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Documentation Grafana Pyroscope View and analyze profile data Profile CLI

Profile CLI

Pyroscope provides a command-line interface (CLI), profilecli. This utility enables various productivity flows such as:

• Interacting with a running Pyroscope server to upload profiles, query data, and more
• Inspecting Parquet files

Install Profile CLI

You can install Profile CLI using a package or by compiling the code.

Install using a package

On macOS, you can install Profile CLI using Homebrew:

Bash Copy

brew install pyroscope-io/brew/profilecli

For other platforms, you can manually download the profilecli release asset for your operating system and architecture and make it executable.

For example, for Linux with the AMD64 architecture:

1. Download and extract the package (archive).

   Bash Copy

   curl -fL https://github.com/grafana/pyroscope/releases/download/v1.13.2/profilecli_1.13.2_linux_amd64.tar.gz | tar xvz

2. Make profilecli executable:

   Bash Copy

   chmod +x profilecli

3. Optional: Make profilecli reachable from anywhere:

   Bash Copy

   sudo mv profilecli /usr/local/bin

Build from source code

To build from source code, you must have:

• Go 1.24.6 or later installed.
• Either $GOPATH or $GOBIN configured and added to your PATH environment variable.

To build the source code:

1. Clone the repository.

   Bash Copy

   git clone git@github.com:grafana/pyroscope.git

2. Run the Go install command to build and install the package.

   Bash Copy

   cd pyroscope
   go install ./cmd/profilecli

   The command places the profilecli executable in $GOPATH/bin/ (or $GOBIN/) and makes it available to use.

Common flags and environment variables

The profilecli commands that interact with a Pyroscope server use the same connection and authentication flags. You can pass them as command flags or environment variables.

Authentication examples

Use the method that matches your environment.

Basic auth example

Use this pattern when you connect directly to a Cloud Profiles endpoint.

Bash Copy

export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=<cloud_stack_id>
export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=<cloud_access_policy_token>
profilecli query series --query='{service_name="checkout"}'

This is the most common setup when you are querying Cloud Profiles directly.

Bearer token example

Use this pattern when you connect through a Grafana data source proxy URL.

Bash Copy

export PROFILECLI_URL=https://grafana.example.net/api/datasources/proxy/uid/<uid>
export PROFILECLI_TOKEN=<glsa_or_glc_token>
profilecli query profile --profile-type=process_cpu:cpu:nanoseconds:cpu:nanoseconds

This is helpful when you want to use existing Grafana access controls instead of direct Pyroscope credentials.

Multi-tenant example

Use this pattern for self-managed, multi-tenant Pyroscope deployments.

Bash Copy

export PROFILECLI_URL=https://pyroscope.example.net
export PROFILECLI_TENANT_ID=team-a
profilecli upload --extra-labels=service_name=payments ./cpu.pprof

This is useful when a shared Pyroscope deployment routes data by tenant.

Environment variable naming

You can use environment variables to avoid passing flags to every command and to reduce accidental credential exposure in shell history. Environment variables have a PROFILECLI_ prefix. Here is an example:

Bash Copy

export PROFILECLI_URL=<pyroscope_server_url>
export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=<username>
export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=<password>
# now you can run profilecli commands without repeating URL or credentials:
profilecli <command>

Upload a profile to a Pyroscope server using profilecli

Using profilecli streamlines the process of uploading profiles to Pyroscope, making it a convenient alternative to manual HTTP requests.

Why this command helps

Use profilecli upload when you have an exported pprof file and want to:

• Reproduce a production issue in a test environment.
• Backfill a profile collected outside your normal instrumentation pipeline.
• Attach labels at upload time to make the data easier to query later.

Before you begin

• Ensure you have profilecli installed on your system by following the installation steps above.
• Have a profile file ready for upload. Note that you can only upload pprof files at this time.

Upload steps

1. Identify the pprof file.

   • Path to your pprof file: path/to/your/pprof-file.pprof

2. Optional: Specify any extra labels.

   • You can add additional labels to your uploaded profile using the --extra-labels flag.
   • You can provide the name of the application that the profile was captured from via the service_name label (defaults to profilecli-upload). This will be useful when querying the data via profilecli or the UI.
   • You can use the flag multiple times to add several labels.
   • Use --override-timestamp if you want the uploaded profile to be treated as “now” instead of its original capture time.

