Advanced Guide to Programmatic Trace Generation

This page serves as an advanced reference for programmatically creating Perfetto trace files. It builds upon the foundational concepts and examples presented in "Converting arbitrary timestamped data to Perfetto".

We assume you are familiar with:

This guide will currently focus on advanced TrackEvent features, such as:

While TrackEvent is a primary method for representing timeline data, TracePacket is a versatile container. In the future, this guide may expand to cover other TracePacket payloads useful for synthetic trace generation.

The examples will continue to use Python, but the principles apply to any language with Protocol Buffer support. For complete definitions of all available fields, always refer to the official Perfetto protobuf sources, particularly TracePacket and its various sub-messages, including TrackEvent.

Associating Tracks with Operating System Concepts

While the "Converting arbitrary timestamped data to Perfetto" guide demonstrated creating generic custom tracks, you can provide more specific context to Perfetto by associating your tracks with operating system (OS) processes and threads. This allows Perfetto's UI and analysis tools to offer richer integration and better correlation with other system-wide data.

Associating Tracks with Processes

You can create a top-level track that represents an OS process. Any other custom tracks (which might contain slices or counters) can then be parented to this process track. This helps in:

To define a process track, you populate the process field within its TrackDescriptor. At a minimum, you should provide a pid and ideally a process_name.

Python Example

Let's say you want to emit a custom counter (e.g. "Active DB Connections") and have it appear under a specific process named "MyDatabaseService" with PID 1234.

Copy the following Python code into the populate_packets(builder) function in your trace_converter_template.py script.

Click to expand/collapse Python code TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID = 8008 # --- Define OS Process --- PROCESS_ID = 1234 PROCESS_NAME = "MyDatabaseService" # Define a UUID for the process track process_track_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) # 1. Define the Process Track # This packet establishes "MyDatabaseService (1234)" in the trace. packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = process_track_uuid desc.process.pid = PROCESS_ID desc.process.process_name = PROCESS_NAME # This track itself usually doesn't have events, it serves as a parent. # --- Define a Custom Counter Track parented to the Process --- db_connections_counter_track_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = db_connections_counter_track_uuid desc.parent_uuid = process_track_uuid # Link to the process track desc.name = "Active DB Connections" # Mark this track as a counter track desc.counter.unit_name = "connections" # Optional: specify units # Helper to add a counter event def add_counter_event(ts, value, counter_track_uuid): packet = builder.add_packet() packet.timestamp = ts packet.track_event.type = TrackEvent.TYPE_COUNTER packet.track_event.track_uuid = counter_track_uuid packet.track_event.counter_value = float(value) packet.trusted_packet_sequence_id = TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID # 3. Emit counter values on the custom counter track add_counter_event(ts=10000, value=5, counter_track_uuid=db_connections_counter_track_uuid) add_counter_event(ts=10100, value=7, counter_track_uuid=db_connections_counter_track_uuid) add_counter_event(ts=10200, value=6, counter_track_uuid=db_connections_counter_track_uuid)

TODO: this looks like so.

Once you have defined a process track, you can parent various other kinds of tracks to it. This includes tracks for specific threads within that process (see next section), as well as custom tracks for process-wide counters (as shown above) or groups of asynchronous operations related to this process (using the techniques for asynchronous slices described in the "Converting arbitrary timestamped data to Perfetto" guide).

Associating Tracks with Threads

You can create tracks that are explicitly associated with specific threads within an OS process. This is the most common way to represent thread-specific activity, such as function call stacks or thread-local counters.

Benefits:

To define a thread track:

  1. Create a TrackDescriptor for the thread.
  2. Populate its thread field, providing the pid of the process this thread belongs to and the unique tid of the thread. You should also set thread_name.
  3. Optionally and encouraged, you can also define a separate TrackDescriptor for the parent process itself (using its process field and pid), though it's not strictly required for the thread track to be recognized as a thread of that PID. The UI often infers process groupings from PIDs present in thread tracks.

