# Profiles

> Find which functions consume CPU in your services with continuous profiling, flamegraphs, and a top functions view in Last9.

Source: https://last9.io/docs/profiles/

Profiles shows where your services spend CPU time, down to the function. Last9 collects stack samples continuously from running processes, so you can investigate a slow or expensive service without reproducing the problem or attaching a profiler by hand.

![Profiles service index](../../../../assets/content/docs/profiles/profiles-service-index.png)

Use Profiles to answer questions that metrics and traces cannot answer on their own:

- Which service is consuming the most CPU in a cluster?
- Which functions inside that service are responsible?
- Is the time going into application code, a library such as a JSON decoder or database driver, or the language runtime (for example, garbage collection)?

## Prerequisites

Profiles needs a profiler sending data to Last9 over OTLP. On Kubernetes, install the Last9 eBPF profiler Helm chart and add the opt-in label to the workloads you want to profile. See [Kubernetes Profiling](/docs/integrations/observability/kubernetes-profiling/) for setup steps.

The eBPF profiler does not require code changes or application restarts beyond rolling out the opt-in label.

:::note
If the Profiles page shows **Profiles not set up.** with a **Join Waitlist** button, continuous profiling is not yet enabled for your organization. Click **Join Waitlist** and the Last9 team will get in touch to enable it.
:::

## Accessing Profiles

Open [Profiles](https://app.last9.io/profiles) from the left navigation, below **Traces**.

You can also open profiles for a single service from [Services](/docs/discover-services/). Select a service and open the **Profiles** tab to see the flamegraph scoped to that service and its environment.

## Profile Types

| Type      | What it measures                                          |
| --------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **CPU**   | Time functions spend running on the CPU. Default type.    |
| **Alloc** | Memory allocations by function.                           |
| **Wall**  | Wall-clock time, including time spent waiting or blocked. |

The Kubernetes eBPF profiler collects **CPU** profiles. **Alloc** and **Wall** become available when a profiler that produces those sample types sends data. Types without data in the selected range are disabled in the filter.

## Using Profiles

  {items.map((item) => (

  ))}

---

## Troubleshooting

- **No data on the Profiles page**

  - **Profiles not set up. Join the waitlist.** Continuous profiling is not enabled for the organization. Click **Join Waitlist**.
  - **No profile data found.** No samples arrived in the selected range. Widen the time range, then confirm the profiler is running and the workload has the `last9.profiling/enabled: "true"` label:

    ```bash
    kubectl get daemonset last9-profiler -n last9-profiler
    kubectl get pods -A -l last9.profiling/enabled=true
    ```

  - **A service is missing from the list.** Check that the pod template, not only the Deployment metadata, carries the opt-in label, and that the workload was rolled out after the label was added.

Please get in touch with us on [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/Q3p2EEucx9) or [Email](mailto:cs@last9.io) if you have any questions.