Performance Optimization

Use this skill when the main question is "what artifact do we trust, where is the actual bottleneck, and what is the smallest tuning move worth trying first?"

The job is not to dump generic React, SQL, caching, or game-performance tips. The job is to classify the complaint, normalize the current artifact into one tuning brief, pick one primary mode, name one bottleneck, recommend one or two high-leverage changes, then verify before/after impact and route remaining work correctly.

Read references/intake-packets-and-escalations.md before handling an unfamiliar artifact packet. Read references/tuning-modes.md before handling an unfamiliar performance complaint. Read references/handoff-boundaries.md when deciding whether performance-optimization, monitoring-observability, debugging, testing-strategies, code-refactoring, or game-performance-profiler should own the next step. Read references/measurement-checklist.md before writing a benchmark or profiling plan.

When to use this skill

• Slow interactions, page loads, route transitions, API hot paths, query plans, memory growth, bundle regressions, or frame-budget complaints where the bottleneck is not yet isolated
• Performance packets that arrive as traces, Lighthouse/CWV reports, flamegraphs, query plans, load-test diffs, profiler screenshots, benchmark notes, or stakeholder dashboards
• Cross-domain performance asks spanning CLI/dev workflow, web/fullstack, product/ops, marketing/content performance, or game-adjacent routing where the next owner is still unclear
• Situations where you need one bounded tuning brief instead of a generic performance tip dump