Performance Traces

Analyze ABAP runtime performance directly in VS Code — the equivalent of SAT (ABAP Trace) and ST05 (SQL Trace) in the SAP GUI, but without leaving your editor.

Opening the Traces Panel

Activity Bar → ABAP FS icon → Traces

Or ask Copilot (Ctrl+Alt+I): "Show me recent trace runs"

Workflow

1. Record a trace in the SAP system first (via SAT or ST05 as usual).
2. In VS Code, open the Traces panel to see your recorded runs.
3. Click a trace run to open it, then choose an analysis action.
4. Ask Copilot to interpret results: "Analyze this trace for bottlenecks"

Analysis Actions

Action	What it shows	Equivalent in SAP GUI
List runs	Recent trace executions with summary	SAT / ST05 hit list
Analyze run	Automatic bottleneck detection	SAT summary screen
Get statements	Statement-level timing (non-aggregated traces)	ST05 statement list
Get hitlist	Hit counts and total timing (aggregated traces)	SAT aggregated view
List configurations	Available trace configs on the system	SAT configuration

Note: For aggregated traces, Get statements automatically falls back to the hitlist.

What Copilot Can Do

Ask Copilot directly instead of navigating the panel:

• "Show me trace runs from today"
• "Analyze trace [name] for bottlenecks"
• "What are the slowest SQL statements in the last trace?"
• "Is there a database bottleneck in trace [name]?"

Copilot automatically identifies:

• Database bottlenecks — expensive or repeated SELECT statements
• ABAP processing hotspots — slow internal table operations or loops
• Performance outliers — statements disproportionate to total runtime

When to Use This vs. SAT/ST05

Use the VS Code Traces panel when you are already working in VS Code and want to stay in context, or when you want Copilot to interpret results for you. Use SAT/ST05 in the SAP GUI when you need to configure detailed trace settings or record a new trace interactively.