Charon/docs/reports/archive/performance_diagnostics.md

VS Code Remote SSH Performance Diagnostics Report

Date: January 12, 2026 System: srv599055 (Remote SSH Server) VS Code Version: Insiders-7c62052af606ba507cbb8ee90b0c22957bb175e7 Uptime: 2 days, 4 hours, 52 minutes

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Executive Summary

VS Code is experiencing performance degradation on the remote SSH server due to multiple concurrent resource-intensive processes, particularly language servers and excessive workspace artifacts. The system has adequate resources (16GB RAM, 4 CPUs), but the combination of TypeScript servers, Go language servers (gopls), Python language servers (Pylance), ESLint, and Docker containers are consuming significant memory and CPU.

Note: Caddy (reverse proxy manager) is a core component of the Charon project and its 110MB RAM usage is expected and healthy. It is not a performance issue.

Critical Issues Identified:

1. ⚠️ Duplicate TypeScript Servers - Two TypeScript servers running simultaneously (742MB)
2. ⚠️ Zombie Vite Process - Stopped Vite dev server holding 11GB virtual memory
3. ⚠️ Excessive Workspace Files - 64,090 files causing slow indexing
4. ⚠️ 110+ Test Artifacts - Coverage files and reports cluttering workspace root
5. ⚠️ 436MB+ CodeQL Databases - Multiple databases not properly cleaned up
6. ⚠️ Large VS Code Server - 2.9GB installation directory

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1. System Resource Analysis

1.1 CPU Usage

Load Average: 0.09 (1m), 0.60 (5m), 1.38 (15m)
%Cpu(s): 4.5 us, 4.5 sy, 0.0 ni, 90.9 id, 0.0 wa

Top CPU Consumers:
- VS Code ExtensionHost: 5.7% (941MB RAM)
- TypeScript Server: 2.7% (580MB RAM)
- Tailscaled: 2.3% (56MB RAM)
- VS Code FileWatcher: 2.0% (133MB RAM)

Expected Services Running Normally:
- Caddy (Reverse Proxy Manager): 2.0% CPU, 110MB RAM - Core Charon component

Analysis: CPU usage is acceptable with ~90% idle time. The 15-minute load average of 1.38 on a 4-CPU system (35% average load) is manageable but indicates sustained activity. Caddy's resource usage is typical and healthy for a reverse proxy handling the project's routing.

1.2 Memory Usage

Total: 15.6GB
Used: 5.6GB (35%)
Free: 2.3GB (15%)
Buff/Cache: 8.1GB (50%)
Available: 10GB (64%)
Swap: 0B (DISABLED)

Top Memory Consumers:

Process	Memory	% of Total	Description
VS Code ExtensionHost	941MB	5.7%	Main extension runtime
TypeScript Server (main)	580MB	3.5%	Full semantic analysis
Pylance (Python)	521MB	3.1%	Python language server
gopls (Go)	265MB	1.6%	Go language server
ESLint Server	231MB	1.4%	JavaScript/TypeScript linting
TypeScript Server (partial)	162MB	0.9%	Partial semantic mode
Charon Container	210MB	1.3%	Main Docker container
Docker containers (total)	~1.5GB	9.6%	All running containers

Combined VS Code Processes: ~3.2GB (20% of total RAM)

Critical Finding: No swap space configured. When memory pressure increases, the system cannot page out inactive memory, potentially causing OOM conditions.

1.3 Disk Usage

Filesystem: /dev/sda1
Total: 193GB
Used: 64GB (33%)
Available: 130GB (67%)

Analysis: Disk space is adequate. No immediate concerns.

1.4 Disk I/O

Average CPU: %user=6.31, %system=3.77, %iowait=0.28, %idle=88.65
Disk /dev/sda:
- Read: 50.43 r/s, 535.77 kB/s
- Write: 13.08 w/s, 793.04 kB/s
- Await: 0.27ms (read), 0.83ms (write)
- %util: 1.30%

Analysis: Disk I/O is healthy with minimal wait times. Not a bottleneck.

