Check script/loadtest's duration before the build

A duration must be a whole number above zero followed by ms, s, m or
h; anything else prints the usage line and exits 2 before the image
build, as a bad number of clients already did. vegeta takes 0 to mean
no end. The load test's entry moves to the top of Completed Steps in
TODO.md.

Model: opus-5-5

.gitignore

@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ Thumbs.db
 .vscode/
 *.sublime-*
 
+# Agent scratch (worktrees of this repo, created and destroyed by
+# in-flight tooling). Unanchored: .gitignore patterns already match at
+# every depth, so no prefix is wanted here. This is not a .dockerignore
+# entry and must not be given a `**/` prefix on the way into one.
+.claude/
+
 # Environment / secrets
 .env
 .env.*

Makefile

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: bootstrap setup check lint test fmt fmt-check build clean docker docker-smoke docker-versioned docker-test devserver devserver-stop hooks
+.PHONY: bootstrap setup check lint test fmt fmt-check build clean docker docker-smoke docker-versioned docker-test devserver devserver-stop hooks loadtest
 
 VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo "dev")
 LDFLAGS := -X main.Version=$(VERSION)
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ docker:
 docker-smoke:
 	@script/docker-smoke
 
+# Measure throughput, latency and peak memory with the default duration and
+# number of clients (needs Docker and Go; a benchmark, not part of check)
+loadtest:
+	@script/loadtest
+
 # Build Docker image tagged pixad:$(VERSION) and pixad:latest
 docker-versioned:
 	docker build --build-arg VERSION=$(VERSION) -t pixad:$(VERSION) -t pixad:latest .

README.md

@@ -146,10 +146,11 @@ name.
 
 Multiple source paths may reference the same content blob; the
 database tracks references rather than using filesystem refcounting.
-Toward a target of 1-5k r/s, pixa keeps in memory the content types of
+
-the 10,000 transformed images most recently cached or served, so a
+pixa's target is 1-5k r/s, which has not been measured at that rate (see Load
-cache hit on one of them reads only the image file from disk and not
+Test). Toward it, pixa keeps in memory the content types of the 10,000
-the metadata file stored beside it.
+transformed images most recently cached or served, so a cache hit on one of them
+reads only the image file from disk and not the metadata file stored beside it.
 
 ### Routes
 
@@ -576,6 +577,8 @@ them. We provide:
 - `script/check` — run test, lint, and fmt-check
 - `script/docker` — build the Docker image tagged via `script/projectname`
 - `script/docker-smoke` — build the image, start it, wait for it to be healthy
+- `script/loadtest` — measure pixad's throughput, latency and peak memory; a
+  benchmark, not part of `script/check` (see Load Test)
 - `script/cibuild` — CI entrypoint: `docker build .` with a new
   `CHECK_EPOCH` on every run, so the Dockerfile's checks run instead of
   coming from the build cache, and a green run implies a green repo
@@ -584,6 +587,58 @@ them. We provide:
 - `script/install-precommit` — install the git pre-commit hook that
   runs `script/precommit`
 
+## Load Test
+
+`script/loadtest` (or `make loadtest`) measures how fast pixad answers and how
+much memory it uses. It is a benchmark, not a check: `script/check` does not run
+it. It needs Docker and Go.
+
+```bash
+script/loadtest           # 10 seconds per scenario, 4 clients
+script/loadtest 30s 32    # 30 seconds per scenario, 32 clients
+```
+
+It builds the image with `script/docker` and the load tool,
+[vegeta](https://github.com/tsenart/vegeta), from a pinned commit. Each scenario
+starts a new pixad container and a new origin container, `cmd/loadtest-origin`:
+an upstream host that answers every path with the same generated 1600x1200 JPEG.
+vegeta then sends requests from the given number of clients, each sending its
+next request as soon as its last one is answered, all for an image resized to
+400x300 WebP:
+
+- `hit`: the same image every time, put in the cache first;
+- `miss`: a new source image every time, so pixad fetches and converts each one;
+- `herd`: each new source image once per client in a row, so that all clients
+  ask for it at the same time and share one fetch and one conversion (see
+  Routes).
+
+pixad refuses upstream hosts with private or local addresses, so the containers
+share a Docker network in `203.0.113.0/24`, a range set aside for documentation.
+A second run on the same Docker host while one is going fails, as it cannot
+create that network.
+
+For each scenario the script prints vegeta's report and two lines of its own:
+
+- `Requests [total, rate, throughput]`: the requests sent, how many were sent
+  per second, and how many were answered successfully per second; the last is
+  the number to compare with the target under Storage;
+- `Latencies [min, mean, 50, 90, 95, 99, max]`: the time from sending a request
+  to the end of its answer; `50`, `95` and `99` are the 50th, 95th and 99th
+  percentiles;
+- `Status Codes` and `Error Set`: anything other than `200` means the other
+  numbers are not for the scenario described, such as `503` when pixad was busy;
+- `Bytes In`: `0`, as vegeta is told not to keep the images it receives;
+- `pixad peak memory (VmHWM)`: the peak resident memory of pixad's process since
+  its container started, in kB; for `hit` it includes the request that put the
+  image in the cache;
+- `requests to the origin`: the fetches pixad made: one for `hit`, one per
+  request for `miss`, and one per image for `herd`, that is the requests sent
+  divided by the number of clients.
+
+The numbers depend on the machine and on whatever else runs on it. The first
+measurement, made on a shared machine with few clients, is in `TODO.md`; it says
+nothing about the target.
+
 ## TODO
 
