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hakmem/docs/analysis/PHASE56_PROMOTE_LEAN_OFF_IMPLEMENTATION.md
Moe Charm (CI) 7adbcdfcb6 Phase 54-60: Memory-Lean mode, Balanced mode stabilization, M1 (50%) achievement
## Summary

Completed Phase 54-60 optimization work:

**Phase 54-56: Memory-Lean mode (LEAN+OFF prewarm suppression)**
- Implemented ss_mem_lean_env_box.h with ENV gates
- Balanced mode (LEAN+OFF) promoted as production default
- Result: +1.2% throughput, better stability, zero syscall overhead
- Added to bench_profile.h: MIXED_TINYV3_C7_BALANCED preset

**Phase 57: 60-min soak finalization**
- Balanced mode: 60-min soak, RSS drift 0%, CV 5.38%
- Speed-first mode: 60-min soak, RSS drift 0%, CV 1.58%
- Syscall budget: 1.25e-7/op (800× under target)
- Status: PRODUCTION-READY

**Phase 59: 50% recovery baseline rebase**
- hakmem FAST (Balanced): 59.184M ops/s, CV 1.31%
- mimalloc: 120.466M ops/s, CV 3.50%
- Ratio: 49.13% (M1 ACHIEVED within statistical noise)
- Superior stability: 2.68× better CV than mimalloc

**Phase 60: Alloc pass-down SSOT (NO-GO)**
- Implemented alloc_passdown_ssot_env_box.h
- Modified malloc_tiny_fast.h for SSOT pattern
- Result: -0.46% (NO-GO)
- Key lesson: SSOT not applicable where early-exit already optimized

## Key Metrics

- Performance: 49.13% of mimalloc (M1 effectively achieved)
- Stability: CV 1.31% (superior to mimalloc 3.50%)
- Syscall budget: 1.25e-7/op (excellent)
- RSS: 33MB stable, 0% drift over 60 minutes

## Files Added/Modified

New boxes:
- core/box/ss_mem_lean_env_box.h
- core/box/ss_release_policy_box.{h,c}
- core/box/alloc_passdown_ssot_env_box.h

Scripts:
- scripts/soak_mixed_single_process.sh
- scripts/analyze_epoch_tail_csv.py
- scripts/soak_mixed_rss.sh
- scripts/calculate_percentiles.py
- scripts/analyze_soak.py

Documentation: Phase 40-60 analysis documents

## Design Decisions

1. Profile separation (core/bench_profile.h):
   - MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE: Speed-first (no LEAN)
   - MIXED_TINYV3_C7_BALANCED: Balanced mode (LEAN+OFF)

2. Box Theory compliance:
   - All ENV gates reversible (HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN, HAKMEM_ALLOC_PASSDOWN_SSOT)
   - Single conversion points maintained
   - No physical deletions (compile-out only)

3. Lessons learned:
   - SSOT effective only where redundancy exists (Phase 60 showed limits)
   - Branch prediction extremely effective (~0 cycles for well-predicted branches)
   - Early-exit pattern valuable even when seemingly redundant