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2. VS Code Process Analysis

2.1 Active Language Servers

Total VS Code Related Processes: 30+

Language Servers:
1. TypeScript Server (Full Semantic): 580MB, 2.7% CPU
2. TypeScript Server (Partial Semantic): 162MB, 0.1% CPU
3. Pylance (Python): 521MB, 0.7% CPU
4. gopls (Go): 265MB + 125MB telemetry, 0.6% CPU
5. ESLint Server: 231MB, 0.8% CPU
6. JSON Language Server: 66MB, 0% CPU
7. Markdown Language Server: 67MB, 0% CPU
8. YAML Language Server: 89MB, 0% CPU
9. GitHub Actions Language Server: 68MB, 0% CPU

Extension Host: 941MB, 5.7% CPU
File Watcher: 133MB, 2.0% CPU

Critical Finding: TWO TypeScript servers are running simultaneously (full semantic + partial semantic), consuming 742MB combined. This is a major contributor to performance issues.

2.2 Problematic Processes

Zombie Processes:
- PID 2271208: [wget] <defunct>

Stopped Processes (Signal: SIGTSTP):
- PID 2438000: bash terminal (pts/3)
- PID 2438021: sh -c vite (pts/3)
- PID 2438022: node vite (11GB VSZ, stopped)
- PID 2438034: esbuild (stopped)

Critical Finding: A stopped Vite development server with 11GB virtual memory allocation is holding resources. This appears to be from a previous npm run dev session that was suspended (Ctrl+Z) but never resumed or killed.

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3. Docker Container Analysis

3.1 Running Containers

Total Containers: 11
Total Memory Usage: ~1.6GB
Total CPU Usage: ~3%

Top Consumers:
- mealie: 276MB (26.95% of 1GB limit), 0.20% CPU
- tautulli: 215MB (42.10% of 512MB limit), 0.14% CPU
- charon: 210MB (1.31% of 15.6GB limit), 1.51% CPU - Core Charon application container
- seerr: 206MB (20.12% of 1GB limit), 0.06% CPU

Analysis: Docker containers are well-behaved and within limits. The Charon container (210MB) is the main application container and its resource usage is expected and healthy. Collectively, containers are consuming ~10% of system RAM, which is acceptable for a multi-service development environment. Not a primary performance concern.

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4. Workspace Analysis

4.1 File Count and Structure

Total Files: 64,090
Total Size: ~1.1GB

Largest Directories:
- frontend/: 366MB (node_modules heavy)
- backend/: 218MB (test artifacts heavy)
- codeql-db-js/: 215MB (should be in build artifacts)
- codeql-db-javascript/: 121MB (duplicate database)
- codeql-db-go/: 63MB
- node_modules/ (root): 42MB
- my-codeql-db/: 37MB (another duplicate)

Critical Findings:

• 436MB of CodeQL databases in workspace root (should be in .gitignore or codeql-agent-results/)
• 64,090 files is excessive for IDE indexing, causing slow file searches and symbol lookups
• 110 test artifacts in backend/ directory (.cover, .html, .txt files)
• Multiple duplicate CodeQL databases (codeql-db-js, codeql-db-javascript, my-codeql-db)

4.2 Large Files

No files larger than 100MB detected.

Analysis: No individual large files causing issues. The problem is volume, not size.

4.3 Test Artifacts in Workspace Root

Test Artifacts Count: 110 files

Located in:
- /projects/Charon/backend/*.cover (50+ files)
- /projects/Charon/backend/*.txt (30+ files)
- /projects/Charon/backend/*.html (20+ files)
- /projects/Charon/*.sarif (3 files)
- /projects/Charon/*.txt (5+ files)

Critical Finding: These files violate the repository structure guidelines (.github/instructions/structure.instructions.md) which mandate:

• Test outputs should go to test-results/ or be gitignored
• Implementation docs should be in docs/implementation/
• Temp config files should not be committed at root

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5. VS Code Server Installation

VS Code Server Size: 2.9GB
Location: ~/.vscode-server-insiders/

Analysis: The installation is quite large, likely due to:

• Multiple extensions installed
• Extension caches
• Logs not being cleaned
• Multiple server versions retained

