AUSTIN(1)

📦
version 3.7.0 · 3 versions
, in ubuntu questing

✨ AUSTIN(1) — the manual page bestie 💅

okay so you found the austin man page and honestly? iconic. it's a User Command, and we're about to go through the whole thing together, no skips, no skimming, because every single flag matters. let's get into it 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

austin — Frame stack sampler for CPython ✨

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

austin [OPTION...] command [ARG...]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so here's the tea: Austin is a frame stack sampler for CPython. what does that mean? it means it pulls profiling data out of a running Python process — and all its children, if you want that — and the way it does it is chef's kiss: no instrumentation required, and it has practically no impact on the tracee. literally the politest profiler you'll ever meet. it's giving "shows up to the party, takes notes, doesn't touch anything" 👑

so here's every option, one by one, because we don't gatekeep:

  • -b, --binary — emit data in the MOJO binary format. for more deets, see https://github.com/P403n1x87/austin/wiki/The-MOJO-file-format 💾
  • -C, --children — attach to child processes too. the whole fam gets profiled 🍼
  • -f, --full — produce the full set of metrics: time +mem -mem. the deluxe package bestie ✨
  • -g, --gc — sample the garbage collector state. yes, we're watching the gc do its lil thing 🗑️
  • -h, --heap=n_mb — maximum heap size to allocate, in MB, to increase sampling accuracy. default is 0 🧠
  • -i, --interval=n_us — sampling interval in microseconds. default is 100. accepted units: s, ms, us ⏱️
  • -m, --memory — profile memory usage 💭
  • -o, --output=FILE — specify an output file for the collected samples 📁
  • -p, --pid=PID — attach to the process with the given PID 🎯
  • -P, --pipe — pipe mode. use this when you're piping Austin's output 🚰
  • -s, --sleepless — suppress idle samples so you can estimate CPU time. no naps, only vibes 😤
  • -t, --timeout=n_ms — start up wait time in milliseconds. default is 100. accepted units: s, ms ⌛
  • -w, --where=PID — dump the stacks of all the threads within the process with the given PID. like "where u at" but for threads 📍
  • -x, --exposure=n_sec — sample for n_sec seconds only, then dip 🏃♀️
  • -?, --help — give this help list 🙋♀️
  • --usage — give a short usage message 📝
  • -V, --version — print program version 🔖
ngl this next bit is important: mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options. so like, don't think you can sneak around it fr fr 👀

🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

the part where it all clicks. let's go 💫

Profile wall time of a Python script

$ austin python3 myscript.py

Profile CPU time of an executable Python script

$ austin -s ./myscript.py

Profile a Python application

$ austin uwsgi --http :9090 --wsgi-file foobar.py

Profile child processes

$ austin -C uwsgi --http :9090 --wsgi-file foobar.py

Attach to a running Python process

# austin -p <pid>

Attach to a process and its children

# austin -Cp <pid>

Where is a Python process at?

# austin -w <pid>

Set the sampling interval

# austin -i 10ms -p <pid>

Save collected on-CPU samples to file

$ austin -so /path/to/file.austin ./myscript.py

Sample for 5 seconds only

# austin -x 5 -p <pid>

🙈 REPORTING BUGS 🙈

found a bug? don't be shy, report it to https://github.com/P403n1x87/austin/issues — they're not gonna bite, and honestly fixing bugs is a group effort bestie 🐛🫶

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

the full documentation for austin is maintained as a Texinfo manual. if the info and austin programs are properly installed at your site, then this command:

info austin

should give you access to the complete manual. periodt 📖✨

and that's the whole page, no notes. this was austin version 3.7.0, dated September 2025 — she's fresh, she's thriving, she's a User Commands girlie 💅🌸 bye bestie, go profile something 🦋

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