W3C Candidate Recommendation Draft
Copyright © 2024 World Wide Web Consortium. W3C® liability, trademark and permissive document license rules apply.
This specification extends the High Resolution Time specification [HR-TIME-3] by providing methods to store and retrieve high resolution performance metric data.
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.
This Performance Timeline specification replaces the first version of [PERFORMANCE-TIMELINE] and includes:
Performance
interface defined by
[HR-TIME-3];
PerformanceEntry
in Web Workers [WORKERS];
PerformanceObserver
.
This document was published by the Web Performance Working Group as a Candidate Recommendation Draft using the Recommendation track.
Publication as a Candidate Recommendation does not imply endorsement by W3C and its Members. A Candidate Recommendation Draft integrates changes from the previous Candidate Recommendation that the Working Group intends to include in a subsequent Candidate Recommendation Snapshot.
This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.
This document was produced by a group operating under the W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.
This document is governed by the 03 November 2023 W3C Process Document.
This section is non-normative.
Accurately measuring performance characteristics of web applications is an important aspect of making web applications faster. This specification defines the necessary Performance Timeline primitives that enable web developers to access, instrument, and retrieve various performance metrics from the full lifecycle of a web application.
[NAVIGATION-TIMING-2], [RESOURCE-TIMING-2], and [USER-TIMING-2] are examples of specifications that define timing information related to the navigation of the document, resources on the page, and developer scripts, respectively. Together these and other performance interfaces define performance metrics that describe the Performance Timeline of a web application. For example, the following script shows how a developer can access the Performance Timeline to obtain performance metrics related to the navigation of the document, resources on the page, and developer scripts:
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head></head>
<body onload="init()">
<img id="image0" src="https://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_main.png" />
<script>
function init() {
// see [[USER-TIMING-2]]
performance.mark("startWork");
doWork(); // Some developer code
performance.mark("endWork");
measurePerf();
}
function measurePerf() {
performance
.getEntries()
.map(entry => JSON.stringify(entry, null, 2))
.forEach(json => console.log(json));
}
</script>
</body>
</html>
Alternatively, the developer can observe the Performance Timeline
and be notified of new performance metrics and, optionally, previously
buffered performance metrics of specified type, via the
PerformanceObserver
interface.
The PerformanceObserver
interface was added
and is designed to address limitations of the buffer-based
approach shown in the first example. By using the PerformanceObserver
interface, the application can:
The developer is encouraged to use PerformanceObserver
where
possible. Further, new performance API's and metrics may only be available
through the PerformanceObserver
interface. The observer works by
specifying a callback in the constructor and specifying the performance
entries it's interested in via the observe()
method. The user agent chooses when to
execute the callback, which receives performance entries that have been
queued.
There are special considerations regarding initial page load when using
the PerformanceObserver
interface: a registration must be active to
receive events but the registration script may not be available or may not
be desired in the critical path. To address this, user agents buffer some
number of events while the page is being constructed, and these buffered
events can be accessed via the buffered
flag when registering the observer.
When this flag is set, the user agent retrieves and dispatches events that
it has buffered, for the specified entry type, and delivers them in the
first callback after the observe()
call occurs.
The number of buffered events is determined by the specification that defines the metric and buffering is intended to used for first-N events only; buffering is not unbounded or continuous.
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head></head>
<body>
<img id="image0" src="https://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_main.png" />
<script>
// Know when the entry types we would like to use are not supported.
function detectSupport(entryTypes) {
for (const entryType of entryTypes) {
if (!PerformanceObserver.supportedEntryTypes.includes(entryType)) {
// Indicate to client-side analytics that |entryType| is not supported.
}
}
}
detectSupport(["resource", "mark", "measure"]);
const userTimingObserver = new PerformanceObserver(list => {
list
.getEntries()
// Get the values we are interested in
.map(({ name, entryType, startTime, duration }) => {
const obj = {
"Duration": duration,
"Entry Type": entryType,
"Name": name,
"Start Time": startTime,
};
return JSON.stringify(obj, null, 2);
})
// Display them to the console.