Python Example: Thread-Specific Slices

This example defines a thread "MainWorkLoop" (TID 5678) belonging to process "MyApplication" (PID 1234). It then emits a couple of slices directly onto this thread's track. We also define a track for the process itself for clarity, though the thread track's association is primarily through its pid and tid fields.

Copy the following Python code into the populate_packets(builder) function in your trace_converter_template.py script.

Click to expand/collapse Python code TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID = 8009 # --- Define OS Process and Thread IDs and Names --- APP_PROCESS_ID = 1234 APP_PROCESS_NAME = "MyApplication" MAIN_THREAD_ID = 5678 MAIN_THREAD_NAME = "MainWorkLoop" # --- Define UUIDs for the tracks --- # While not strictly necessary to parent a thread track to a process track # for the UI to group them by PID, defining a process track can be good practice # if you want to name the process explicitly or attach process-scoped tracks later. app_process_track_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) main_thread_track_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) # 1. Define the Process Track (Optional, but good for naming the process) packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = app_process_track_uuid desc.process.pid = APP_PROCESS_ID desc.process.process_name = APP_PROCESS_NAME # 2. Define the Thread Track # The .thread.pid field associates it with the process. # No parent_uuid is set here; UI will group by PID. packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = main_thread_track_uuid # desc.parent_uuid = app_process_track_uuid # This line is NOT used desc.thread.pid = APP_PROCESS_ID desc.thread.tid = MAIN_THREAD_ID desc.thread.thread_name = MAIN_THREAD_NAME # Helper to add a slice event to a specific track def add_slice_event(ts, event_type, event_track_uuid, name=None): packet = builder.add_packet() packet.timestamp = ts packet.track_event.type = event_type packet.track_event.track_uuid = event_track_uuid if name: packet.track_event.name = name packet.trusted_packet_sequence_id = TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID # 3. Emit slices on the main_thread_track_uuid add_slice_event(ts=15000, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_BEGIN, event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid, name="ProcessInputEvent") # Nested slice add_slice_event(ts=15050, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_BEGIN, event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid, name="UpdateState") add_slice_event(ts=15150, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END, # Ends UpdateState event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid) add_slice_event(ts=15200, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END, # Ends ProcessInputEvent event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid) add_slice_event(ts=16000, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_BEGIN, event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid, name="RenderFrame") add_slice_event(ts=16500, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END, event_track_uuid=main_thread_track_uuid)

TODO: this looks like so.

Advanced Track Customization

Beyond associating tracks with OS concepts, Perfetto offers ways to fine-tune how your tracks are presented and how data is encoded.

Controlling Track Sorting Order

By default, the Perfetto UI applies its own heuristics to sort tracks (e.g., alphabetically by name, or by track UUID). However, for complex custom traces, you might want to explicitly define the order in which sibling tracks appear under a parent. This is achieved using the child_ordering field on the parent TrackDescriptor and, for EXPLICIT ordering, the sibling_order_rank on the child TrackDescriptors.

This child_ordering setting on a parent track only affects its direct children.

Available child_ordering modes (defined in TrackDescriptor.ChildTracksOrdering):

Note: The UI treats these as strong hints. While it generally respects these orderings, there are contexts in which the UI reserves the right not to show them in this order; generally this would be if the user explicitly requested this or if the UI has some special handling for these tracks.

Python Example: Demonstrating All Sorting Types

This example defines three parent tracks, each demonstrating a different child_ordering mode.

Copy the following Python code into the populate_packets(builder) function in your trace_converter_template.py script.

