From 15f934cd0b1c849b756680115aee8c79130dea02 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ben Vincent <ben@unkin.net>
Date: Sat, 2 May 2026 11:51:00 +1000
Subject: [PATCH] perf: use yaml.CSafeLoader/CDumper for 4x faster virtual
 index merge (#39)
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Closes #34

## Summary

- At module load time, a `try/except` selects `yaml.CSafeLoader` / `yaml.CDumper` (C extensions) when libyaml is available, otherwise falls back to `yaml.SafeLoader` / `yaml.Dumper`
- `_HelmDumper` inherits from whichever dumper base was selected — custom datetime/date representers are registered the same way as before
- `_merge_helm_indexes` uses `yaml.load(raw_data, Loader=_YamlLoader)` instead of `yaml.safe_load`
- No change to `yaml.dump(...)` call — it already passes `Dumper=_HelmDumper`, which now inherits from the C base when available
- Five new tests in `TestYamlExtensionSelection` cover: loader/dumper base are classes, `_HelmDumper` inherits from the selected base, C extensions used when available, loader can parse YAML

## Measured performance gain

19-member `helm-all` virtual repo, real upstream data, Docker (AlmaLinux 9):

| | `merge=` time |
|---|---|
| Before (SafeLoader + Dumper) | **38,877ms** |
| After (CSafeLoader + CDumper) | **9,625ms** |
| Speedup | **4.0×** |

Local microbenchmark (500 charts × 10 versions × 19 members, 3 runs avg):
- Before: **40.8s** → After: **6.1s** (**6.7×** faster)

## Test plan

- [x] 283 unit tests pass (`make test`)
- [x] Wheel builds cleanly (`uv build --wheel`)
- [x] C extension confirmed available in AlmaLinux 9 container: `yaml.CSafeLoader: <class 'yaml.cyaml.CSafeLoader'>`
- [x] Baseline Docker timing measured with pure-Python path forced: merge=38,877ms
- [x] After Docker timing measured with C extension path: merge=9,625ms

Reviewed-on: https://git.unkin.net/unkin/artifactapi/pulls/39
---
 src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py | 11 +++++++++--
 tests/test_virtual.py               | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py b/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
index a3cd3b7..9c2bb7a 100644
--- a/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
+++ b/src/artifactapi/artifact/virtual.py
@@ -11,8 +11,15 @@ from fastapi import HTTPException, Request, Response
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+try:
+    _YamlLoader = yaml.CSafeLoader
+    _YamlDumperBase = yaml.CDumper
+except AttributeError:
+    _YamlLoader = yaml.SafeLoader
+    _YamlDumperBase = yaml.Dumper
 
-class _HelmDumper(yaml.Dumper):
+
+class _HelmDumper(_YamlDumperBase):
     """YAML dumper that serializes datetime/date objects back to ISO 8601 strings.
 
     yaml.safe_load converts timestamp-shaped YAML scalars (e.g. chart `created`
@@ -109,7 +116,7 @@ def _merge_helm_indexes(raw_indexes: list[bytes], member_names: list[str], membe
         base_url = member_cfg.get("base_url", "").rstrip("/")
 
         try:
-            index = yaml.safe_load(raw_data)
+            index = yaml.load(raw_data, Loader=_YamlLoader)
         except Exception as e:
             logger.warning(f"Virtual: failed to parse index.yaml from member '{member_name}': {e}")
             continue
diff --git a/tests/test_virtual.py b/tests/test_virtual.py
index 749aa23..bfbee56 100644
--- a/tests/test_virtual.py
+++ b/tests/test_virtual.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ from artifactapi.artifact.virtual import (
     _merge_helm_indexes,
     _rewrite_urls,
     _VirtualHandler,
+    _YamlDumperBase,
+    _YamlLoader,
 )
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -82,6 +84,34 @@ _CFG_A = {"base_url": "https://helm.releases.hashicorp.com", "cache": {"mutable_
 _CFG_B = {"base_url": "https://charts.example.com", "cache": {"mutable_ttl": 1800}}
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# _YamlLoader / _YamlDumperBase — C extension selection
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+class TestYamlExtensionSelection:
+    def test_loader_is_a_class(self):
+        assert isinstance(_YamlLoader, type)
+
+    def test_dumper_base_is_a_class(self):
+        assert isinstance(_YamlDumperBase, type)
+
+    def test_helm_dumper_uses_selected_base(self):
+        assert issubclass(_HelmDumper, _YamlDumperBase)
+
+    def test_c_extensions_used_when_available(self):
+        try:
+            assert _YamlLoader is yaml.CSafeLoader
+            assert _YamlDumperBase is yaml.CDumper
+        except AttributeError:
+            assert _YamlLoader is yaml.SafeLoader
+            assert _YamlDumperBase is yaml.Dumper
+
+    def test_loader_can_parse_yaml(self):
+        result = yaml.load(b"key: value", Loader=_YamlLoader)
+        assert result == {"key": "value"}
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # _HelmDumper — datetime/date YAML serialization
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------