.forEach(console.log);
// Disconnect after processing the events.
userTimingObserver.disconnect();
});
// Subscribe to new events for User-Timing.
userTimingObserver.observe({entryTypes: ["mark", "measure"]});
const resourceObserver = new PerformanceObserver(list => {
list
.getEntries()
// Get the values we are interested in
.map(({ name, startTime, fetchStart, responseStart, responseEnd }) => {
const obj = {
"Name": name,
"Start Time": startTime,
"Fetch Start": fetchStart,
"Response Start": responseStart,
"Response End": responseEnd,
};
return JSON.stringify(obj, null, 2);
})
// Display them to the console.
.forEach(console.log);
// Disconnect after processing the events.
resourceObserver.disconnect();
});
// Retrieve buffered events and subscribe to newer events for Resource Timing.
resourceObserver.observe({type: "resource", buffered: true});
</script>
</body>
</html>
As well as sections marked as non-normative, all authoring guidelines, diagrams, examples, and notes in this specification are non-normative. Everything else in this specification is normative.
The key words MUST, MUST NOT, and SHOULD in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
Conformance requirements phrased as algorithms or specific steps may be implemented in any manner, so long as the end result is equivalent. (In particular, the algorithms defined in this specification are intended to be easy to follow, and not intended to be performant).
Each global object has:
DOMString
, representing
the entry type to which the buffer belongs. The map's value is the
following tuple:
PerformanceEntry
objects, that is initially empty.
boolean
availableFromTimeline,
initialized to the registry
value for this entry type.
Each Document has:
PerformanceEntry
,
initially unset.
In order to get the relevant performance entry tuple, given entryType and globalObject as input, run the following steps:
Performance
interfaceThis extends the Performance
interface from [HR-TIME-3] and
hosts performance related attributes and methods used to retrieve the
performance metric data from the Performance Timeline.
WebIDLpartial interface Performance {
PerformanceEntryList
getEntries
();
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByType
(DOMString type);
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByName
(DOMString name, optional DOMString type);
};
typedef sequence<PerformanceEntry
> PerformanceEntryList
;
The PerformanceEntryList
represents a sequence of
PerformanceEntry
, providing developers with all the convenience
methods found on JavaScript arrays.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by the
filter buffer map by name and type algorithm with
name and type set to null
.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by filter
buffer map by name and type algorithm with name set to
null
, and type set to the method's input
type
parameter.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by filter
buffer map by name and type algorithm with name set to
the method input name
parameter, and type set
to null
if optional entryType
is omitted, or set to the
method's input type
parameter otherwise.
The PerformanceEntry
interface hosts the performance data of
various metrics.
WebIDL[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceEntry
{
readonly attribute unsigned long long id
;
readonly attribute DOMString name
;
readonly attribute DOMString entryType
;
readonly attribute DOMHighResTimeStamp startTime
;
readonly attribute DOMHighResTimeStamp duration
;
[Default] object toJSON
();
};
name
PerformanceEntry
object. This identifier does not have to be unique.
entryType
All entryType
values are defined in the
relevantregistry.
Examples include: "mark"
and "measure"
[USER-TIMING-2], "navigation"
[NAVIGATION-TIMING-2],
and "resource"
[RESOURCE-TIMING-2].
startTime
duration
duration
attribute are to return 0 if this's end time
is 0; otherwise this's end time - this's startTime
.
navigationId
When toJSON
is called, run [WebIDL]'s default toJSON
steps.
A PerformanceEntry
has a DOMHighResTimeStamp
end time,
initially 0.
To initialize a PerformanceEntry
entry given a DOMHighResTimeStamp
startTime,
a DOMString
entryType, a DOMString
name, and an optional DOMHighResTimeStamp
endTime (default 0
):
startTime
to startTime.
entryType
to entryType.
name
to name.
The PerformanceObserver
interface can be used to observe the
Performance Timeline to be notified of new performance metrics as
they are recorded, and optionally buffered performance metrics.
Each PerformanceObserver
has these associated concepts:
PerformanceObserverCallback
observer callback set on creation.
PerformanceEntryList
object called the observer
buffer that is initially empty.
DOMString
observer type which is initially
"undefined"
.The PerformanceObserver(callback)
constructor must create a new
PerformanceObserver
object with its observer callback
set to callback and then return it.
A registered performance observer is a struct
consisting of an observer member (a PerformanceObserver
object) and an options list member (a list of
PerformanceObserverInit
dictionaries).
