skywalking
APM, Application Performance Monitoring System
Runssource: GitHubhomepageJavaApache-2.0commit 0a01d89d333f
Java, Apache-2.0 licensed. The project labels itself: apm, dapper, distributed tracing, ebpf, logging, metrics, observability and open telemetry.
skywalking runs. An Argusic agent installed it in 20 minutes and hit 5 errors and fixed every one without help on a clean machine with no GPU, and the whole session was recorded.
Maven build succeeds, all 641 unit tests pass, and the OAP server starts and serves GraphQL and admin HTTP endpoints using H2 database as the storage backend.
What the agent ended up with on a clean machine, in its own words. How this is measured
Measured by Argusic on a fresh machine every time. Every number links to its evidence. Argusic Score 60 of 100 (the mean of this project's run scores).
At a glance
Subject data from GitHub, linked at the top of this page, refreshed . Test data by Argusic (CC BY 4.0); every number links to a run page with the full log, the recording, and their sha256 hashes.
What was measured
From the run that decided this verdict. Every line is a recorded value, not an estimate.
What went wrong, in the agent's own words
The agent's own words, worst first, never rewritten into advice.
- OAP server failed to start - default storage is BanyanDB (external service, not running)3 minutes
- No JDK installed in container2 minutes
- Git submodules not initialized (apm-protocol, banyandb-client-proto, query-protocol)1 minute
- Missing JDK 17+ and Maven 3.6+
- Maven install failed due to missing gpg binary for signing
- Install time
- 20 minutes
- Cold machine to finish
- 37 minutes
- Errors hit and fixed
- 5 hit, 5 fixed with no human help
- How the result was proved
- mvn test: 641 passed, 0 failures, 0 errors, 0 skipped; curl -X POST localhost:12800/graphql returned 200 with valid GraphQL response
- Model tokens used
- 287,534
- Exact commit tested
- 0a01d89d333f
- Container image
- sha256:cdd920bce783
What was not measured
The other half, so you can see exactly how far this evidence goes. A gap is printed as a gap and never filled in.
- Peak GPU memory
- this ran on a CPU machine, so there was no GPU to sample
- Behaviour over a long run
- each attempt uses the smallest documented settings and a fixed time budget, so this measures whether it runs, not how it holds up under load
The end of the recording
The last lines of the terminal session that decided this verdict, exactly as they were recorded.
OAP server process terminated succeeded in 331390ms: 2026-09-25T20:43:19.944612689Z main INFO Starting configuration XmlConfiguration[location=/work/rep… 2026-09-25T20:43:19.945759457Z main INFO Configuration XmlConfiguration[location=/work/repo/dist/ap… 2026-09-25T20:43:19.946647624Z main INFO Stopping configuration org.apache.logging.log4j.core.confi… 2026-09-25T20:43:19.946934166Z main INFO Configuration org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.Default… Server started, host 0.0.0.0 listening on 11800 Server started, host 0.0.0.0 listening on 17129 2026-09-25T20:48:50.148492740Z pool-1-thread-1 INFO Stopping configuration XmlConfiguration[locatio… 2026-09-25T20:48:50.148782592Z pool-1-thread-1 INFO Configuration XmlConfiguration[location=/work/r… tokens used 287,534
Replay the whole session, every command from a clean machine to this point.
How it was tested
One agent, one container, no human help. It installs the project the way its own documentation says to, runs it, and fixes what breaks. Everything below is recorded as it happened: the terminal session, the log and the exact commit. The full method.
Strengths and limits
Measured facts, not opinions. How this is written.
What went well
- Reached a running state on a clean machine, with the session recorded.
- Installed in 20 minutes.
- Recovered from all 5 errors without a human stepping in, which says the failures are documented well enough to solve.
- Ran without a GPU, so it does not need one to start.
- Licensed Apache-2.0, as reported by its host.
- Measured 2 times, so the result is not a one-off.
What it is a reasonable choice for
- Trying it on a laptop or a small server: it reached a running state without a GPU.
Also tested, in the same area
Every one of these was installed and run by Argusic on a clean machine. Nothing appears here that was not tested.
Run history
| tested by | attempt | outcome | score | cost USD | when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argusic Runner | 2/3 | Runs | 100.00 | 0.13 | |
| Argusic Runner | 1/3 | Did not run | 20.00 | 0.22 |
Topics (from GitHub)
apmdapperdistributed-tracingebpfloggingmetricsobservabilityopen-telemetryprometheusservice-meshskywalkingtelegrafweb-performancezabbix
Embed the badge
Markdown for the project README. It links back here; terms on the terms page.
[](https://argusic.com/subject/skywalking)Questions
- Does skywalking run?
- Yes. skywalking runs. Argusic installed and launched it on a clean machine in 20 minutes, hitting 5 errors on the way, and recorded the session.
- How did Argusic test skywalking?
- On a fresh, disposable machine, with every command recorded and the repository pinned at commit 0a01d89d333f. 2 attempts are recorded, and the full method is on the methodology page.
- What did it cost to test skywalking?
- The run that produced this verdict cost $0.13: real compute and model cost, not a list price per million tokens. It is recorded on that run's page.
- How long does skywalking take to install?
- 20 minutes in the run that decided this verdict, from a clean machine to a running state. That is one measured attempt, not an average.
- Does skywalking need a GPU?
- Not to start. Argusic reached a running state on a machine with no GPU.
- What goes wrong when installing skywalking?
- 5 things broke in the recorded run, and 5 were fixed without human help. Each one, and the time it cost, is listed on this page.
- Where is the evidence for skywalking?
- All 2 recorded runs are on this page, each linking to its full log and terminal recording, stored with a sha256 fingerprint so it cannot be quietly altered.