How to profile with the PHP Xdebug Profiler

The profiler in Xdebug outputs profiling information in the form of a cachegrind compatible file.

Install xdebug and set the profiler php.ini configuration file

Open your browser devtool on the network tab. It allows to get back later the name of the file where the profiling data are saved.

Start the debugger with profiler enable. Starting The Debugger

With a How to install Php Xdebug ?, enable profiling

Execute the HTTP request with your browser by:

• navigating
• or refreshing your page (f5)

On the devtool, in the response header, you should see the x-xdebug-profile-filename'header.

This header holds the location of the profiling file, copy it.

• KCacheGrind,
• WinCacheGrind
• Webgrind
• or your IDE: intellij

The format cachegrind can be read by kcachegrind :

• Linux: The KCacheGrind
• Windows: QCacheGrind (QCacheGrind is KCacheGrind without KDE bindings)

• Intellij ¹⁾ > Tools | Analyze Xdebug Profiler Snapshot.

and you will see: