cli-anything-unrealinsights

Use this CLI when you need agent-friendly access to Unreal Insights trace capture and exporter workflows on Windows.

Prerequisites

Windows
Unreal Engine tools installed with
```
UnrealInsights.exe
```
Verified with UE 5.5; headless timing exporters include compatibility handling for UE 5.3-style command parsing where possible

Optional explicit env vars:

```
UNREALINSIGHTS_EXE
```
```
UNREAL_TRACE_SERVER_EXE
```
```
UNREALINSIGHTS_TRACE
```

Core Commands

Backend discovery

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json backend info

To use a source-built engine's matching

UnrealInsights.exe

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json backend ensure-insights `
  --engine-root 'D:\code\D5\d5render-ue5_3'

This first looks for

Engine\Binaries\Win64\UnrealInsights.exe

under the specified engine root, then builds it with that engine's

Build.bat

if needed.

Trace session state

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights trace set D:\captures\session.utrace
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json trace info

Trace Store discovery

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json store info
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json store list --live-only
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json store latest --set-current

Capture orchestration

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture run `
  --project 'D:\Projects\MyGame\MyGame.uproject' `
  --engine-root 'D:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.5' `
  --output-trace D:\captures\boot.utrace `
  --channels "default,bookmark" `
  --exec-cmd "Trace.Bookmark BootStart" `
  --wait --timeout 300

You can also keep using the explicit form:

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture run `
  'D:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.5\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UnrealEditor.exe' `
  --target-arg 'D:\Projects\MyGame\MyGame.uproject'

Continuous capture session control

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture start `
  --project 'D:\Projects\MyGame\MyGame.uproject' `
  --engine-root 'D:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.5' `
  --output-trace D:\captures\live_session.utrace

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture status
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture snapshot D:\captures\live_snapshot.utrace
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json capture stop

This is the preferred flow when an agent needs to start profiling now and stop or snapshot later in a follow-up turn.

If a tracked capture session is still running,

capture start

now requires

--replace

so the previous process is stopped before a new one is launched.

Live trace control backend

powershell

$env:UNREALINSIGHTS_LIVE_EXEC='ushell-wrapper --pid {pid} --cmd "{cmd}"'
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json live processes
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json live trace-status --pid 1234
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json live bookmark --pid 1234 "BeforeExport"
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json live stop-trace --pid 1234

Live command delivery requires

UNREALINSIGHTS_LIVE_EXEC

--backend-command

. If no backend is configured, live commands return a JSON error and do not claim success.

live stop-trace

stops trace collection without killing the UE process;

capture stop

still terminates the harness-launched process tree.

GUI co-pilot

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json gui status
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json gui open --trace D:\captures\session.utrace
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json gui open-latest

GUI commands omit

-NoUI

and

-AutoQuit

so Unreal Insights remains open.

Offline exporters

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json -t D:\captures\session.utrace export threads D:\out\threads.csv
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json -t D:\captures\session.utrace export timer-stats D:\out\stats.csv --region=EXPORT_CAPTURE
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json -t D:\captures\session.utrace export counter-values D:\out\counter_values.csv --counter=*

Prefer equals-form wildcard filters such as

--timers=*

and

--counter=*

. The harness passes simple values to UnrealInsights without inner quotes so wildcards remain usable inside

-ExecOnAnalysisCompleteCmd

Batch response files

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json -t D:\captures\session.utrace batch run-rsp D:\out\exports.rsp

Analyze summaries

powershell

cli-anything-unrealinsights --json -t D:\captures\session.utrace analyze summary --out D:\out\summary
cli-anything-unrealinsights --json analyze summary --skip-export --out D:\out\summary

The summary reports top timers, focused GameThread/RenderThread/RHIThread hotspots, wait/task-related timers, counter peaks, and uncovered domains for future Memory/Network/Slate/Asset/Cooking analysis.

analyze summary

also returns

export_status

and

summary.diagnostics.export_status_counts

so agents can distinguish successful exports from trace/filter combinations that completed but produced no rows.

JSON Output Guidance

Prefer
```
--json
```
for agent workflows.

Export commands return:

```
trace_path
```
```
exec_command
```
```
output_files
```
```
output_status
```
```
status_message
```
```
log_path
```
```
exit_code
```
```
warnings
```
```
errors
```
```
succeeded
```

Capture returns:

```
command
```
```
trace_path
```
```
trace_exists
```
```
trace_size
```
```
pid
```
or
```
exit_code
```

Continuous capture status returns:

```
pid
```
```
running
```
```
target_exe
```
```
project_path
```
```
trace_path
```
```
trace_size
```
```
started_at
```

Trace Store commands return:
- ```
store_dir
```
- ```
trace_count
```
- ```
traces
```
- ```
latest
```

Live commands return:

```
pid
```
```
live_command
```
```
backend
```
```
exit_code
```
```
succeeded
```

Analyze summary returns:

```
exports
```
```
export_status
```
```
summary.top_timers
```
```
summary.focus_threads
```
```
summary.wait_timers
```
```
summary.counter_peaks
```
```
summary.diagnostics
```
```
summary.uncovered_domains
```

Treat

output_status == "ok"

as a materialized export. Treat

output_status == "no_output"

as an empty trace/filter result, not a backend crash. Use

exporter_error

process_failed

, and

timed_out

for retry or debugging decisions.

Notes

v1 is Windows-first.
v1 includes Trace Store browsing, GUI open/status, pluggable live command delivery, and timing/counter summaries.
```
capture stop
```
is a best-effort stop of the harness-launched process tree.
```
capture snapshot
```
is a best-effort filesystem snapshot of the active trace.
Regression tests auto-discover the UE
```
example_trace.decomp.utrace
```
sample when present; the binary trace is not vendored.

cli-anything-unrealinsights

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

cli-anything-unrealinsights

Prerequisites

Core Commands

Backend discovery

Trace session state

Trace Store discovery

Capture orchestration

Continuous capture session control

Live trace control backend

GUI co-pilot

Offline exporters

Batch response files

Analyze summaries

JSON Output Guidance

Notes