 See [TODO.md](TODO.md) for the full prioritized task list.

TODO.md

@@ -31,6 +31,30 @@ P2: security: per-IP rate limiting on the image routes
 
 # Completed Steps
 
+- 2026-10-04 load test (closes #81): `script/loadtest [duration [clients]]`
+  (`make loadtest`, defaults `10s` and `4`), a benchmark that `script/check`
+  does not run, measures three scenarios, each against a new pixad container and
+  a new upstream host, `cmd/loadtest-origin`: `hit` (one cached image), `miss`
+  (a new source image every request) and `herd` (each new source image asked for
+  by all clients at once). For each it prints vegeta's report (requests per
+  second, latency percentiles, status codes), pixad's peak resident memory and
+  the requests that reached the origin. `README.md` says how to run it and read
+  it, and keeps 1-5k r/s as a target not yet measured. First measurement, with
+  the defaults on a shared 48-CPU machine with other work running: a baseline
+  for later changes, not a test of the target. `hit` 1413 r/s, p50 0.7 ms, p95
+  8.7 ms, p99 44 ms, peak 53 MiB (4 clients that each wait for their answer, so
+  not pixad's limit); `miss` 70 r/s, p50 52 ms, p95 91 ms, p99 122 ms, peak 100
+  MiB, one fetch per request; `herd` 74 r/s, p50 52 ms, p95 69 ms, p99 111 ms,
+  peak 60 MiB, 188 fetches for 749 requests.
+- 2026-10-04 `cmd/pixad/main.go` is one call into `internal/` (closes #206):
+  what it did (the command line and its `--config` flag, setting
+  `PIXA_CONFIG_PATH`, ignoring `SIGPIPE`, starting the fx app) is now `Run` in
+  `internal/app`, unchanged, and `main` calls it with `Version`, which the build
+  still sets through `-X main.Version`. That code had no tests to move.
+- 2026-10-04 `.gitignore` ignores `.claude/` (closes #204): the entry and its
+  comment are copied from the canonical `.gitignore` in `sneak/prompts`,
+  unanchored so it matches at every depth. `.dockerignore` already has
+  `.claude`.
 - 2026-10-04 `.dockerignore` keeps secrets out at every depth (closes #205): the
   file is now the standard one from `sneak/prompts`, whose patterns match in
   every directory and, for environment files and private keys, in any letter
@@ -627,4 +651,5 @@ P2: security: per-IP rate limiting on the image routes
     - optional Sentry error reporting
     - comprehensive request logging
     - Prometheus performance metrics
-    - load tests to verify the 1k to 5k req/s target
+    - measure the 1k to 5k req/s target with `script/loadtest` on a machine not
+      shared with other work

cmd/loadtest-origin/main.go

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+// Command loadtest-origin is the upstream host script/loadtest points pixad
+// at; internal/loadtestorigin says what it does.
+package main
+
+import "sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/loadtestorigin"
+
+func main() {
+	loadtestorigin.Run()
+}

cmd/pixad/main.go

@@ -1,69 +1,10 @@
 // Package main is the entry point for the pixad image proxy server.
 package main
 