3. Construct and execute the Upload command.

   • Here’s a basic command template:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=<pyroscope_server_url>
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=<username>
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=<password>
     
     profilecli upload --extra-labels=<label_name>=<label_value> <pprof_file_path>

   • Example command:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=my_username
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=my_password
     
     profilecli upload path/to/your/pprof-file.pprof

   • Example command with extra labels:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=my_username
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=my_password
     
     profilecli upload \
         --extra-labels=service_name=my_application_name \
         --extra-labels=cluster=us-east \
         path/to/your/pprof-file.pprof

   • Example command with timestamp override:

     Bash Copy

     profilecli upload \
         --override-timestamp \
         --extra-labels=service_name=debug-replay \
         ./local-capture.pprof

4. Check for successful upload.

   • After running the command, you should see a confirmation message indicating a successful upload. If there are any issues, profilecli provides error messages to help you troubleshoot.

Query a Pyroscope server using profilecli

You can use the profilecli query command to look up the available profiles on a Pyroscope server and read actual profile data. This can be useful for debugging purposes or for integrating profiling in CI pipelines (for example to facilitate profile-guided optimization).

Look up available profiles on a Pyroscope server

You can use the profilecli query series command to look up the available profiles on a Pyroscope server. By default, it queries the last hour of data, though this can be controlled with the --from and --to flags. You can narrow the results down with the --query flag. See profilecli help query series for more information.

This command is most helpful when you are exploring an unfamiliar environment and need to discover:

• Which services are currently sending profiles.
• Which profile types are available for a service.
• Which label keys and values you can use for follow-up queries.

Query series steps

1. Optional: Specify a query, time range, and output format.

   • You can provide a label selector using the --query flag, for example: --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}'.
   • You can provide a custom time range using the --from and --to flags, for example, --from="now-3h" --to="now".
   • You can filter which label names appear in the output using the --label-names flag, for example, --label-names=__profile_type__,service_name.
   • You can control the output format using --output=table (default) or --output=json. The table view renders one row per series with label names as sorted column headers. The JSON format emits a structured envelope containing from, to, and a series array, which is useful for scripting and pipeline integrations.

2. Construct and execute the Query Series command.

   • Here’s a basic command template:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=<pyroscope_server_url>
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=<username>
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=<password>
     
     profilecli query series --query='{<label_name>="<label_value>"}'

   • Example command:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=my_username
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=my_password
     
     profilecli query series --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}'

   • Example command with label filtering and default table output:

     Bash Copy

     profilecli query series \
         --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}' \
         --label-names=__profile_type__ \
         --label-names=service_name

   • Example table output (default):

     Copy

     +---------------------------------------------+---------------------+
     |                PROFILE TYPE                 |    SERVICE NAME     |
     +---------------------------------------------+---------------------+
     | memory:inuse_objects:count:space:bytes      | my_application_name |
     | process_cpu:cpu:nanoseconds:cpu:nanoseconds | my_application_name |
     +---------------------------------------------+---------------------+

     Columns are sorted alphabetically by their raw label name. Column headers are derived from label names with underscores replaced by spaces and converted to uppercase (for example, __profile_type__ becomes PROFILE TYPE).

   • Example command using --output=json:

     Bash Copy

     profilecli query series \
         --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}' \
         --output=json

   • Example JSON output:

     JSON Copy

     {
       "from": "2026-03-12T08:54:07.667114Z",
       "to": "2026-03-12T09:54:07.667114Z",
       "series": [
         {
           "__name__": "memory",
           "__period_type__": "space",
           "__period_unit__": "bytes",
           "__profile_type__": "memory:inuse_objects:count:space:bytes",
           "__service_name__": "my_application_name",
           "__type__": "inuse_objects",
           "__unit__": "count",
           "cluster": "eu-west-1",
           "service_name": "my_application_name"
         }
       ]
     }

Read a raw profile from a Pyroscope server

You can use the profilecli query profile command to retrieve a merged (aggregated) profile from a Pyroscope server. The command merges all samples found in the profile store for the specified query and time range. By default it looks for samples within the last hour, though this can be controlled with the --from and --to flags. The source data can be narrowed down with the --query flag in the same way as with the series command.

This command is useful when you want to inspect merged profile data directly, save it for offline analysis, or compare profile windows in scripts and CI jobs.

Query profile steps

1. Specify optional flags.

   • You can provide a label selector using the --query flag, for example, --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}'.
   • You can provide a custom time range using the --from and --to flags, for example, --from="now-3h" --to="now".
   • You can specify the profile type via the --profile-type flag. The available profile types are listed in the output of the profilecli query series command.
   • You can set --output=pprof=./result.pprof to save the merged profile as a pprof file.
   • You can use --function-names-only for faster responses when you don’t need full mapping and line details.

