likely shared-worker retained module growth, plus whether retainers/dominators confirmed it.
- The concrete fix or impact-reduction patch.
- What you verified, and what snapshot overhead prevented you from verifying.
interface:
display_name: "Test Heap Leaks"
short_description: "Investigate test OOMs with heap snapshots"
default_prompt: "Use $openclaw-test-heap-leaks to investigate test memory growth with heap snapshots and reduce its impact."
#!/usr/bin/env node
/**
* Heap snapshot diff utility for OpenClaw test memory leak investigations.
*/
import fs from "node:fs";
import path from "node:path";
function printUsage() {
console.error(
"Usage: node heapsnapshot-delta.mjs <before.heapsnapshot> <after.heapsnapshot> [--top N] [--min-kb N]",
);
console.error(
" or: node heapsnapshot-delta.mjs --lane-dir <dir> [--pid PID] [--top N] [--min-kb N]",
);
}
function fail(message) {
console.error(message);
process.exit(1);
}
function parseArgs(argv) {
const options = {
top: 30,
minKb: 64,
laneDir: null,
pid: null,
files: [],
};
for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 1) {
const arg = argv[index];
if (arg === "--top") {
options.top = Number.parseInt(argv[index + 1] ?? "", 10);
index += 1;
continue;
}
if (arg === "--min-kb") {
options.minKb = Number.parseInt(argv[index + 1] ?? "", 10);
index += 1;
continue;
}
if (arg === "--lane-dir") {
options.laneDir = argv[index + 1] ?? null;
index += 1;
continue;
}
if (arg === "--pid") {
options.pid = Number.parseInt(argv[index + 1] ?? "", 10);
index += 1;
continue;
}
options.files.push(arg);
}
if (!Number.isFinite(options.top) || options.top <= 0) {
fail("--top must be a positive integer");
}
if (!Number.isFinite(options.minKb) || options.minKb < 0) {
fail("--min-kb must be a non-negative integer");
}
if (options.pid !== null && (!Number.isInteger(options.pid) || options.pid <= 0)) {
fail("--pid must be a positive integer");
}
return options;
}
class JsonStreamScanner {
constructor(filePath) {
this.stream = fs.createReadStream(filePath, {
encoding: "utf8",
highWaterMark: 1024 * 1024,
});
this.iterator = this.stream[Symbol.asyncIterator]();
this.buffer = "";
this.offset = 0;
this.done = false;
}
compactBuffer() {
if (this.offset > 65536) {
this.buffer = this.buffer.slice(this.offset);
this.offset = 0;
}
}
async ensureAvailable(count = 1) {
while (!this.done && this.buffer.length - this.offset < count) {
const next = await this.iterator.next();
if (next.done) {
this.done = true;
break;
}
this.buffer += next.value;
}
}
async peek() {
await this.ensureAvailable(1);
return this.buffer[this.offset] ?? null;
}
async next() {
await this.ensureAvailable(1);
if (this.offset >= this.buffer.length) {
return null;
}
const char = this.buffer[this.offset];
this.offset += 1;
this.compactBuffer();
return char;
}
async skipWhitespace() {
while (true) {
const char = await this.peek();
if (char === null || !/\s/u.test(char)) {
return;
}
await this.next();
}
}
async expectChar(expected) {
const char = await this.next();
if (char !== expected) {
fail(`Expected ${expected} but found ${char ?? "<eof>"}`);
}
}
async find(sequence) {
let matched = 0;
while (true) {
const char = await this.next();
if (char === null) {
fail(`Could not find ${sequence}`);
}
if (char === sequence[matched]) {
matched += 1;
if (matched === sequence.length) {
return;
}
continue;
}
matched = char === sequence[0] ? 1 : 0;
if (matched === sequence.length) {
return;
}
}
}
async readBalancedObject() {
const start = await this.next();
if (start !== "{") {
fail(`Expected { but found ${start ?? "<eof>"}`);
}
let text = "{";
let depth = 1;
let inString = false;
let escaped = false;
while (depth > 0) {
const char = await this.next();
if (char === null) {
fail("Unexpected EOF while reading JSON object");
}
text += char;
if (inString) {
if (escaped) {
escaped = false;
} else if (char === "\\") {
escaped = true;
} else if (char === '"') {
inString = false;
}
continue;
}
if (char === '"') {
inString = true;
} else if (char === "{") {
depth += 1;
} else if (char === "}") {
depth -= 1;
}
}
return text;
}
async parseNumberArray(onValue) {