-import (
+import "sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/app"
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"os/signal"
-	"syscall"
-
-	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
-	"go.uber.org/fx"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/config"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/database"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/globals"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/handlers"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/healthcheck"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/logger"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/middleware"
-	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/server"
-)
 
 var Version string //nolint:gochecknoglobals // set by ldflags
 
-var configPath string //nolint:gochecknoglobals // cobra flag
-
 func main() {
-	rootCmd := &cobra.Command{
+	app.Run(Version)
-		Use:   "pixad",
-		Short: "Pixa image caching proxy server",
-		Run:   run,
-	}
-
-	rootCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&configPath, "config", "c", "", "path to config file")
-
-	err := rootCmd.Execute()
-	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-}
-
-func run(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
-	globals.Version = Version
-
-	// Set config path in environment if specified via flag
-	if configPath != "" {
-		_ = os.Setenv("PIXA_CONFIG_PATH", configPath)
-	}
-
-	// A write to a closed stdout or stderr must not end the process.
-	signal.Ignore(syscall.SIGPIPE)
-
-	fx.New(
-		fx.Provide(
-			config.New,
-			database.New,
-			globals.New,
-			handlers.New,
-			logger.New,
-			server.New,
-			middleware.New,
-			healthcheck.New,
-		),
-		fx.Invoke(
-			func(log *logger.Logger) { log.Identify() },
-			func(*server.Server) {},
-		),
-	).Run()
 }

internal/app/app.go

@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+// Package app reads the pixad command line and runs the server.
+package app
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"os/signal"
+	"syscall"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+	"go.uber.org/fx"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/config"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/database"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/globals"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/handlers"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/healthcheck"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/logger"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/middleware"
+	"sneak.berlin/go/pixa/internal/server"
+)
+
+var configPath string //nolint:gochecknoglobals // cobra flag
+
+// Run reads the command line and runs the server until it stops, with
+// version as the version pixad logs and reports. It exits the process
+// with status 1 when the command line is not valid.
+func Run(version string) {
+	globals.Version = version
+
+	rootCmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "pixad",
+		Short: "Pixa image caching proxy server",
+		Run:   run,
+	}
+
+	rootCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&configPath, "config", "c", "", "path to config file")
+
+	err := rootCmd.Execute()
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+}
+
+func run(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
+	// Set config path in environment if specified via flag
+	if configPath != "" {
+		_ = os.Setenv("PIXA_CONFIG_PATH", configPath)
+	}
+
+	// A write to a closed stdout or stderr must not end the process.
+	signal.Ignore(syscall.SIGPIPE)
+
+	fx.New(
+		fx.Provide(
+			config.New,
+			database.New,
+			globals.New,
+			handlers.New,
+			logger.New,
+			server.New,
+			middleware.New,
+			healthcheck.New,
+		),
+		fx.Invoke(
+			func(log *logger.Logger) { log.Identify() },
+			func(*server.Server) {},
+		),
+	).Run()
+}

internal/globals/globals.go

@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ import (
 
 const appname = "pixad"
 
-// Version is populated from main() via ldflags.
+// Version is set by app.Run to the version main was built with.
-var Version string //nolint:gochecknoglobals // set from main
+var Version string //nolint:gochecknoglobals // set by app.Run
 
 // Globals holds application-wide constants.
 type Globals struct {

internal/loadtestorigin/loadtestorigin.go

@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+// Package loadtestorigin is the upstream host script/loadtest points pixad
+// at, run by cmd/loadtest-origin. It answers every request, whatever its path,
+// with the same generated JPEG, so each new path is a new source image for
+// pixad to fetch, and it logs one line per request, so its log counts pixad's
+// fetches.
+package loadtestorigin
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"image"
+	"image/color"
+	"image/jpeg"
+	"log/slog"
+	"math"
+	"net/http"
+	"os"
+	"time"
+)
+
+const (
+	listenAddress     = ":80"
+	readHeaderTimeout = 10 * time.Second
+	imageWidth        = 1600
+	imageHeight       = 1200
+	jpegQuality       = 85
+)
+
+// Run makes the image and serves it on port 80 until the server fails, then
+// exits the process with status 1.
+func Run() {
+	photo, err := makeJPEG()
+	if err != nil {
+		slog.Error("cannot make the image", "error", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+
+	server := &http.Server{
+		Addr:              listenAddress,
+		Handler:           newHandler(photo),
+		ReadHeaderTimeout: readHeaderTimeout,
+	}
+
+	err = server.ListenAndServe()
+	slog.Error("server stopped", "error", err)
+	os.Exit(1)
+}
+
+// newHandler answers every request with photo and logs the request's path.
+func newHandler(photo []byte) http.Handler {
+	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		slog.Info("request", "path", r.URL.Path)
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "image/jpeg")
+		_, _ = w.Write(photo)
+	})
+}
+
+// makeJPEG draws colour gradients crossed with a fine pattern, so the image
+// has detail to decode and does not compress to almost nothing.
+func makeJPEG() ([]byte, error) {
+	img := image.NewRGBA(image.Rect(0, 0, imageWidth, imageHeight))
+
+	// red and green count up from 0 to 255 and wrap around, along each row
+	// and down the image.
+	var green uint8
+
+	for y := range imageHeight {
+		var red uint8
+
+		for x := range imageWidth {
+			img.SetRGBA(x, y, color.RGBA{
+				R: red, G: green, B: red ^ green, A: math.MaxUint8,
+			})
+			red++
+		}
+
+		green++
+	}
+
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+
+	err := jpeg.Encode(&buf, img, &jpeg.Options{Quality: jpegQuality})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return buf.Bytes(), nil
+}