2. Construct and execute the query profile command.

   • Here’s a basic command template:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=<pyroscope_server_url>
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=<username>
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=<password>
     
     profilecli query profile \
         --profile-type=<profile_type> \
         --query='{<label_name>="<label_value>"}' \
         --from="<from>" --to="<to>"

   • Example command:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=my_username
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=my_password
     
     profilecli query profile \
         --profile-type=memory:inuse_space:bytes:space:bytes \
         --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}' \
         --from="now-1h" --to="now"

   • Example command saving pprof output:

     Bash Copy

     profilecli query profile \
         --profile-type=process_cpu:cpu:nanoseconds:cpu:nanoseconds \
         --query='{service_name="checkout"}' \
         --from="now-30m" --to="now" \
         --output=pprof=./checkout-cpu.pprof

   • Example output:

     Bash Copy

     level=info msg="query aggregated profile from profile store" url=http://localhost:4040 from=2023-12-11T13:38:33.115683-04:00 to=2023-12-11T14:38:33.115684-04:00 query={} type=memory:inuse_space:bytes:space:bytes
     PeriodType: space bytes
     Period: 524288
     Time: 2023-12-11 13:59:59.999 -0400 AST
     Duration: 59m5
     Samples:
     inuse_space/bytes[dflt]
       115366240: 107 13 14 15 16 17 1 2 3
     ...

Export a profile for Go PGO

You can use the profilecli query go-pgo command to retrieve an aggregated profile from a Pyroscope server for use with Go PGO. Profiles retrieved with profilecli query profile include all samples found in the profile store, resulting in a large profile size. The profile size may cause issues with network transfer and slow down the PGO process. In contrast, profiles retrieved with profilecli query go-pgo include only the information used in Go PGO, making them significantly smaller and more efficient to handle. By default, it looks for samples within the last hour, though this can be controlled with the --from and --to flags. The source data can be narrowed down with the --query flag in the same way as with the query command.

1. Specify optional flags.

   • You can provide a label selector using the --query flag, for example, --query='{service_name="my_application_name"}'.
   • You can provide a custom time range using the --from and --to flags, for example, --from="now-3h" --to="now".
   • You can specify the profile type via the --profile-type flag. The available profile types are listed in the output of the profilecli query series command.
   • You can specify the number of leaf locations to keep via the --keep-locations flag. The default value is 5. The Go compiler does not use the full stack trace. Reducing the number helps to minimize the profile size.
   • You can control whether to use callee aggregation with the --aggregate-callees flag. By default, this option is enabled, meaning samples are aggregated based on the leaf location, disregarding the callee line number, which the Go compiler does not utilize. To disable aggregation, use the --no-aggregate-callees flag.

2. Construct and execute the command.

   • Example command:

     Bash Copy

     export PROFILECLI_URL=https://profiles-prod-001.grafana.net
     export PROFILECLI_USERNAME=my_username
     export PROFILECLI_PASSWORD=my_password
     
     profilecli query go-pgo \
         --query='{service_name="my_service"}' \
         --from="now-1h" --to="now"

   • Example output:

     Bash Copy

     level=info msg="querying pprof profile for Go PGO" url=https://localhost:4040 query="{service_name=\"my_service\"}" from=2024-06-20T12:32:20+08:00 to=2024-06-20T15:24:40+08:00 type=process_cpu:cpu:nanoseconds:cpu:nanoseconds output="pprof=default.pgo" keep-locations=5 aggregate-callees=true
     # By default, the profile is saved to the current directory as `default.pgo`

Other useful commands

The following commands are also useful in day-to-day operations.

Find top contributors by label value

Use profilecli query top to identify the biggest contributors in a time window. This is useful when triaging spikes and you need a quick ranked view before doing deeper exploration.

Bash Copy

profilecli query top \
  --query='{__profile_type__="process_cpu:cpu:nanoseconds:cpu:nanoseconds"}' \
  --label-names=service_name \
  --top-n=10

Detect high-cardinality labels

Use profilecli query label-values-cardinality to find label keys with many values. This is useful when troubleshooting query cost, dashboard slowness, or label design issues.

Bash Copy

profilecli query label-values-cardinality \
  --query='{service_name=~".+"}' \
  --top-n=20

Check endpoint readiness quickly

Use profilecli ready in scripts and CI checks to verify endpoint health before running upload or query automation.

Bash Copy

profilecli ready --url=http://localhost:4040

Manage recording rules from the CLI

Use profilecli recording-rules commands to list, create, get, and delete recording rules without leaving your terminal. This is useful for GitOps-style workflows and automated rollout validation.

Bash Copy

profilecli recording-rules list

Validate source mapping coverage

Use profilecli source-code coverage to measure how well your .pyroscope.yaml mappings translate symbols from a pprof profile to source files. This is useful when source links in the UI are missing or incomplete. The command requires GitHub API access. Provide a token with --github-token or PROFILECLI_GITHUB_TOKEN.

Bash Copy

export PROFILECLI_GITHUB_TOKEN=<github_token>

profilecli source-code coverage \
  --profile=./cpu.pprof \
  --config=./.pyroscope.yaml \
  --output=detailed