getsentry / getsentry/sentry-javascript

feat(node): Add garbage collection metrics to NodeRuntimeMetrics

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Feature Metrics Node.js
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

### Description

`NodeRuntimeMetrics` already collects heap, RSS, event loop delay, and ELU, but has no visibility into GC — often the direct cause of event-loop stalls and tail latency.

Add GC pause metrics collected via a `perf_hooks` `PerformanceObserver` on `gc` entries, aggregated over the existing collection interval:

- `gc.pause.duration` (total/avg pause time)
- `gc.pause.max` or `gc.pause.p95` (worst pause in the window)
- `gc.count` broken down by kind (minor/scavenge vs major/mark-sweep)

Opt-in by default, consistent with the other advanced metrics in the `collect` option. Aligns with the OTel `process.runtime.v8js.gc.*` conventions.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start at the NodeRuntimeMetrics implementation and its existing collection interval and advanced collect options. Read the Node.js perf_hooks PerformanceObserver documentation for gc entries, then trace how current heap, RSS, event-loop delay, and ELU metrics are aggregated. Done means GC pause totals and an aggregate worst-pause metric are reported, with counts split by minor and major collection kind.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
node.js, typescript
Domain
observability
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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