internal/loadtestorigin/loadtestorigin_internal_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package loadtestorigin
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"image/jpeg"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestEveryPathServesTheSameJPEG checks that the origin answers any path with
+// 200 and the same JPEG, so every new path script/loadtest asks pixad for is
+// a valid source image.
+func TestEveryPathServesTheSameJPEG(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	photo, err := makeJPEG()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("makeJPEG: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	size, err := jpeg.DecodeConfig(bytes.NewReader(photo))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("the image does not decode as a JPEG: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if size.Width != imageWidth || size.Height != imageHeight {
+		t.Errorf("the image is %dx%d, want %dx%d",
+			size.Width, size.Height, imageWidth, imageHeight)
+	}
+
+	handler := newHandler(photo)
+
+	for _, path := range []string{"/", "/miss/1.jpg", "/herd/2.jpg"} {
+		rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
+		handler.ServeHTTP(rec, httptest.NewRequestWithContext(
+			t.Context(), http.MethodGet, path, nil))
+
+		if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
+			t.Errorf("%s: status = %d, want %d", path, rec.Code, http.StatusOK)
+		}
+
+		if ct := rec.Header().Get("Content-Type"); ct != "image/jpeg" {
+			t.Errorf("%s: Content-Type = %q, want image/jpeg", path, ct)
+		}
+
+		if !bytes.Equal(rec.Body.Bytes(), photo) {
+			t.Errorf("%s: the body is not the image", path)
+		}
+	}
+}