WebIDLcallback PerformanceObserverCallback
= undefined (PerformanceObserverEntryList
entries,
PerformanceObserver
observer,
optional PerformanceObserverCallbackOptions
options = {});
[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceObserver
{
constructor
(PerformanceObserverCallback
callback);
undefined observe
(optional PerformanceObserverInit
options = {});
undefined disconnect
();
PerformanceEntryList
takeRecords
();
[SameObject] static readonly attribute FrozenArray<DOMString> supportedEntryTypes
;
};
To keep the performance overhead to minimum the application ought to only subscribe to event types that it is interested in, and disconnect the observer once it no longer needs to observe the performance data. Filtering by name is not supported, as it would implicitly require a subscription for all event types — this is possible, but discouraged, as it will generate a significant volume of events.
WebIDLdictionary PerformanceObserverCallbackOptions
{
unsigned long long droppedEntriesCount
;
};
droppedEntriesCount
PerformanceObserver
's requires dropped entries
is set.The observe()
method instructs the user agent to register
the observer and must run these steps:
entryTypes
and type
members
are both omitted, then throw a "TypeError
".
entryTypes
is present and any other
member is also present, then throw a "TypeError
".
"undefined"
:
entryTypes
member is
present, then set this's observer type to
"multiple"
.
type
member is present, then
set this's observer type to
"single"
.
"single"
and options's entryTypes
member is present, then throw an
"InvalidModificationError
".
"multiple"
and options's type
member
is present, then throw an
"InvalidModificationError
".
"multiple"
, run the following steps:
entryTypes
sequence.
"single"
.
type
is not contained in the
relevantGlobal's frozen array of supported entry
types, abort these steps. The user agent SHOULD notify
developers when this happens, for instance via a console warning.
PerformanceObserverInit
item currentOptions
whose type
is equal to options's type
,
replace currentOptions with options in
obs's options list.
buffered
flag is set:
type
and
relevantGlobal.
For each entry in tuple's performance entry buffer:
A PerformanceObserver
object needs to always call
observe()
with options's entryTypes
set OR always call
observe()
with options's type
set. If one PerformanceObserver
calls observe()
with entryTypes
and also calls observe with
type
, then an exception is
thrown. This is meant to avoid confusion with how calls would stack. When
using entryTypes
, no other
parameters in PerformanceObserverInit
can be used. In addition,
multiple observe()
calls will override for backwards compatibility
and because a single call should suffice in this case. On the other hand,
when using type
, calls
will stack because a single call can only specify one type. Calling
observe()
with a repeated type
will also override.
WebIDLdictionary PerformanceObserverInit
{
sequence<DOMString> entryTypes
;
DOMString type
;
boolean buffered
;
};
entryTypes
type
buffered
WebIDL[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceObserverEntryList
{
PerformanceEntryList
getEntries
();
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByType
(DOMString type);
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByName
(DOMString name, optional DOMString type);
};
Each PerformanceObserverEntryList
object has an associated
entry list, which consists of a PerformanceEntryList
and is
initialized upon construction.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by filter
buffer by name and type algorithm with this's entry list,
name and type set to null
.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by filter
buffer by name and type algorithm with this's entry list,
name set to null
, and type set to the
method's input type
parameter.
Returns a PerformanceEntryList
object returned by filter
buffer by name and type algorithm with this's entry list,
name set to the method input name
parameter, and
type set to null
if optional entryType
is omitted,
or set to the method's input type
parameter otherwise.
The takeRecords()
method must return a copy of this's
observer buffer, and also empty this's observer
buffer.
The disconnect()
method must do the following:
supportedEntryTypes
attributeEach global object has an associated frozen array of supported entry types, which is initialized to the FrozenArray created from the sequence of strings among the registry that are supported for the global object, in alphabetical order.
When supportedEntryTypes
's attribute getter is called, run
the following steps:
This attribute allows web developers to easily know which entry types are supported by the user agent.
To queue a PerformanceEntry (newEntry), run these steps:
id
is unset:
id
to id.PerformanceObserver
objects.
entryType
value.
navigationId
to the value of
relevantGlobal's associated document's most recent navigation's id
.navigationId
to null.If regObs's options list contains a
PerformanceObserverInit
options whose entryTypes
member includes
entryType or whose type
member equals to
entryType:
When asked to queue the PerformanceObserver task, given relevantGlobal as input, run the following steps:
PerformanceObserverEntryList
, with its entry list set
to entries.
PerformanceObserverInit
item in
registeredObserver's options list:
type
or in item's
entryTypes
:
PerformanceObserverCallbackOptions
with its droppedEntriesCount
set to droppedEntriesCount if droppedEntriesCount is not null,
otherwise unset.The performance timeline task queue is a low priority queue that, if possible, should be processed by the user agent during idle periods to minimize impact of performance monitoring code.
When asked to run the filter buffer map by name and type algorithm with optional name and type, run the following steps:
startTime
When asked to run the filter buffer by name and type algorithm, with buffer, name, and type as inputs, run the following steps:
PerformanceEntry
entry in
buffer, run the following steps:
entryType
attribute, continue to next entry.
name
attribute, continue to next entry.
startTime
To determine if a performance entry buffer is full, with tuple as input, run the following steps:
When asked to generate an id for a
PerformanceEntry
entry, run the following steps:
A user agent may choose to increase the last performance entry idit by a small random integer every time. A user agent must not pick a single global random integer and increase the last performance entry id of all global objects by that amount because this could introduce cross origin leaks.
The last performance entry id has an initial random value, and is increased by a small number chosen by the user agent instead of 1 to discourage developers from considering it as a counter of the number of entries that have been generated in the web application.
This specification extends the Performance
interface defined by [HR-TIME-3] and
provides methods to queue and retrieve entries from the performance timeline. Please
refer to [HR-TIME-3] for privacy considerations of exposing high-resoluting timing
information. Each new specification introducing new performance entries should have its own
privacy considerations as well.
The last performance entry id is deliberately initialized to a
random value, and is incremented by another small value every time a new
PerformanceEntry
is queued. User agents may choose to use a consistent
increment for all users, or may pick a different increment for each
global object, or may choose a new random increment for each
PerformanceEntry
. However, in order to prevent cross-origin leaks, and
ensure that this does not enable fingerprinting, user agents must not just
pick a unique random integer, and use it as a consistent increment for all
PerformanceEntry
objects across all global objects.
This specification extends the Performance
interface defined by [HR-TIME-3] and
provides methods to queue and retrieve entries from the performance timeline. Please
refer to [HR-TIME-3] for security considerations of exposing high-resoluting timing
information. Each new specification introducing new performance entries should have its own
security considerations as well.
The [INFRA] specification defines the following: key, getting the value of an entry.
WebIDLpartial interface Performance {
PerformanceEntryList
getEntries
();
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByType
(DOMString type);
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByName
(DOMString name, optional DOMString type);
};
typedef sequence<PerformanceEntry
> PerformanceEntryList
;
[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceEntry
{
readonly attribute unsigned long long id
;
readonly attribute DOMString name
;
readonly attribute DOMString entryType
;
readonly attribute DOMHighResTimeStamp startTime
;
readonly attribute DOMHighResTimeStamp duration
;
readonly attribute unsigned long long navigationId
;
[Default] object toJSON
();
};
callback PerformanceObserverCallback
= undefined (PerformanceObserverEntryList
entries,
PerformanceObserver
observer,
optional PerformanceObserverCallbackOptions
options = {});
[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceObserver
{
constructor
(PerformanceObserverCallback
callback);
undefined observe
(optional PerformanceObserverInit
options = {});
undefined disconnect
();
PerformanceEntryList
takeRecords
();
[SameObject] static readonly attribute FrozenArray<DOMString> supportedEntryTypes
;
};
dictionary PerformanceObserverCallbackOptions
{
unsigned long long droppedEntriesCount
;
};
dictionary PerformanceObserverInit
{
sequence<DOMString> entryTypes
;
DOMString type
;
boolean buffered
;
};
[Exposed=(Window,Worker)]
interface PerformanceObserverEntryList
{
PerformanceEntryList
getEntries
();
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByType
(DOMString type);
PerformanceEntryList
getEntriesByName
(DOMString name, optional DOMString type);
};
Thanks to Arvind Jain, Boris Zbarsky, Jatinder Mann, Nat Duca, Philippe Le Hegaret, Ryosuke Niwa, Shubhie Panicker, Todd Reifsteck, Yoav Weiss, and Zhiheng Wang, for their contributions to this work.
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