Does It ARM lists apps and games reported to support Apple Silicon, alongside compatibility and performance information.
Magic Trace
magic-trace collects and displays high-resolution traces of process activity.
About Magic Trace
magic-trace is an open-source command-line tool that collects and displays high-resolution traces of what a running process is doing. Instead of sampling call stacks at intervals as perf does, it uses Intel Processor Trace to keep a ring buffer of control flow and snapshot the period leading up to a chosen point. The resulting trace is explored in an interactive timeline. The project states that it adds 2%-10% overhead and does not require application changes.
The source lists several constraints. VMs are mostly not supported, the tool requires Intel processors (Skylake or later), and the source describes tracing as Linux only. Pricing is unknown.
Key features
- Snapshots a ring buffer of control flow using Intel Processor Trace
- Traces every function call with about 40ns resolution
- Renders a timeline of call stacks covering a configurable window of about 10ms
- Attaches to a running process and detaches with Ctrl+C to capture a trace
- Can take a snapshot whenever the application calls a specified function
- Opens trace files in an interactive timeline with zoom, scrolling and measurement tools
Best for: Engineers who need to see detailed function-level activity in a running Linux process on supported Intel hardware, such as when diagnosing slow requests or the events before a crash.
Good for
- Does not require changes to the application being traced
- States an overhead of 2%-10%
- Shows function calls at about 40ns resolution, which the project says is invisible to perf in some cases
Watch out for
- VMs are mostly not supported
- Requires an Intel processor, Skylake or later
- Described as Linux only for tracing
Magic Trace at a glance
- Category
- Software & Utilities › Linux & Mac Apps
- Type
- Open-source project
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Open source
- Yes · Source code
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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Magic Trace FAQ
Does an application need to be changed to use magic-trace?
No. The project states that magic-trace does not require application changes to use.
What hardware and environments are supported?
The source says tracing works on Intel processors, Skylake or later, under Linux. VMs are mostly not supported.
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