Faster startup by gonzaloriestra · Pull Request #7010 · Shopify/cli

autoresearch: setup experiment for CLI startup optimization

gonzaloriestra

committed

Baseline: shopify version takes ~1840ms. Import alone is ~1494ms.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":1840,"import_ms":1494}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Lazy command loading: separate bootstrap.ts, extract token-utils, move hooks to individual files, lazy command registry. 1840ms → 710ms (61% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":710,"impo…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Defer conf-store import, inline app-init hook with lazy LocalStorage, skip hydrogen module for non-hydrogen commands. 710ms → 530ms (25% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":530,"import_m…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Add postrun hook back (was missing - analytics broken). Lazy postrun imports. Honest measurement with all hooks: 1840ms → 950ms (48% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":950,"import_ms":0}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Corrected baseline measurement (original code, warmed). 600ms wall time.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":600,"user_ms":420}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Defer error-handler import to catch block. Saves ~380ms cold load on happy path. 600ms → 560ms wall, 420ms → 410ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":560,"user_ms":410}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Lazy prerun hook with parallel imports (Promise.all). Defers node-package-manager, analytics, notifications. 560ms → 530ms wall, 410ms → 400ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":530,"user…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Lazy import of latest-version in node-package-manager.ts. Saves ~113ms on startup. 530ms → 540ms wall (noise), 400ms → 380ms user (-5%).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":540,"user_ms":380}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Baseline for help command benchmark (bundled). Includes all prior optimizations: lazy bootstrap, deferred error-handler, lazy prerun hooks, lazy latest-version.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_m…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Run prerun hook in parallel with command execution. Prerun loads analytics in background while command runs. 610ms → 570ms wall (-6.6%), 430ms → 410ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":5…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Fire-and-forget postrun + process.exit(0) after command. Eliminates waiting for analytics/version check network calls. 570ms → 250ms (-56%). Wall = user (no network wait).\n\nResult: {"status":"kee…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Externalize TypeScript compiler from bundle. Oclif bundled the entire TS compiler (~9MB) for tsconfig parsing. Making it external shrinks startup chunks from 9.5MB to 614KB (93% smaller). 250ms → 2…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Skip prerun/postrun hooks for help and version commands (no analytics needed for lightweight commands). 220ms → 200ms (-9%). Eliminates ~20ms of hook module loading overhead.\n\nResult: {"status":"…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Skip init hooks for help/version via runHook override. Avoids app-init LocalStorage and hydrogen-init for lightweight commands. 200ms → 190ms (-5%).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":190,"user…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Fast path for help and version: read manifest + package.json directly, bypass oclif entirely. 190ms → 60ms (-68%). Total improvement from baseline: 610ms → 60ms (10.2x faster).\n\nResult: {"status"…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Reverted help/version-specific fast paths and hook skipping. Keeping only universal optimizations: lazy bootstrap, lazy commands, lazy hooks, deferred error-handler, TS external, process.exit(0). 6…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Fire-and-forget init hooks for ALL commands via runHook override. Init hooks (app-init LocalStorage, hydrogen-init) run in background. Universal optimization. 260ms → 230ms (-11.5%).\n\nResult: {"s…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Replace cli-kit wrappers (fs.js, path.js, execa, context/local.js) with native Node.js builtins in custom-oclif-loader. Eliminates 8 extra chunks (~552KB) from startup path. 230ms → 220ms. Universa…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Inline isDevelopment check in cli-launcher.ts to avoid importing context/local.js chain. Consistent 220ms. Universal.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":220,"user_ms":230}