await this.skipWhitespace();
await this.expectChar("[");
await this.skipWhitespace();
if ((await this.peek()) === "]") {
await this.next();
return;
}
let token = "";
let index = 0;
const flush = () => {
if (token.length === 0) {
fail("Unexpected empty number token");
}
const value = Number.parseInt(token, 10);
if (!Number.isFinite(value)) {
fail(`Invalid numeric token: ${token}`);
}
onValue(value, index);
index += 1;
token = "";
};
while (true) {
const char = await this.next();
if (char === null) {
fail("Unexpected EOF while reading number array");
}
if (char === "]") {
flush();
return;
}
if (char === ",") {
flush();
continue;
}
if (/\s/u.test(char)) {
continue;
}
token += char;
}
}
async readJsonString() {
await this.expectChar('"');
let value = "";
while (true) {
const char = await this.next();
if (char === null) {
fail("Unexpected EOF while reading JSON string");
}
if (char === '"') {
return value;
}
if (char !== "\\") {
value += char;
continue;
}
const escaped = await this.next();
if (escaped === null) {
fail("Unexpected EOF while reading JSON string escape");
}
if (escaped === "u") {
let hex = "";
for (let index = 0; index < 4; index += 1) {
const hexChar = await this.next();
if (hexChar === null) {
fail("Unexpected EOF while reading JSON unicode escape");
}
hex += hexChar;
}
value += String.fromCharCode(Number.parseInt(hex, 16));
continue;
}
value +=
escaped === "b"
? "\b"
: escaped === "f"
? "\f"
: escaped === "n"
? "\n"
: escaped === "r"
? "\r"
: escaped === "t"
? "\t"
: escaped;
}
}
async parseStringArray(onValue) {
await this.skipWhitespace();
await this.expectChar("[");
await this.skipWhitespace();
if ((await this.peek()) === "]") {
await this.next();
return;
}
let index = 0;
while (true) {
const value = await this.readJsonString();
onValue(value, index);
index += 1;
await this.skipWhitespace();
const separator = await this.next();
if (separator === "]") {
return;
}
if (separator !== ",") {
fail(`Expected , or ] but found ${separator ?? "<eof>"}`);
}
await this.skipWhitespace();
}
}
}
function parseHeapFilename(filePath) {
const base = path.basename(filePath);
const match = base.match(
/^Heap\.(?<stamp>\d{8}\.\d{6})\.(?<pid>\d+)\.0\.(?<seq>\d+)\.heapsnapshot$/u,
);
if (!match?.groups) {
return null;
}
return {
filePath,
pid: Number.parseInt(match.groups.pid, 10),
stamp: match.groups.stamp,
sequence: Number.parseInt(match.groups.seq, 10),
};
}
function resolvePair(options) {
if (options.laneDir) {
const entries = fs
.readdirSync(options.laneDir)
.map((name) => parseHeapFilename(path.join(options.laneDir, name)))
.filter((entry) => entry !== null)
.filter((entry) => options.pid === null || entry.pid === options.pid)
.toSorted((left, right) => {
if (left.pid !== right.pid) {
return left.pid - right.pid;
}
if (left.stamp !== right.stamp) {
return left.stamp.localeCompare(right.stamp);
}
return left.sequence - right.sequence;
});
if (entries.length === 0) {
fail(`No matching heap snapshots found in ${options.laneDir}`);
}
const groups = new Map();
for (const entry of entries) {
const group = groups.get(entry.pid) ?? [];
group.push(entry);
groups.set(entry.pid, group);
}
const candidates = Array.from(groups.values())
.map((group) => ({
pid: group[0].pid,
before: group[0],
after: group.at(-1),
count: group.length,
}))
.filter((entry) => entry.count >= 2);
if (candidates.length === 0) {
fail(`Need at least two snapshots for one PID in ${options.laneDir}`);
}
const chosen =
options.pid !== null
? (candidates.find((entry) => entry.pid === options.pid) ?? null)
: candidates.toSorted((left, right) => right.count - left.count || left.pid - right.pid)[0];
if (!chosen) {
fail(`No PID with at least two snapshots matched in ${options.laneDir}`);
}
return {
before: chosen.before.filePath,
after: chosen.after.filePath,
pid: chosen.pid,
snapshotCount: chosen.count,
};
}
if (options.files.length !== 2) {
printUsage();
process.exit(1);
}
return {
before: options.files[0],
after: options.files[1],
pid: null,
snapshotCount: 2,
};
}
async function parseSnapshotMeta(scanner) {
await scanner.find('"snapshot":');
await scanner.skipWhitespace();
