Can I export a pprof profile as a single HTML file?

Not directly — `go tool pprof -http=:8080` starts a local server. The two shareable exports are `-svg` (a zoomable flame graph or call graph, self-contained) and speedscope, which reads pprof files and exports a standalone HTML page.

Which export keeps the interaction?

Speedscope. Its exported page keeps zoom, the sandwich view and the search box. A `-svg` flame graph keeps zoom-on-click and tooltips because the SVG carries its own script.

For `-svg`, yes — pprof shells out to `dot`. `apt-get install graphviz` or `brew install graphviz` in the job that renders it.

How do I share a profile taken in production?

Fetch it from the pprof endpoint with `curl`, render it in CI or locally, then publish the rendered page at a restricted access level — profiles leak function and package names.

Can teammates comment on a specific frame?

Yes. Threads anchor to the rendered content, so 'this is the JSON encoder, we should be streaming' sits on that frame instead of in a channel.

Share a pprof profile

go tool pprof -http=:8080 cpu.pprof is one of the best profiling experiences in any language, and it has exactly one flaw: it runs on localhost. The moment the finding needs a second reader, the interface degrades to a screenshot of a flame graph, which is a picture of a thing whose entire value is that you can click it.

Option 1: an SVG flame graph

# apt-get install graphviz  (pprof shells out to dot)
go tool pprof -svg cpu.pprof > cpu.svg

The SVG is self-contained and keeps click-to-zoom and hover tooltips, because the script travels inside the file. Wrap it in a one-line HTML host if you want a title above it, or publish the SVG as the report body.

Option 2: speedscope

npm i -g speedscope
speedscope cpu.pprof   # opens locally; use the app's Export to save an HTML file

Speedscope reads pprof's protobuf format directly and its exported page keeps the time-order view, the left-heavy view, the sandwich view and search. It is the better option when the reader needs to explore rather than confirm. See also sharing a speedscope profile.

Publish it

Drag the file into the app, or from CI:

curl -fsS -X PATCH "https://commareports.com/api/v1/reports/$REPORT_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COMMA_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$(jq -n --rawfile html cpu.html \
        --arg title "CPU profile — $GITHUB_SHA" '{title: $title, html: $html}')"

Scripts run inside a sandboxed iframe (allow-scripts, no allow-same-origin), so the zooming works at the URL the same way it worked locally.

Profiles from production

curl -o cpu.pprof "http://prod-host:6060/debug/pprof/profile?seconds=30"

Two things follow from that. First, render and publish rather than passing around the raw .pprof — the raw file needs the reader to have Go installed and the matching binary for symbolisation. Second, restrict the access level: a profile enumerates your internal package and function names. See the sharing model.

Why the link beats the screenshot

Anchored threads on the hot frame, so the fix is discussed where the cost is visible. See commenting on HTML.
Revisions — publish before and after the optimisation to the same id and the improvement is a diff, not an assertion.

Limits

Entry HTML: 5 MB. Assets: 25 MB per file, 250 MB and 500 files total. A deep profile's SVG can be large — -nodecount trims it for the shareable view.
60 requests/minute per token.

Try it

Comma is free — unlimited reports, unlimited commenters, unlimited revision history.

Publish a profile →