Memory

Landing page for all things memory-related in Chromium.

How is chrome's memory usage doing in the world?

Look at the UMAs Memory.{Total,Renderer,Browser,Gpu,Extension}.PrivateMemoryFootprint.

How do developers communicate?

Note, these channels are for developer coordination and NOT user support. If you are a Chromium user experiencing a memory related problem, file a bug instead.

name	description
memory-dev@chromium.org	Discussion group for all things memory related. Post docs, discuss bugs, etc., here.
chrome-memory@google.com	Google internal version of the above. Use sparingly.
https://chromium.slack.com/messages/memory/	Slack channel for real-time discussion with memory devs. Lots of C++ sadness too.
crbug Performance=Memory label	Bucket with auto-filed and user-filed bugs.
crbug Stability=Memory label	Tracks mostly OOM crashes.

I have memory problem, what do I do?

Follow these instructions to file a high quality bug.

I'm a developer trying to investigate a memory issues, what do I do?

See this page for further instructions.

I'm a developer looking for more information. How do I get started?

Great! First, sign up for the mailing lists above and check out the slack channel.

Second, familiarize yourself with the following:

Topic	Description
Key Concepts in Chrome Memory	Primer for memory terminology in Chrome.
memory-infra	The primary tool used for inspecting allocations.

What are people actively working on?

There are roughly three types of memory work within Chrome:

Team based, targeted improvements. Examples include:
- memory reductions for specific components like v8
- allocator improvements: tcmalloc for linux + cros, PartitionAlloc for blink, etc.
- memory purging at appropriate times [e.g. on tab background]
- better memory pressure signals
Memlog: Heap profiling in the wild for regression detection + root cause analysis.
Lab tests: Perf waterfall for micro-regressions, ASAN/MSAN/LSAN, blink leak detector.

Key knowledge areas and contacts

Knowledge Area	Contact points
Chrome on Android	lizeb, pasko, ssid
Browser Process	ssid, erikchen, etienneb
GPU/cc	ericrk
Memory metrics	ssid, erikchen, primano, ajwong, wez
Heap Profiling	alph, erikchen, ssid, etienneb
Net Stack	mmenke, rsleevi, xunjieli
Renderer Process	haraken, tasak, hajimehoshi, keishi, hiroshige
V8	hpayer, ulan, verwaest, mlippautz