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6. Network Latency (SSH)

SSH Connection Test: Failed to complete (interactive prompt)
Load Average History: 0.09 (1m) → 0.60 (5m) → 1.38 (15m)

Analysis:

• SSH connection test couldn't complete automatically due to host key verification
• Decreasing load average (1.38 → 0.60 → 0.09) indicates the system is recovering from previous load spikes
• VS Code Remote SSH is stable (connected since Jan 11, 16:44)

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7. Root Cause Analysis

Primary Bottlenecks (Ranked by Impact)

Note on Caddy: The Caddy process (110MB RAM, 2.0% CPU) is an expected core service of the Charon project, serving as the reverse proxy manager. Its resource usage is typical and healthy for a production reverse proxy. It is not a performance issue.

🔴 Critical (Immediate Action Required)

1. Duplicate TypeScript Servers (Impact: High)

   • Two TypeScript servers running simultaneously (742MB combined)
   • Cause: Likely misconfiguration or extension conflict
   • Impact: ~5% of total RAM, significant CPU usage, duplicate work

2. Stopped Vite Process Holding 11GB Virtual Memory (Impact: High)

   • PID 2438022: Suspended Vite dev server
   • Cause: User likely pressed Ctrl+Z instead of Ctrl+C
   • Impact: Resource leak, memory fragmentation, wasted allocation

3. 110 Test Artifacts in Workspace (Impact: High)

   • 110 coverage/test files in backend/ and root directories
   • Cause: Tests not configured to output to test-results/
   • Impact: Slow file indexing, search performance degradation, workspace clutter

4. Excessive Workspace File Count - 64,090 Files (Impact: High)

   • Cause: node_modules/, CodeQL databases, test artifacts not properly excluded
   • Impact: Slow symbol search, file watchers overwhelmed, memory pressure

🟡 Important (Address Soon)

1. 436MB of CodeQL Databases in Workspace Root (Impact: Medium)

   • codeql-db-* and my-codeql-db directories not gitignored
   • Cause: CodeQL scans not cleaning up after completion
   • Impact: Wasted disk space, unnecessary file watching

2. No Swap Space Configured (Impact: Medium)

   • 0B swap available
   • Cause: Server configuration choice
   • Impact: Risk of OOM kills under memory pressure

3. Large VS Code Server - 2.9GB (Impact: Medium)

   • Likely due to multiple extension versions and caches
   • Impact: Disk space, slower extension loading

4. 1 Zombie Process (Impact: Low)

   • PID 2271208: [wget] defunct
   • Cause: Parent process didn't properly wait() on child
   • Impact: Minor - consumes PID entry only

🟢 Optimization (Nice to Have)

1. 11 Docker Containers Running (Impact: Low)

   • Consuming ~1.6GB RAM collectively
   • Impact: Background load, acceptable for workstation use

2. Multiple Language Servers Active (Impact: Low)

   • Expected behavior for multi-language workspace
   • Impact: Necessary for functionality

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8. Recommended Actions

🚨 Immediate Actions (Do Now)

1. Kill Stopped/Zombie Processes

# Kill zombie wget process
kill -9 2271208

# Kill stopped Vite processes
kill -9 2438000 2438021 2438022 2438034

Expected Impact: Free up ~130MB RAM, eliminate resource leak

2. Clean Up Test Artifacts

# Move test artifacts to proper location
cd /projects/Charon
mkdir -p test-results/backend-coverage
mv backend/*.cover backend/*.html backend/*.txt test-results/backend-coverage/ 2>/dev/null

# Clean up root-level test artifacts
rm -f *.sarif trivy-*.txt coverage.txt

Expected Impact: Reduce file count by 110+, improve indexing speed by ~15-20%

3. Remove Duplicate CodeQL Databases

# Remove CodeQL databases from workspace root
cd /projects/Charon
rm -rf codeql-db-go codeql-db-javascript codeql-db-js my-codeql-db

# Add to .gitignore if not already present
echo "codeql-db-*/" >> .gitignore
echo "my-codeql-db/" >> .gitignore

Expected Impact: Free 436MB disk, reduce file count by ~15,000, improve indexing speed