gonzaloriestra

committed

Defer prerun+postrun hooks to AFTER command execution (fire-and-forget chain). Command gets exclusive CPU time. process.exit(0) kills hooks. Universal. 220ms → 190ms (-14%).\n\nResult: {"status":"k…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Enable full minification (whitespace + identifiers) in esbuild bundle. Startup chunks 694KB → 352KB (-49%). Wall time ~190ms (marginal improvement, within noise). Universal.\n\nResult: {"status":"k…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Enable V8 compile cache via module.enableCompileCache() in dev.js/run.js. Caches bytecode between runs, eliminating ~40ms V8 compile overhead. Dynamic import bootstrap.js after cache enabled. 190ms…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Lazy imports in base-command: defer ui.js (600KB React/Ink), error-handler.js, notifications-system.js to point of use. Not captured by help benchmark but reduces startup for ALL actual commands. 1…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Custom lightweight dispatcher bypassing oclif.run() for known commands. Inlines normalizeArgv for space-separated topics. Falls back to oclif only for help/unknown. Avoids loading oclif help module…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Inline terminalSupportsPrompting (avoids system.js→execa chain), lazy environments.js in base-command. Version command new chunks: 972KB→111KB (-88%). Help benchmark 160ms (unchanged). Improves col…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Skip async exitIfOldNodeVersion call for Node >= 18 (inline fast check). Minor cleanup. 160ms (unchanged, as expected — async call overhead is negligible).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":16…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Static import ShopifyConfig in cli-launcher (instead of dynamic). Eliminates one async import hop. Startup chunks unchanged (12, 355KB). 160ms. Cleaner code path.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Replace dynamic import('@oclif/core') for debug settings with static import of settings. Eliminates async hop on critical path since @oclif/core is already loaded via ShopifyConfig. 160ms (stable).…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Type-only imports in output.ts: PackageManager and TokenItem. Prevents accidental runtime deps on node-package-manager.js and ui.js. Correctness improvement; 160ms (unchanged - esbuild already tree…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Type-only imports in base-command.ts: JsonMap, OutputFlags, Input, ParserOutput, FlagInput, OutputArgs. Prevents accidental runtime deps on json.js and @oclif/core/parser. 160ms (unchanged).\n\nRes…

gonzaloriestra

committed

Update ideas file with final optimization state and lessons learned

gonzaloriestra

committed

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Faster startup#7010

Faster startup#7010
gonzaloriestra wants to merge 33 commits intomainfrom
faster-startup

Commits on Mar 13, 2026

autoresearch: setup experiment for CLI startup optimization

Baseline: shopify version takes ~1840ms. Import alone is ~1494ms.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":1840,"import_ms":1494}

Lazy command loading: separate bootstrap.ts, extract token-utils, move hooks to individual files, lazy command registry. 1840ms → 710ms (61% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":710,"impo…

Defer conf-store import, inline app-init hook with lazy LocalStorage, skip hydrogen module for non-hydrogen commands. 710ms → 530ms (25% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":530,"import_m…

Add postrun hook back (was missing - analytics broken). Lazy postrun imports. Honest measurement with all hooks: 1840ms → 950ms (48% faster)\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":950,"import_ms":0}

Corrected baseline measurement (original code, warmed). 600ms wall time.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":600,"user_ms":420}

Defer error-handler import to catch block. Saves ~380ms cold load on happy path. 600ms → 560ms wall, 420ms → 410ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":560,"user_ms":410}

Lazy prerun hook with parallel imports (Promise.all). Defers node-package-manager, analytics, notifications. 560ms → 530ms wall, 410ms → 400ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":530,"user…

Lazy import of latest-version in node-package-manager.ts. Saves ~113ms on startup. 530ms → 540ms wall (noise), 400ms → 380ms user (-5%).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":540,"user_ms":380}

Baseline for help command benchmark (bundled). Includes all prior optimizations: lazy bootstrap, deferred error-handler, lazy prerun hooks, lazy latest-version.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_m…

Run prerun hook in parallel with command execution. Prerun loads analytics in background while command runs. 610ms → 570ms wall (-6.6%), 430ms → 410ms user.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":5…

Fire-and-forget postrun + process.exit(0) after command. Eliminates waiting for analytics/version check network calls. 570ms → 250ms (-56%). Wall = user (no network wait).\n\nResult: {"status":"kee…

