iOS Memgraph Analysis

Use memory graphs to prove why memory survives a defined lifetime boundary. Separate unreachable leaks from reachable growth, preserve raw tool output, and verify the same app-owned type and ownership path after a fix.

Contents

• Boundary
• Evidence Model
• Workflow
• Ownership Decisions
• Common Mistakes
• Review Checklist
• References

Boundary

This skill owns .memgraph capture and command-line ownership/growth analysis. Use the Memory Graph Debugger or Instruments when their interactive graph and allocation timeline are the primary task. Use source review for a suspected closure capture only after runtime evidence identifies the lifetime or path.

Evidence Model

Do not collapse these conditions:

• Unreachable leak: allocated memory no longer has a path from a live root. An isolated strong cycle can be unreachable and still consume memory.
• Reachable but abandoned state: a live root still retains objects the user flow no longer needs. leaks may correctly report zero.
• Expected cache or pool: memory survives intentionally and must be judged by its bound, eviction behavior, and pressure response.
• Heap regression or fragmentation: footprint grows because more/larger allocations persist or dirty pages are poorly utilized, without a leak.

Apple's leak scanner uses conservative pointer discovery and incomplete type metadata. Counts can fluctuate, and a zero result does not prove the absence of an ownership bug. Strong evidence identifies the expected lifetime, an app-owned type or allocation, and a credible path or isolated reproduction.

Workflow

1. Define the lifetime before capturing

Name the object that should disappear and the event that ends its useful life. For example: EditorViewModel should deinitialize after dismissing the editor and completing pending save work.

Record one deterministic sequence:

1. launch or restore a known state;
2. take an optional baseline graph;
3. perform the feature flow;
4. cross the expected release boundary;
5. wait for legitimate asynchronous cleanup;
6. take the post-flow graph.

Keep build, simulator/device, data, Malloc Stack Logging setting, and repetition count stable. Malloc Stack Logging adds valuable allocation backtraces but also overhead; compare only runs with the same setting.

2. Capture a graph without guessing the process

Xcode can export a graph from the Memory Graph Debugger. For a running Simulator app, use the helper from this skill:

mkdir -p /tmp/myapp-memory
mkdir /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01
python3 scripts/capture_sim_memgraph.py \
  --bundle-id com.example.MyApp \
  --output-dir /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01 \
  --pretty > /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01/capture.json

The per-run mkdir must fail if the capture directory already exists. Use a new run name rather than mixing stale evidence with a retry.

Pass --udid when more than one Simulator is booted. The helper accepts only one exact launchd label and PID; zero or multiple matches are errors. It runs the host leaks --outputGraph command, retains stdout/stderr, and writes a manifest. Do not replace this with pgrep | head -1 or a substring match.

Capturing suspends the process. Do not use capture latency as performance data.

3. Preserve raw output and build a bounded summary

MEMGRAPH=$(jq -er \
  'select(.status == "captured") | .memgraph | select(type == "string" and length > 0)' \
  /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01/capture.json)
test -s "$MEMGRAPH"
python3 scripts/summarize_memgraph.py \
  "$MEMGRAPH" \
  --artifact-dir /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01/analysis-raw \
  --app-image 'MyApp|MyFeatureKit' \
  --trace-limit 3 --group-by-type --pretty \
  > /tmp/myapp-memory/run-01/analysis.json

Read the exact graph path from the preserved capture report; do not guess a timestamped filename. The helper creates a dedicated raw-artifact directory, refuses to reuse it, runs leaks --list, and parses only a conservative subset of its text. --app-image marks candidate rows; it does not prove ownership. --trace-limit runs bounded leaks --traceTree=<address> queries. Add --reference-tree when aggregate root paths are more useful than individual leaked addresses. With --group-by-type, that reference-tree query is grouped in the same invocation. Exit statuses 0 and 1 from leaks remain analyzable; a primary status above 1 fails the summary, while optional-query failures are preserved and warned as unusable without discarding a valid primary summary.

Apple does not publish these text formats as stable machine schemas. Treat parse warnings as a reason to inspect the raw artifacts, not to loosen the parser until it emits a desired answer.

4. Find the first actionable app-owned edge

Start with an app-owned leaked type or allocation stack. Inspect:

• the leak's object graph and Malloc Stack Logging backtrace, when present;
• a bounded --traceTree=<address> for objects that reference one address;
• --groupByType to compress repeated types and reveal a retained payload;
• --referenceTree for a top-down view when the responsible address is unclear;
• source code for the first strong edge controlled by the app.

An unreachable self-cycle may have no live root in traceTree. Use the grouped leak graph plus source verification or reduce the behavior to an isolated reproduction. Never invent a root path that the graph does not contain.

5. Investigate growth when leaks is empty

Use matching baseline and post-flow graphs, locate the growing region, compare object types, then trace a suspicious address back to an app-owned edge. The evidence goal is persistent reachable growth across the same lifetime—not a lower RSS value or a single large snapshot. Load reachable-growth.md only for this empty-leak branch; it contains the ordered vmmap, heap, leaks, and malloc_history queries and their logging-dependent alternatives.

6. Fix and verify the same lifetime

Prefer the narrowest ownership correction: break the unintended strong edge, cancel work that owns the object, remove an observer, bound/evict a cache, or release a large buffer after its last use. Use weak when the reference may legitimately become nil; use unowned only with a proven lifetime guarantee.

Repeat the identical flow. A fix is supported when the same app-owned type/path disappears or the pre/post growth attributable to it is removed across repeated runs. Lower RSS, a smaller graph file, or a lower aggregate leak count alone is not proof.

Ownership Decisions

Evidence	Next action
App type in a root cycle	Inspect both strong edges and allocation stack.
No root for a leaked address	Inspect grouped cycle evidence and isolate the flow.
Live root retains dismissed feature state	Follow the path to the first app-owned edge.
Zero leaks but repeated malloc growth	Diff baseline/post heap objects.
Framework object dominates	Find the app-created owner, input, or call frequency.
Growth stabilizes at a documented bound	Test eviction/pressure behavior before changing it.

Common Mistakes

• Declaring the app leak-free because leaks returned zero once.
• Selecting the first PID or Simulator from an ambiguous list.
• Enabling Malloc Stack Logging in only one side of a comparison.
• Treating a parser's best-effort type column as an API guarantee.
• Pasting enormous reference trees into a report without finding an app edge.
• Fixing every closure with [weak self] without reasoning about lifetime.
• Claiming success from graph size, RSS, or total-count changes without proving the target lifetime and ownership path.

Review Checklist

• The object and expected release boundary are explicit.
• Baseline and post-flow graphs use the same build, runtime target, data state, deterministic flow, cleanup wait, repetitions, and Malloc Stack Logging setting.
• Simulator, bundle identifier, process label, and PID are unambiguous.
• Original graph and raw command outputs are preserved.
• Current installed-tool help confirms version-sensitive command shapes.
• Leak, reachable growth, expected cache, and fragmentation are separated.
• The finding names an app-owned type/allocation and credible path.
• Missing type metadata or conservative-scanner limits are disclosed.
• The fix changes one ownership/lifetime cause.
• Verification repeats the same flow and evidence query.

References

• Reachable growth when leaks is empty — matched-graph comparison and address-to-owner workflow
• Gathering information about memory use
• Detect and diagnose memory issues — WWDC21
• Analyze heap memory — WWDC24