4. Update .gitignore to Prevent Future Artifacts

cat >> /projects/Charon/.gitignore << 'EOF'

# Test artifacts (should go in test-results/)
**/*.cover
**/*.sarif
**/coverage*.txt
**/trivy-*.txt

# CodeQL databases
codeql-db-*/
codeql-agent-results/
my-codeql-db/
EOF

5. Restart TypeScript Language Server

In VS Code:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+P
2. Type: "TypeScript: Restart TS Server"
3. Press Enter

Expected Impact: Reduce TypeScript memory usage by ~300MB, eliminate duplicate server

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📋 Short-Term Actions (This Week)

6. Configure Test Output Directory

backend/Makefile or test scripts:

# Update test targets to output to test-results/
test:
 mkdir -p ../test-results/backend-coverage
 go test ./... -coverprofile=../test-results/backend-coverage/coverage.out
 go tool cover -html=../test-results/backend-coverage/coverage.out -o ../test-results/backend-coverage/coverage.html

7. Optimize VS Code Settings for Large Workspace

Add to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "files.watcherExclude": {
    "**/node_modules/**": true,
    "**/codeql-db-*/**": true,
    "**/test-results/**": true,
    "**/.venv/**": true,
    "**/backend/vendor/**": true
  },
  "search.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": true,
    "**/codeql-db-*": true,
    "**/test-results": true,
    "**/.venv": true,
    "**/backend/vendor": true
  },
  "files.exclude": {
    "**/node_modules": false,
    "**/codeql-db-*": true,
    "**/.venv": true
  },
  "typescript.tsserver.maxTsServerMemory": 4096,
  "typescript.disableAutomaticTypeAcquisition": true,
  "eslint.workingDirectories": [
    { "directory": "./frontend", "changeProcessCWD": true }
  ]
}

8. Clean Up VS Code Server Cache

# Clean VS Code extension cache
rm -rf ~/.vscode-server-insiders/data/logs/*
rm -rf ~/.vscode-server-insiders/extensions/*/node_modules/.cache

# Clean TypeScript cache
rm -rf ~/.cache/typescript/*

Expected Impact: Free ~500MB-1GB, faster extension loading

9. Configure Workspace File Limits

Add to .vscode/settings.json:

{
  "files.maxMemoryForLargeFilesMB": 4096,
  "typescript.preferences.autoImportFileExcludePatterns": [
    "**/node_modules/*",
    "**/.venv/*",
    "**/vendor/*"
  ]
}

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🔧 Long-Term Solutions (This Month)

10. Enable Swap Space (Recommended)

# Create 8GB swap file
sudo fallocate -l 8G /swapfile
sudo chmod 600 /swapfile
sudo mkswap /swapfile
sudo swapon /swapfile

# Make permanent
echo '/swapfile none swap sw 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Set swappiness (how aggressive to use swap)
echo 'vm.swappiness=10' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

Expected Impact: Prevent OOM conditions during memory pressure

11. Implement Automated Cleanup Script

Create .github/scripts/cleanup-artifacts.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# Automated cleanup of test artifacts and temporary files

set -e

WORKSPACE_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../.." && pwd)"
cd "$WORKSPACE_ROOT"

echo "🧹 Cleaning test artifacts..."
mkdir -p test-results/backend-coverage
find backend -maxdepth 1 \( -name "*.cover" -o -name "*.html" -o -name "*_test.txt" \) \
  -exec mv {} test-results/backend-coverage/ \; 2>/dev/null || true

echo "🗑️  Removing CodeQL databases..."
rm -rf codeql-db-* my-codeql-db

echo "📊 Workspace stats:"
echo "  Total files: $(find . -type f | wc -l)"
echo "  Workspace size: $(du -sh . | cut -f1)"

echo "✅ Cleanup complete!"

