# tmm1/rbtrace

like strace, but for ruby code

Repository: https://github.com/tmm1/rbtrace
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rbtrace
Language: Ruby
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-07T04:23:32+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 75/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 96, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5683, "days_push": 26, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1726, forks 73 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:28.170578+00:00)

## What it is
rbtrace is a Ruby gem and CLI tool that lets you trace method calls inside another running Ruby process in real time, similar to strace but for Ruby code. It supports multiple tracing modes (firehose, slow calls, specific methods, GC, memory, backtraces) with minimal overhead, making it safe for production use.

## Use cases
- trace method calls in a running ruby process
- find slow methods in production ruby code
- debug a hung ruby process by dumping backtraces
- trace garbage collections and memory stats of a ruby app
- trace activerecord and io calls in a rails process
- watch what a ruby process is doing in real time

## When to choose
- you need to inspect a live Ruby MRI process without restarting it
- you want low-overhead method-level tracing safe for production
- you need to diagnose slow methods or hangs in a running Ruby app

## When to avoid
- you use JRuby or another non-MRI Ruby implementation
- you need sampling-based CPU profiling with flamegraphs rather than targeted tracing
- you need tracing for languages other than Ruby

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: maintenance
- function: tracing, monitoring, developer-tools, benchmarking
- domain: developer-tools, performance
- platform: cli, ruby
- tags: ruby, strace, method-tracing, production-debugging, profiling, command-line, debugging, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- tmm1/rbtrace (main) score 75

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:28.170578+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:32:33.805521+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/tmm1/rbtrace (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:28.170578+00:00, sha 914d3891e125)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.