[PATCH v1 30/58] perf flamegraph: Port flamegraph to use python module

Ian Rogers
2026-04-20T00:00:31Z

Add a port of the flamegraph script that uses the perf python module
directly. This approach is significantly faster than using perf script
callbacks as it avoids creating intermediate dictionaries for all
event fields.

Assisted-by: Gemini:gemini-3.1-pro-preview
Signed-off-by: Ian Rogers <irogers@google.com>
---
tools/perf/python/flamegraph.py | 242 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1 file changed, 242 insertions(+)
create mode 100755 tools/perf/python/flamegraph.py

diff --git a/tools/perf/python/flamegraph.py b/tools/perf/python/flamegraph.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..090e07a0992d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/perf/python/flamegraph.py
@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+"""
+flamegraph.py - create flame graphs from perf samples using perf python module
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import hashlib
+import json
+import os
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import urllib.request
+from typing import Dict, Optional, Union
+import perf
+
+MINIMAL_HTML = """
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ const stacks = [/** @flamegraph_json **/];
+ // Note, options is unused.
+ const options = [/** @options_json **/];
+
+ var chart = flamegraph();
+ d3.select("#chart")
+ .datum(stacks[0])
+ .call(chart);
+
+
+"""
+
+class Node:
+ """A node in the flame graph tree."""
+ def __init__(self, name: str, libtype: str):
+ self.name = name
+ self.libtype = libtype
+ self.value: int = 0
+ self.children: list[Node] = []
+
+ def to_json(self) -> Dict[str, Union[str, int, list[Dict]]]:
+ """Convert the node to a JSON-serializable dictionary."""
+ return {
+ "n": self.name,
+ "l": self.libtype,
+ "v": self.value,
+ "c": [x.to_json() for x in self.children]
+ }
+
+
+class FlameGraphCLI:
+ """Command-line interface for generating flame graphs."""
+ def __init__(self, args):
+ self.args = args
+ self.stack = Node("all", "root")
+ self.session = None
+
+ @staticmethod
+ def get_libtype_from_dso(dso: Optional[str]) -> str:
+ """Determine the library type from the DSO name."""
+ if dso and (dso == "[kernel.kallsyms]" or dso.endswith("/vmlinux") or dso == "[kernel]"):
+ return "kernel"
+ return ""
+
+ @staticmethod
+ def find_or_create_node(node: Node, name: str, libtype: str) -> Node:
+ """Find a child node with the given name or create a new one."""
+ for child in node.children:
+ if child.name == name:
+ return child
+ child = Node(name, libtype)
+ node.children.append(child)
+ return child
+
+ def process_event(self, sample) -> None:
+ """Process a single perf sample event."""
+ if self.args.event_name and str(sample.evsel) != self.args.event_name:
+ return
+
+ pid = sample.sample_pid
+ dso_type = ""
+ try:
+ thread = self.session.process(sample.sample_tid)
+ comm = thread.comm()
+ # Try to get libtype from thread's main executable
+ # This is a bit of a hack as pyrf_thread doesn't expose maps easily
+ except Exception:
+ comm = "[unknown]"
+
+ if pid == 0:
+ comm = "swapper"
+ dso_type = "kernel"
+ else:
+ comm = f"{comm} ({pid})"
+
+ node = self.find_or_create_node(self.stack, comm, dso_type)
+
+ callchain = sample.callchain
+ if callchain:
+ # We want to traverse from root to leaf.
+ # perf callchain iterator gives leaf to root.
+ # We collect them and reverse.
+ frames = list(callchain)
+ for entry in reversed(frames):
+ name = entry.symbol or "[unknown]"
+ libtype = self.get_libtype_from_dso(entry.dso)
+ node = self.find_or_create_node(node, name, libtype)
+ node.value += 1
+
+ def get_report_header(self) -> str:
+ """Get the header from the perf report."""
+ try:
+ input_file = self.args.input or "perf.data"
+ output = subprocess.check_output(["perf", "report", "--header-only", "-i", input_file])
+ result = output.decode("utf-8")
+ if self.args.event_name:
+ result += "\nFocused event: " + self.args.event_name
+ return result
+ except Exception:
+ return ""
+
+ def run(self) -> None:
+ """Run the flame graph generation."""