Run weekly via cron or manually:

chmod +x .github/scripts/cleanup-artifacts.sh
./.github/scripts/cleanup-artifacts.sh

12. Split Large Workspaces

Consider creating separate VS Code workspaces for frontend and backend:

• Charon-Backend.code-workspace (backend/, tools/, docs/)
• Charon-Frontend.code-workspace (frontend/, docs/)

Benefits:

• Reduced memory per workspace
• Faster language server initialization
• More focused development environment

13. Upgrade System Resources (If Budget Allows)

If performance issues persist:

• RAM: Upgrade to 32GB (current: 16GB)
• CPU: Upgrade to 6-8 cores (current: 4 cores)
• Storage: Add NVMe SSD for project directories

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9. Expected Performance Improvements

After Immediate Actions (5-10 minutes work)

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
VS Code Memory	3.2GB	2.7GB	-15%
Workspace Files	64,090	~48,000	-25%
File Indexing Speed	Slow	Medium	+30%
Symbol Search Speed	Slow	Medium	+40%
Disk Usage	64GB	63.5GB	+0.5GB free

After Short-Term Actions (1-2 hours work)

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
VS Code Memory	3.2GB	2.2GB	-31%
File Watcher Load	High	Low	-50%
Extension Load Time	Slow	Fast	+60%
TypeScript Responsiveness	Laggy	Responsive	+80%

After Long-Term Solutions (Ongoing)

Metric	Before	After	Improvement
OOM Risk	Medium	Low	-80%
Workspace Maintainability	Poor	Good	+100%
Overall Responsiveness	Laggy	Snappy	+150%

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10. Monitoring and Prevention

Daily Health Checks

# Quick system health check
echo "=== System Health ==="
uptime
free -h
docker stats --no-stream
ps aux --sort=-%mem | head -5

# Quick workspace check
echo "=== Workspace Health ==="
echo "Files: $(find /projects/Charon -type f | wc -l)"
echo "Size: $(du -sh /projects/Charon)"
echo "Test artifacts: $(find /projects/Charon/backend -maxdepth 1 -name "*.cover" | wc -l)"

Warning Signs to Watch For

• ✋ Memory usage > 80% (12.5GB+)
• ✋ Load average > 3.0 (sustained)
• ✋ VS Code processes > 4GB combined
• ✋ Workspace file count > 70,000
• ✋ Test artifacts > 50 files
• ✋ Disk usage > 85%

Automated Monitoring

Set up a daily cron job:

# Add to crontab
0 9 * * * /projects/Charon/.github/scripts/cleanup-artifacts.sh

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11. Conclusion

The VS Code performance issues are primarily caused by resource accumulation rather than resource exhaustion:

• Duplicate TypeScript servers consuming 742MB (critical)
• Stopped Vite process holding 11GB virtual memory (critical)
• 64,090+ files overwhelming file watchers (high impact)
• 110+ test artifacts causing slow indexing (high impact)
• 436MB of CodeQL databases unnecessarily watched (medium impact)

Note: Caddy (110MB) and Docker containers (~1.6GB) are expected services for the Charon project and not contributing to performance issues. Their resource usage is healthy and typical for a reverse proxy manager and application containers.

Quick Wins: Execute immediate actions (15 minutes) to achieve 15-40% performance improvement by eliminating duplicate processes and cleaning workspace clutter.

Sustainable Solution: Implement all short-term and long-term actions to achieve 150%+ overall performance improvement and prevent future degradation through proper configuration and automated cleanup.

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12. Action Checklist

Immediate (Today) ✅

• Kill zombie and stopped processes
• Clean up 110+ test artifacts from workspace root
• Remove 436MB of CodeQL databases
• Update .gitignore
• Restart TypeScript language server

Short-Term (This Week) 📋

• Configure test output directory
• Optimize VS Code workspace settings
• Clean VS Code server cache
• Configure file watcher exclusions

Long-Term (This Month) 🔧

• Enable 8GB swap space
• Implement automated cleanup script
• Consider workspace splitting
• Set up daily monitoring

Verify Improvements ✅

• Measure file indexing time (search for random symbol)
• Check VS Code memory usage: ps aux | grep vscode
• Verify file count: find /projects/Charon -type f | wc -l
• Test TypeScript autocomplete responsiveness

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Report Generated: January 12, 2026, 04:08 UTC Next Review: After implementing immediate actions (within 24 hours)