Click to expand/collapse Python code TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID = 9000 # Helper to define a TrackDescriptor def define_custom_track(track_uuid, name, parent_track_uuid=None, child_ordering_mode=None, order_rank=None): packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = track_uuid desc.name = name if parent_track_uuid: desc.parent_uuid = parent_track_uuid if child_ordering_mode: desc.child_ordering = child_ordering_mode if order_rank is not None: desc.sibling_order_rank = order_rank # Helper to add a simple instant event def add_instant_event(ts, track_uuid, event_name): packet = builder.add_packet() packet.timestamp = ts packet.track_event.type = TrackEvent.TYPE_INSTANT packet.track_event.track_uuid = track_uuid packet.track_event.name = event_name packet.trusted_packet_sequence_id = TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID # --- 1. Lexicographical Sorting Example --- parent_lex_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(parent_lex_uuid, "Lexicographic Parent", child_ordering_mode=TrackDescriptor.ChildTracksOrdering.LEXICOGRAPHIC) child_c_lex_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_a_lex_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_b_lex_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(child_c_lex_uuid, "C-Item (Lex)", parent_track_uuid=parent_lex_uuid) define_custom_track(child_a_lex_uuid, "A-Item (Lex)", parent_track_uuid=parent_lex_uuid) define_custom_track(child_b_lex_uuid, "B-Item (Lex)", parent_track_uuid=parent_lex_uuid) add_instant_event(ts=100, track_uuid=child_c_lex_uuid, event_name="Event C") add_instant_event(ts=100, track_uuid=child_a_lex_uuid, event_name="Event A") add_instant_event(ts=100, track_uuid=child_b_lex_uuid, event_name="Event B") # Expected UI order under "Lexicographic Parent": A-Item, B-Item, C-Item # --- 2. Chronological Sorting Example --- parent_chrono_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(parent_chrono_uuid, "Chronological Parent", child_ordering_mode=TrackDescriptor.ChildTracksOrdering.CHRONOLOGICAL) child_late_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_early_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_middle_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(child_late_uuid, "Late Event Track", parent_track_uuid=parent_chrono_uuid) define_custom_track(child_early_uuid, "Early Event Track", parent_track_uuid=parent_chrono_uuid) define_custom_track(child_middle_uuid, "Middle Event Track", parent_track_uuid=parent_chrono_uuid) add_instant_event(ts=2000, track_uuid=child_late_uuid, event_name="Late Event") add_instant_event(ts=1000, track_uuid=child_early_uuid, event_name="Early Event") add_instant_event(ts=1500, track_uuid=child_middle_uuid, event_name="Middle Event") # Expected UI order under "Chronological Parent": Early, Middle, Late Event Track # --- 3. Explicit Sorting Example --- parent_explicit_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(parent_explicit_uuid, "Explicit Parent", child_ordering_mode=TrackDescriptor.ChildTracksOrdering.EXPLICIT) child_rank10_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_rank_neg5_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) child_rank0_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) define_custom_track(child_rank10_uuid, "Explicit Rank 10", parent_track_uuid=parent_explicit_uuid, order_rank=10) define_custom_track(child_rank_neg5_uuid, "Explicit Rank -5", parent_track_uuid=parent_explicit_uuid, order_rank=-5) define_custom_track(child_rank0_uuid, "Explicit Rank 0", parent_track_uuid=parent_explicit_uuid, order_rank=0) add_instant_event(ts=3000, track_uuid=child_rank10_uuid, event_name="Event Rank 10") add_instant_event(ts=3000, track_uuid=child_rank_neg5_uuid, event_name="Event Rank -5") add_instant_event(ts=3000, track_uuid=child_rank0_uuid, event_name="Event Rank 0") # Expected UI order under "Explicit Parent": Rank -5, Rank 0, Rank 10

TODO: this looks like so.

Interning Data for Trace Size Optimization

Interning is a technique used to reduce the size of trace files by emitting frequently repeated strings (like event names or categories) only once in the trace. Subsequent references to these strings use a compact integer identifier (an "interning ID" or iid). This is particularly useful when you have many events that share the same name or other string-based attributes.

How it works:

  1. Define Interned Data: In a TracePacket, you include an interned_data message. Inside this, you map your strings to iids. For example, you can define event_names where each entry has an iid (a non-zero integer you choose) and a name string. This packet establishes the mapping.