+ input_file = self.args.input or "perf.data"
+ if not os.path.exists(input_file):
+ print(f"Error: {input_file} not found. (try 'perf record' first)", file=sys.stderr)
+ sys.exit(1)
+
+ try:
+ self.session = perf.session(perf.data(input_file),
+ sample=self.process_event)
+ except Exception as e:
+ print(f"Error opening session: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+ sys.exit(1)
+
+ self.session.process_events()
+
+ stacks_json = json.dumps(self.stack, default=lambda x: x.to_json())
+
+ if self.args.format == "html":
+ report_header = self.get_report_header()
+ options = {
+ "colorscheme": self.args.colorscheme,
+ "context": report_header
+ }
+ options_json = json.dumps(options)
+
+ template = self.args.template
+ template_md5sum = None
+ output_str = None
+ if not os.path.isfile(template):
+ if not self.args.allow_download:
+ print(f"Warning: Flame Graph template '{template}' does not exist.",
+ file=sys.stderr)
+ template = (
+ "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/d3-flame-graph@4.1.3/dist/templates/"
+ "d3-flamegraph-base.html"
+ )
+ template_md5sum = "143e0d06ba69b8370b9848dcd6ae3f36"
+ if not sys.stdin.isatty():
+ print("Non-interactive environment detected, skipping download.")
+ template = None
+ else:
+ s = None
+ while s not in ["y", "n"]:
+ s = input("Do you wish to download a template from cdn.jsdelivr.net? " +
+ "(this warning can be suppressed with --allow-download) [yn] "
+ ).lower()
+ if s == "n":
+ template = None
+ template_md5sum = None
+
+ use_minimal = False
+ try:
+ if not template:
+ use_minimal = True
+ elif template.startswith("http"):
+ with urllib.request.urlopen(template) as url_template:
+ output_str = "".join([l.decode("utf-8") for l in url_template.readlines()])
+ else:
+ with open(template, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+ output_str = f.read()
+ except Exception as err:
+ print(f"Error reading template {template}: {err}\n", file=sys.stderr)
+ use_minimal = True
+
+ if use_minimal:
+ print("Using internal minimal HTML that refers to d3's web site. JavaScript " +
+ "loaded this way from a local file is typically blocked unless your " +
+ "browser has relaxed permissions.")
+ output_str = MINIMAL_HTML
+
+ elif template_md5sum:
+ download_md5sum = hashlib.md5(output_str.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
+ if download_md5sum != template_md5sum:
+ s = None
+ while s not in ["y", "n"]:
+ s = input(f"""Unexpected template md5sum.
+{download_md5sum} != {template_md5sum}, for:
+{output_str}
+continue?[yn] """).lower()
+ if s == "n":
+ sys.exit(1)
+
+ output_str = output_str.replace("/** @options_json **/", options_json)
+ output_str = output_str.replace("/** @flamegraph_json **/", stacks_json)
+ output_fn = self.args.output or "flamegraph.html"
+ else:
+ output_str = stacks_json
+ output_fn = self.args.output or "stacks.json"
+
+ if output_fn == "-":
+ sys.stdout.write(output_str)
+ else:
+ print(f"dumping data to {output_fn}")
+ with open(output_fn, "w", encoding="utf-8") as out:
+ out.write(output_str)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+ parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Create flame graphs using perf python module.")
+ parser.add_argument("-f", "--format", default="html", choices=["json", "html"],
+ help="output file format")
+ parser.add_argument("-o", "--output", help="output file name")
+ parser.add_argument("--template",
+ default="/usr/share/d3-flame-graph/d3-flamegraph-base.html",
+ help="path to flame graph HTML template")
+ parser.add_argument("--colorscheme", default="blue-green",
+ help="flame graph color scheme", choices=["blue-green", "orange"])
+ parser.add_argument("-i", "--input", help="input perf.data file")
+ parser.add_argument("--allow-download", default=False, action="store_true",
+ help="allow unprompted downloading of HTML template")
+ parser.add_argument("-e", "--event", default="", dest="event_name", type=str,
+ help="specify the event to generate flamegraph for")
+
+ cli_args = parser.parse_args()
+ cli = FlameGraphCLI(cli_args)
+ cli.run()
--
2.54.0.rc1.513.gad8abe7a5a-goog