performance-audit

name	performance-audit
description	Use when profiling application performance or diagnosing slow page loads. Covers full-stack bottleneck identification including Core Web Vitals, bundle analysis, database queries, and network waterfall. Do not use for cache architecture design (use caching-strategy) or capacity planning (use load-modeling).
metadata	{"author":"dtsong"}

Performance Audit

Purpose

Identify performance bottlenecks across the full stack — rendering, network, bundle, database, and infrastructure. Produces a profiled baseline, a prioritized bottleneck inventory, and an optimization roadmap with estimated impact for each recommendation.

Scope Constraints

• Reads: Lighthouse reports, Core Web Vitals field data, bundle analyzer output, slow query logs, network waterfall traces, application source code.
• Cannot: Design caching hierarchies or TTL policies (use caching-strategy). Cannot model future traffic growth or define scaling triggers (use load-modeling). Cannot provision or deploy infrastructure changes.

Inputs

• Application URL or local dev environment access
• Current performance complaints or targets (e.g., "page loads slowly", "LCP > 4s")
• Tech stack details (framework, database, hosting, CDN)
• Traffic profile (approximate users, peak times, geographic distribution)

Input Sanitization

No user-provided values are used in commands or file paths. All inputs are treated as read-only analysis targets.

Procedure

Progress Checklist

• Step 1: Profile current performance baseline
• Step 2: Identify render bottlenecks
• Step 3: Analyze bundle size and code splitting
• Step 4: Audit database queries
• Step 5: Evaluate network waterfall
• Step 6: Assess Core Web Vitals scores
• Step 7: Recommend prioritized optimizations

Step 1: Profile Current Performance Baseline

Run Lighthouse (or equivalent) on key pages. Record Core Web Vitals: LCP, CLS, INP, TTFB. Capture p50, p95, and p99 values where available. Document the baseline as the reference point for all improvements.

Step 2: Identify Render Bottlenecks

Analyze the critical rendering path:

• Largest Contentful Paint — what element is the LCP candidate? Is it blocked by fonts, images, or JS?
• Cumulative Layout Shift — which elements shift? Are dimensions reserved?
• Interaction to Next Paint — which event handlers are slow? Is there long-task blocking?
• Time to First Byte — is the server response slow, or is it DNS/TLS overhead?

Step 3: Analyze Bundle Size and Code Splitting

Inspect the JavaScript and CSS bundles:

• Total bundle size (compressed and uncompressed)
• Largest modules/chunks and their purpose
• Unused code ratio (tree shaking effectiveness)
• Code splitting boundaries — are routes lazy-loaded?
• Third-party script impact (analytics, chat widgets, ads)

Step 4: Audit Database Queries

Review server-side data access patterns:

• Identify N+1 query patterns
• Check for missing indexes on filtered/sorted columns
• Review slow query logs or EXPLAIN plans for high-frequency queries
• Evaluate connection pooling configuration
• Check for unnecessary data fetching (selecting columns not used)

Step 5: Evaluate Network Waterfall

Analyze the network request pattern:

• Total request count and payload size per page load
• Request sequencing — are there blocking chains?
• Compression (gzip/brotli) on text assets
• Image optimization (format, sizing, lazy loading)
• HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 multiplexing usage

Step 6: Assess Core Web Vitals Scores

Compile field data (CrUX) and lab data (Lighthouse) into a scorecard:

• Green/amber/red status for each vital
• Comparison against industry benchmarks
• Mobile vs desktop performance gap
• Geographic performance variance if applicable

Step 7: Recommend Prioritized Optimizations

Rank each finding by impact (estimated improvement) and effort (implementation cost):

• High impact / low effort — do immediately
• High impact / high effort — plan and schedule
• Low impact / low effort — batch together
• Low impact / high effort — skip or defer

Compaction resilience: If context was lost during a long session, re-read the Inputs section to reconstruct what system is being analyzed, check the Progress Checklist for completed steps, then resume from the earliest incomplete step.

Handoff

• If caching gaps are identified as a major bottleneck, hand off to tuner/caching-strategy for cache hierarchy design and TTL policy definition.
• If scaling or capacity concerns emerge from traffic analysis, hand off to tuner/load-modeling for capacity planning and scaling trigger definitions.

Output Format

# Performance Audit: [Application/Page Name]

## Baseline Scorecard

| Metric | Current | Target | Status |
|--------|---------|--------|--------|
| LCP    | ...     | ...    | ...    |
| CLS    | ...     | ...    | ...    |
| INP    | ...     | ...    | ...    |
| TTFB   | ...     | ...    | ...    |
| Bundle Size (gzip) | ... | ... | ... |
| Request Count | ... | ... | ... |

## Bottleneck Inventory

### Critical (High Impact)
1. **[Bottleneck name]** — [Description, current metric, estimated improvement]

### Moderate (Medium Impact)
1. **[Bottleneck name]** — [Description, current metric, estimated improvement]

### Minor (Low Impact)
1. **[Bottleneck name]** — [Description, current metric, estimated improvement]

## Optimization Roadmap

| Priority | Optimization | Expected Impact | Effort | Metric Affected |
|----------|-------------|-----------------|--------|-----------------|
| P0       | ...         | ...             | ...    | ...             |
| P1       | ...         | ...             | ...    | ...             |
| P2       | ...         | ...             | ...    | ...             |

## Database Query Findings

| Query/Pattern | Issue | Current Cost | Recommendation |
|--------------|-------|-------------|----------------|
| ...          | ...   | ...         | ...            |

## Bundle Analysis

| Chunk | Size (gzip) | Purpose | Optimization |
|-------|-------------|---------|-------------|
| ...   | ...         | ...     | ...         |

Quality Checks

• Baseline measurements are recorded with specific numbers, not vague descriptions
• Every bottleneck has a measured current value and an estimated improvement
• Optimizations are prioritized by impact-to-effort ratio
• Core Web Vitals are assessed for both mobile and desktop
• Database queries are reviewed with EXPLAIN plans or equivalent evidence
• Bundle analysis includes both first-party and third-party code
• Network waterfall identifies blocking request chains
• Recommendations include specific implementation steps, not just "optimize X"

Evolution Notes

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