const metaObjectText = await scanner.readBalancedObject();
const parsed = JSON.parse(metaObjectText);
return parsed?.meta ?? null;
}
async function buildSummary(filePath) {
const scanner = new JsonStreamScanner(filePath);
const meta = await parseSnapshotMeta(scanner);
if (!meta) {
fail(`Invalid heap snapshot: ${filePath}`);
}
const nodeFieldCount = meta.node_fields.length;
const typeNames = meta.node_types[0];
const typeIndex = meta.node_fields.indexOf("type");
const nameIndex = meta.node_fields.indexOf("name");
const selfSizeIndex = meta.node_fields.indexOf("self_size");
if (typeIndex === -1 || nameIndex === -1 || selfSizeIndex === -1) {
fail(`Unsupported heap snapshot schema: ${filePath}`);
}
const summaryByIndex = new Map();
let nodeCount = 0;
let currentTypeId = 0;
let currentNameId = 0;
let currentSelfSize = 0;
await scanner.find('"nodes":');
await scanner.parseNumberArray((value, index) => {
const fieldIndex = index % nodeFieldCount;
if (fieldIndex === typeIndex) {
currentTypeId = value;
return;
}
if (fieldIndex === nameIndex) {
currentNameId = value;
return;
}
if (fieldIndex === selfSizeIndex) {
currentSelfSize = value;
}
if (fieldIndex !== nodeFieldCount - 1) {
return;
}
const key = `${currentTypeId}\t${currentNameId}`;
const current = summaryByIndex.get(key) ?? {
typeId: currentTypeId,
nameId: currentNameId,
selfSize: 0,
count: 0,
};
current.selfSize += currentSelfSize;
current.count += 1;
summaryByIndex.set(key, current);
nodeCount += 1;
});
const requiredNameIds = new Set(
Array.from(summaryByIndex.values(), (entry) => entry.nameId).filter((value) => value >= 0),
);
const nameStrings = new Map();
await scanner.find('"strings":');
await scanner.parseStringArray((value, index) => {
if (requiredNameIds.has(index)) {
nameStrings.set(index, value);
}
});
const summary = new Map();
for (const entry of summaryByIndex.values()) {
const key = `${typeNames[entry.typeId] ?? "unknown"}\t${nameStrings.get(entry.nameId) ?? ""}`;
summary.set(key, {
type: typeNames[entry.typeId] ?? "unknown",
name: nameStrings.get(entry.nameId) ?? "",
selfSize: entry.selfSize,
count: entry.count,
});
}
return {
nodeCount,
summary,
};
}
function formatBytes(bytes) {
if (Math.abs(bytes) >= 1024 ** 2) {
return `${(bytes / 1024 ** 2).toFixed(2)} MiB`;
}
if (Math.abs(bytes) >= 1024) {
return `${(bytes / 1024).toFixed(1)} KiB`;
}
return `${bytes} B`;
}
function formatDelta(bytes) {
return `${bytes >= 0 ? "+" : "-"}${formatBytes(Math.abs(bytes))}`;
}
function truncate(text, maxLength) {
return text.length <= maxLength ? text : `${text.slice(0, maxLength - 1)}…`;
}
async function main() {
const options = parseArgs(process.argv.slice(2));
const pair = resolvePair(options);
const before = await buildSummary(pair.before);
const after = await buildSummary(pair.after);
const minBytes = options.minKb * 1024;
const rows = [];
for (const [key, next] of after.summary) {
const previous = before.summary.get(key) ?? { selfSize: 0, count: 0 };
const sizeDelta = next.selfSize - previous.selfSize;
const countDelta = next.count - previous.count;
if (sizeDelta < minBytes) {
continue;
}
rows.push({
type: next.type,
name: next.name,
sizeDelta,
countDelta,
afterSize: next.selfSize,
afterCount: next.count,
});
}
rows.sort(
(left, right) => right.sizeDelta - left.sizeDelta || right.countDelta - left.countDelta,
);
console.log(`before: ${pair.before}`);
console.log(`after: ${pair.after}`);
if (pair.pid !== null) {
console.log(`pid: ${pair.pid} (${pair.snapshotCount} snapshots found)`);
}
console.log(
`nodes: ${before.nodeCount} -> ${after.nodeCount} (${after.nodeCount - before.nodeCount >= 0 ? "+" : ""}${after.nodeCount - before.nodeCount})`,
);
console.log(`filter: top=${options.top} min=${options.minKb} KiB`);
console.log("");
if (rows.length === 0) {
console.log("No entries exceeded the minimum delta.");
return;
}
for (const row of rows.slice(0, options.top)) {
console.log(
[
formatDelta(row.sizeDelta).padStart(11),
`count ${row.countDelta >= 0 ? "+" : ""}${row.countDelta}`.padStart(10),
row.type.padEnd(16),
truncate(row.name || "(empty)", 96),
].join(" "),
);
}
}
await main();