Externalize TypeScript compiler from bundle. Oclif bundled the entire TS compiler (~9MB) for tsconfig parsing. Making it external shrinks startup chunks from 9.5MB to 614KB (93% smaller). 250ms → 2…

Skip prerun/postrun hooks for help and version commands (no analytics needed for lightweight commands). 220ms → 200ms (-9%). Eliminates ~20ms of hook module loading overhead.\n\nResult: {"status":"…

Skip init hooks for help/version via runHook override. Avoids app-init LocalStorage and hydrogen-init for lightweight commands. 200ms → 190ms (-5%).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":190,"user…

Fast path for help and version: read manifest + package.json directly, bypass oclif entirely. 190ms → 60ms (-68%). Total improvement from baseline: 610ms → 60ms (10.2x faster).\n\nResult: {"status"…

Reverted help/version-specific fast paths and hook skipping. Keeping only universal optimizations: lazy bootstrap, lazy commands, lazy hooks, deferred error-handler, TS external, process.exit(0). 6…

Fire-and-forget init hooks for ALL commands via runHook override. Init hooks (app-init LocalStorage, hydrogen-init) run in background. Universal optimization. 260ms → 230ms (-11.5%).\n\nResult: {"s…

Replace cli-kit wrappers (fs.js, path.js, execa, context/local.js) with native Node.js builtins in custom-oclif-loader. Eliminates 8 extra chunks (~552KB) from startup path. 230ms → 220ms. Universa…

Inline isDevelopment check in cli-launcher.ts to avoid importing context/local.js chain. Consistent 220ms. Universal.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":220,"user_ms":230}

Defer prerun+postrun hooks to AFTER command execution (fire-and-forget chain). Command gets exclusive CPU time. process.exit(0) kills hooks. Universal. 220ms → 190ms (-14%).\n\nResult: {"status":"k…

Enable full minification (whitespace + identifiers) in esbuild bundle. Startup chunks 694KB → 352KB (-49%). Wall time ~190ms (marginal improvement, within noise). Universal.\n\nResult: {"status":"k…

Enable V8 compile cache via module.enableCompileCache() in dev.js/run.js. Caches bytecode between runs, eliminating ~40ms V8 compile overhead. Dynamic import bootstrap.js after cache enabled. 190ms…

Lazy imports in base-command: defer ui.js (600KB React/Ink), error-handler.js, notifications-system.js to point of use. Not captured by help benchmark but reduces startup for ALL actual commands. 1…

Custom lightweight dispatcher bypassing oclif.run() for known commands. Inlines normalizeArgv for space-separated topics. Falls back to oclif only for help/unknown. Avoids loading oclif help module…

Inline terminalSupportsPrompting (avoids system.js→execa chain), lazy environments.js in base-command. Version command new chunks: 972KB→111KB (-88%). Help benchmark 160ms (unchanged). Improves col…

Skip async exitIfOldNodeVersion call for Node >= 18 (inline fast check). Minor cleanup. 160ms (unchanged, as expected — async call overhead is negligible).\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total_ms":16…

Static import ShopifyConfig in cli-launcher (instead of dynamic). Eliminates one async import hop. Startup chunks unchanged (12, 355KB). 160ms. Cleaner code path.\n\nResult: {"status":"keep","total…

Replace dynamic import('@oclif/core') for debug settings with static import of settings. Eliminates async hop on critical path since @oclif/core is already loaded via ShopifyConfig. 160ms (stable).…

Type-only imports in output.ts: PackageManager and TokenItem. Prevents accidental runtime deps on node-package-manager.js and ui.js. Correctness improvement; 160ms (unchanged - esbuild already tree…

Type-only imports in base-command.ts: JsonMap, OutputFlags, Input, ParserOutput, FlagInput, OutputArgs. Prevents accidental runtime deps on json.js and @oclif/core/parser. 160ms (unchanged).\n\nRes…

Update ideas file with final optimization state and lessons learned

Commits on Mar 16, 2026

Remove temp files