Edit

Debug Endpoints

The RDK (Robot Development Kit) that powers viam-server includes several debug endpoints that expose server internals. These endpoints can be helpful during development or when troubleshooting complex issues:

pprof
graph

`pprof`

Setting enable_web_profile to true in your machine configuration allows you to visualize runtime profiling data by opening a locally hosted webpage that displays profiling data. The pprof tool provides the following information about machine performance:

CPU usage
Memory allocation
Goroutine blocking
Execution tracing

For more detailed information on using pprof, refer to the Go pprof documentation.

Configuration

To enable the pprof endpoints, set enable_web_profile to true in your machine configuration:

Navigate to the CONFIGURE tab of your machine in the Viam app
Click on the … menu next to your machine part in the left-hand menu
Select Edit JSON
Add the enable_web_profile field at the root level of your configuration:

{
  "components": [...],
  "services": [...],
  "enable_web_profile": true
}

Caution

The debug endpoints expose internal details about your machine’s configuration and runtime behavior. Only enable these endpoints in development environments.

Available Endpoints

Once enabled, you can access the pprof interface by navigating to https://localhost:8080/debug/pprof/ in your browser.

The following pprof routes are available:

/debug/pprof/cmdline: Command line arguments used to start the process
/debug/pprof/profile: CPU profile data (30-second sample by default)
/debug/pprof/symbol: Symbol lookup for program counters
/debug/pprof/trace: Execution trace data

`graph`

The /debug/graph endpoint shows a graphical representation of the machine resources managed by the RDK.

To access this endpoint, visit https://localhost:8080/debug/graph on the machine.

Layout Options

To view different layouts, use the layout query parameter:

The following example URL specifies the circo layout:

https://localhost:8080/debug/graph?layout=circo

Available layout options include:

dot (default): Hierarchical layout
neato: Spring model layout
fdp: Force-directed layout
sfdp: Multiscale version of fdp for large graphs
circo: Circular layout
twopi: Radial layout
osage: Array-based layout
text: raw DOT text of the graph, for use with external tools

Next Steps

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