Allocation timeline

Allocation instrumentation on timeline (DevTools Memory) records when objects were allocated.

Workflow

1. Start recording (enable allocation stacks if offered)
2. Perform single suspect action once
3. Stop recording
4. Zoom timeline bar where heap jumped
5. Inspect constructor breakdown for that window

vs heap snapshot

Technique	Best for
Snapshot diff	“What accumulated after 50 actions?”
Allocation timeline	“What allocated during action #7?”

Allocation sampling

Lower overhead — use for longer sessions where instrumentation skews timing.

sequenceDiagram
  participant You
  participant DevTools
  participant Heap
  You->>DevTools: Start recording
  You->>Heap: Click leaky button
  Heap-->>DevTools: Allocation spike
  You->>DevTools: Stop recording
  DevTools-->>You: Constructor breakdown

Node equivalent

clinic heapprofiler or Chrome inspector timeline while driving load with autocannon.

Stack traces cost memory

Deep allocation stacks increase profiler overhead — start with shallow stacks.