script/loadtest

@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# script/loadtest: measure pixad's throughput, latency and peak memory.
+#
+#   script/loadtest [duration [clients]]    (defaults: 10s and 4)
+#
+# A benchmark, not a check: script/check does not run it. It needs Docker
+# and Go. It builds the image with script/docker and builds vegeta, the
+# load tool, from a pinned commit. Each scenario then gets a new pixad
+# container and a new origin container (cmd/loadtest-origin, which answers
+# every path with the same JPEG), and vegeta sends requests for <duration>
+# from <clients> clients at once, each asking for an image resized to
+# 400x300 WebP:
+#
+#   hit   the same image every time, put in the cache first
+#   miss  a new source image every time
+#   herd  each new source image once per client in a row, so that all
+#         clients ask for it at the same time
+#
+# For each, it prints vegeta's report, pixad's peak resident memory and
+# how many requests reached the origin. README.md says how to read them.
+set -eu
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"
+ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd -P)"
+
+# vegeta v12.13.0, 2026-10-04
+VEGETA_COMMIT=4b240c3089fa4aa10816542d64a74294d974211f
+
+# pixad refuses upstream hosts with private or local addresses, so the
+# containers share a network in 203.0.113.0/24, a range set aside for
+# documentation (RFC 5737) that pixad does not refuse and that is never
+# routed on the internet.
+SUBNET=203.0.113.0/24
+
+usage() {
+    echo "usage: script/loadtest [duration [clients]]" >&2
+    exit 2
+}
+
+main() {
+    duration="${1:-10s}"
+    clients="${2:-4}"
+    # The duration is a whole number, not zero (vegeta takes 0 to mean no
+    # end), followed by ms, s, m or h.
+    case "$duration" in
+        *ms) number="${duration%ms}" ;;
+        *s | *m | *h) number="${duration%?}" ;;
+        *) usage ;;
+    esac
+    case "$number" in
+        "" | *[!0-9]*) usage ;;
+    esac
+    [ "$number" -gt 0 ] || usage
+    case "$clients" in
+        *[!0-9]* | 0) usage ;;
+    esac
+
+    cd "$ROOT"
+    run="pixa-loadtest-$$"
+    tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
+    trap cleanup EXIT
+    trap 'exit 1' HUP INT TERM
+
+    "$SCRIPT_DIR/docker"
+    # The image's ID, so a build elsewhere that moves the tag does not
+    # change what a later scenario starts.
+    image="$(docker image inspect --format '{{.Id}}' \
+        "$("$SCRIPT_DIR/projectname")")"
+
+    GOBIN="$tmp" go install "github.com/tsenart/vegeta/v12@$VEGETA_COMMIT"
+    # The origin runs in a container, so it is built for the Docker host.
+    CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux \
+        GOARCH="$(docker version --format '{{.Server.Arch}}')" \
+        go build -o "$tmp/loadtest-origin" ./cmd/loadtest-origin
+
+    docker network create --subnet "$SUBNET" "$run" >/dev/null
+
+    start_containers
+    # Put the image the hit scenario asks for in the cache.
+    docker exec "$run-pixad" wget -q -O /dev/null \
+        "http://localhost:8080/v1/image/origin/hit.jpg/400x300.webp"
+    attack hit hit_targets
+    stop_containers
+
+    start_containers
+    attack miss miss_targets
+    stop_containers
+
+    start_containers
+    attack herd herd_targets
+    stop_containers
+}
+
+# start_containers starts a new origin and a new pixad, and waits up to 30
+# seconds for pixad's health check to pass.
+start_containers() {
+    docker run -d --name "$run-origin" \
+        --network "$run" --network-alias origin \
+        -v "$tmp/loadtest-origin:/usr/local/bin/loadtest-origin:ro" \
+        --entrypoint /usr/local/bin/loadtest-origin "$image" >/dev/null
+    docker run -d --name "$run-pixad" \
+        --network "$run" -p 127.0.0.1::8080 --health-interval=1s \
+        -e PIXA_SIGNING_KEY="$(head -c 32 /dev/urandom | base64)" \
+        -e PIXA_ALLOWLIST_HOSTS=origin -e PIXA_ALLOW_HTTP=true \
+        "$image" >/dev/null
+
+    waited=0
+    until [ "$(docker inspect --format '{{.State.Health.Status}}' \
+        "$run-pixad")" = healthy ]; do
+        if [ "$waited" -ge 30 ]; then
+            echo "loadtest: pixad not healthy after 30 seconds; its log:" >&2
+            docker logs "$run-pixad" >&2
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        sleep 1
+        waited=$((waited + 1))
+    done
+    pixa="http://$(docker port "$run-pixad" 8080/tcp)"
+}
+
+stop_containers() {
+    docker rm -f "$run-pixad" "$run-origin" >/dev/null
+}
+
+# attack <scenario> <targets>: send the requests <targets> prints and
+# report on them.
+attack() {
+    echo
+    echo "== $1: $clients clients for $duration"
+    "$2" | "$tmp/vegeta" attack -lazy -rate 0 -workers "$clients" \
+        -max-workers "$clients" -duration "$duration" -max-body 0 |
+        "$tmp/vegeta" report
+    # pixad is process 1 in its container: the entrypoint execs it.
+    echo "pixad peak memory (VmHWM):" \
+        "$(docker exec "$run-pixad" awk '/^VmHWM:/ { print $2, $3 }' \
+            /proc/1/status)"
+    echo "requests to the origin:" \
+        "$(docker logs "$run-origin" 2>&1 | grep -c ' request ')"
+}
+
+# The targets functions print vegeta targets until vegeta stops reading.
+
+hit_targets() {
+    while :; do
+        echo "GET $pixa/v1/image/origin/hit.jpg/400x300.webp"
+    done
+}
+
+miss_targets() {
+    i=0
+    while :; do
+        i=$((i + 1))
+        echo "GET $pixa/v1/image/origin/miss/$i.jpg/400x300.webp"
+    done
+}
+
+herd_targets() {
+    i=0
+    while :; do
+        i=$((i + 1))
+        n=0
+        while [ "$n" -lt "$clients" ]; do
+            n=$((n + 1))
+            echo "GET $pixa/v1/image/origin/herd/$i.jpg/400x300.webp"
+        done
+    done
+}
+
+cleanup() {
+    docker rm -f "$run-pixad" "$run-origin" >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
+    docker network rm "$run" >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
+    rm -rf "$tmp"
+}
+
+main "$@"