From 77262dd0af43ee5e958135b359c3f0e07055a7fe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Lionel DARNIS <lionel@wopr.io>
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:14:22 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] perf(malloc): throttle malloc_trim to 1 Hz in hot paths

malloc_trim(0) was called at the end of every update() and view(),
reaching 60-200 Hz during typical scrolling, resize, or animation.
Each call walks the glibc heap (10 us to several ms depending on
fragmentation) and could consume a substantial fraction of the frame
budget in worst cases.

Throttle trim() to once per second using a thread-local Instant,
preserving the existing API. RSS stays bounded (1 Hz is enough to
release collectable pages soon after) while per-frame cost becomes
a single thread-local check plus a duration comparison.

No call-site changes required; the three existing trim(0) invocations
in src/app/cosmic.rs (update, view multi-window, view single-window)
now fall under the throttle transparently.
---
 src/malloc.rs | 34 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/malloc.rs b/src/malloc.rs
index b99a66f..bc5e835 100644
--- a/src/malloc.rs
+++ b/src/malloc.rs
@@ -1,21 +1,49 @@
 // Copyright 2025 System76 <info@system76.com>
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: MPL-2.0
 
+use std::cell::Cell;
 use std::os::raw::c_int;
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
 const M_MMAP_THRESHOLD: c_int = -3;
 
+/// Minimum interval between two actual `malloc_trim` calls.
+///
+/// `trim` is called at the end of every `update()` and `view()`, which can
+/// reach 60-200 Hz during typical scrolling, resize, or animation. Each
+/// `malloc_trim` walks the glibc heap (10 µs to several ms depending on
+/// fragmentation), so calling it at render frequency can consume a
+/// substantial fraction of the frame budget. Throttling to 1 Hz keeps RSS
+/// bounded while removing the per-frame syscall from the hot path.
+const TRIM_MIN_INTERVAL: Duration = Duration::from_millis(1000);
+
+thread_local! {
+    static LAST_TRIM: Cell<Option<Instant>> = const { Cell::new(None) };
+}
+
 unsafe extern "C" {
     fn malloc_trim(pad: usize);
 
     fn mallopt(param: c_int, value: c_int) -> c_int;
 }
 
+/// Throttled wrapper over `malloc_trim`. Safe to call at render frequency:
+/// consecutive calls within `TRIM_MIN_INTERVAL` (per-thread) skip the syscall.
 #[inline]
 pub fn trim(pad: usize) {
-    unsafe {
-        malloc_trim(pad);
-    }
+    LAST_TRIM.with(|last| {
+        let now = Instant::now();
+        let should_trim = match last.get() {
+            None => true,
+            Some(prev) => now.duration_since(prev) >= TRIM_MIN_INTERVAL,
+        };
+        if should_trim {
+            last.set(Some(now));
+            unsafe {
+                malloc_trim(pad);
+            }
+        }
+    });
 }
 
 /// Prevents glibc from hoarding memory via memory fragmentation.