  2. Reference by IID: In subsequent TrackEvents (within the same trusted_packet_sequence_id and before the interned state is cleared), instead of setting the name field directly, you set the corresponding name_iid field to the integer iid you defined.

  3. Sequence Flags: The TracePacket.sequence_flags field is crucial:

    • SEQ_INCREMENTAL_STATE_CLEARED (value 1): Set this on a packet if the interning dictionary (and other incremental state) for this sequence should be considered reset before processing this packet's interned_data. This is often used on the first packet of a sequence that defines interned entries.
    • SEQ_NEEDS_INCREMENTAL_STATE (value 2): Set this on any packet that either defines new interned data entries OR uses iids that were defined in previous packets (within the current valid state of the sequence).

    A typical packet that initializes the interning dictionary for a sequence will set both flags: TracePacket.SEQ_INCREMENTAL_STATE_CLEARED | TracePacket.SEQ_NEEDS_INCREMENTAL_STATE. Packets that use these established interned entries (or add more entries to the existing valid dictionary) will set TracePacket.SEQ_NEEDS_INCREMENTAL_STATE.

Python Example: Interning Event Names

This example shows how to define an interned string for an event name and then use it multiple times.

Copy the following Python code into the populate_packets(builder) function in your trace_converter_template.py script.

Click to expand/collapse Python code TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID = 9002 # --- Define Track UUID --- interning_track_uuid = uuid.uuid4().int & ((1 << 63) - 1) # Helper to define a TrackDescriptor def define_custom_track(track_uuid, name): packet = builder.add_packet() desc = packet.track_descriptor desc.uuid = track_uuid desc.name = name # 1. Define the track define_custom_track(interning_track_uuid, "Interning Demo Track") # --- Define Interned Event Name --- INTERNED_EVENT_NAME_IID = 1 # Choose a unique iid (non-zero) VERY_LONG_EVENT_NAME = "MyFrequentlyRepeatedLongEventNameThatTakesUpSpace" # Helper to add a TrackEvent packet, managing interning and sequence flags def add_slice_with_interning(ts, event_type, name_iid=None, name_literal=None, define_new_internment=False, new_intern_iid=None, new_intern_name=None): packet = builder.add_packet() packet.timestamp = ts tev = packet.track_event tev.type = event_type tev.track_uuid = interning_track_uuid if name_iid: tev.name_iid = name_iid elif name_literal and event_type != TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END: tev.name = name_literal if define_new_internment: # This packet defines new interned data. # We'll also clear any prior state for this sequence. if new_intern_iid and new_intern_name: entry = packet.interned_data.event_names.add() entry.iid = new_intern_iid entry.name = new_intern_name packet.sequence_flags = TracePacket.SEQ_INCREMENTAL_STATE_CLEARED | TracePacket.SEQ_NEEDS_INCREMENTAL_STATE else: # This packet uses existing interned data (or has no interned fields) # but is part of a sequence that relies on incremental state. packet.sequence_flags = TracePacket.SEQ_NEEDS_INCREMENTAL_STATE packet.trusted_packet_sequence_id = TRUSTED_PACKET_SEQUENCE_ID return packet # --- Packet 1: Define the interned name and start a slice using it --- add_slice_with_interning( ts=1000, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_BEGIN, name_iid=INTERNED_EVENT_NAME_IID, define_new_internment=True, # This packet defines/resets internment new_intern_iid=INTERNED_EVENT_NAME_IID, new_intern_name=VERY_LONG_EVENT_NAME ) # End the first slice add_slice_with_interning( ts=1100, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END # No name_iid needed for END, uses existing interned state context ) # --- Packet 2: Use the Interned Event Name Again --- add_slice_with_interning( ts=1200, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_BEGIN, name_iid=INTERNED_EVENT_NAME_IID # Re-use the iid # define_new_internment is False by default, so this uses existing state ) # End the second slice add_slice_with_interning( ts=1300, event_type=TrackEvent.TYPE_SLICE_END )

TODO: this looks like so.