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2025-12-17 06:24:01 +09:00

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Markdown

# Phase 56: Promote LEAN+OFF as "Balanced Mode" — Implementation
> Note (Phase 58): This “promote as default” approach was later replaced by a profile split: `MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE` (Speed-first) and `MIXED_TINYV3_C7_BALANCED` (LEAN+OFF). See `docs/analysis/PHASE58_PROFILE_SPLIT_SPEED_FIRST_DEFAULT_RESULTS.md`.
## Objective
Promote `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN=1` + `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_DECOMMIT=OFF` (LEAN+OFF) as the production-recommended "Balanced mode" preset by adding it to the `MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE` benchmark profile.
## Background
Phase 55 validated that LEAN+OFF provides:
- **+1.2% throughput improvement** over baseline (56.8M vs 56.2M ops/s)
- **Zero syscall overhead** (prewarm suppression only, no decommit)
- **Better stability** (CV 5.41% vs 5.52% baseline)
- **Production-ready** (30-min validation passed with GO verdict)
LEAN+OFF is not a "memory-lean" mode (RSS stays ~33MB), but rather a **prewarm suppression policy** that avoids unnecessary superslab allocation during initialization, leading to better cache behavior and throughput.
## Implementation Approach
**Option A (Selected)**: Modify bench profile defaults — does NOT change library global defaults, only affects benchmark profiles where `HAKMEM_PROFILE=MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE` is set.
**Option B (Deferred)**: Change library defaults — would affect all users, requires more extensive validation.
## Changes Made
### File: `core/bench_profile.h`
**Location**: In the `MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE` profile section (line 59-109)
**Lines Added** (after line 96):
```c
// Phase 56: Promote LEAN+OFF as "Balanced mode" (production-recommended preset)
// Effect: +1.2% throughput, better stability, zero syscall overhead
bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN", "1");
bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_DECOMMIT", "OFF");
bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_TARGET_MB", "10");
```
**Note**: The `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_TARGET_MB=10` setting is not used when `DECOMMIT=OFF`, but is explicitly set for documentation/clarity purposes.
### Behavior
- `bench_setenv_default()` only sets ENV if not already set by user
- User can override with explicit ENV settings: `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN=0` disables all lean behavior
- Applies to all builds using `HAKMEM_PROFILE=MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE`:
- FAST build (`bench_random_mixed_hakmem_minimal`)
- Standard build (`bench_random_mixed_hakmem`)
- OBSERVE build (if profile is set)
## Rollback Procedure
To revert to "Speed-first" mode:
### Method 1: ENV Override (per-run)
```bash
HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN=0 ./bench_random_mixed_hakmem_minimal
```
### Method 2: Code Rollback (permanent)
Remove the 3 lines from `core/bench_profile.h` (lines 97-101):
```diff
- // Phase 56: Promote LEAN+OFF as "Balanced mode" (production-recommended preset)
- // Effect: +1.2% throughput, better stability, zero syscall overhead
- bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN", "1");
- bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_DECOMMIT", "OFF");
- bench_setenv_default("HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN_TARGET_MB", "10");
```
Then rebuild:
```bash
make bench_random_mixed_hakmem_minimal
make bench_random_mixed_hakmem
```
## Box Theory Compliance
- **Single conversion point**: Only `core/bench_profile.h` modified
- **ENV-gated**: User can override with `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN=0`
- **Reversible**: 3-line deletion reverts behavior
- **Library-safe**: Does NOT change global library defaults
- **Standard/OBSERVE/FAST builds**: All unmodified (only profile defaults changed)
## Profile Definition
### Speed-first Mode (opt-in via `HAKMEM_SS_MEM_LEAN=0`)
- Full prewarm enabled (allocates superslabs at initialization)
- Maximizes throughput at cost of higher initial RSS
- **Use case**: Latency-critical applications, no memory constraints
### Balanced Mode (default via profile)
- Prewarm suppression enabled (defers superslab allocation)
- +1.2% throughput gain, better stability
- No decommit overhead (zero syscall tax)
- **Use case**: Production workloads, general-purpose (recommended)
## Build Targets Affected
All builds using the `MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE` profile:
- `make bench_random_mixed_hakmem_minimal` (FAST)
- `make bench_random_mixed_hakmem` (Standard)
- Any custom builds setting `HAKMEM_PROFILE=MIXED_TINYV3_C7_SAFE`
## Validation Plan
See `PHASE56_PROMOTE_LEAN_OFF_RESULTS.md` for detailed validation results.
1. **Mixed 10-run validation** (FAST and Standard builds)
2. **Syscall budget verification** (200M ops, baseline vs LEAN+OFF)
3. **Tail proxy analysis** (Phase 52 methodology)
4. **Performance scorecard update** (Speed-first vs Balanced comparison)
## Future Work
- **Option B consideration**: Evaluate changing library global defaults after extended production validation
- **Extended validation**: 60-min+ soak tests in production-like environments
- **Memory-constrained environments**: Evaluate LEAN+FREE/DONTNEED modes for extreme cases (Phase 57+)