| --- |
| layout: documentation |
| title: Memory-saving Mode |
| --- |
| |
| # Running Bazel with Limited RAM |
| |
| This page describes how to use flags to run Bazel with limited RAM. |
| |
| In certain situations, you may want Bazel to use minimal memory. You can set the |
| maximum heap via the startup flag |
| [`--host_jvm_args`](user-manual.html#flag--host_jvm_args), |
| like `--host_jvm_args=-Xmx2g`. |
| |
| However, if your builds are big enough, Bazel may throw an `OutOfMemoryError` |
| (OOM) when it doesn't have enough memory. You can make Bazel use less memory, at |
| the cost of slower incremental builds, by passing the following command flags: |
| [`--discard_analysis_cache`](user-manual.html#flag--discard_analysis_cache), |
| `--nokeep_state_after_build`, and `--notrack_incremental_state`. |
| |
| These flags will minimize the memory that Bazel uses in a build, at the cost of |
| making future builds slower than a standard incremental build would be. |
| |
| You can also pass any one of these flags individually: |
| |
| * `--discard_analysis_cache` will reduce the memory used during execution (not |
| analysis). Incremental builds will not have to redo package loading, but will |
| have to redo analysis and execution (although the on-disk action cache can |
| prevent most re-execution). |
| * `--notrack_incremental_state` will not store any edges in Bazel's internal |
| dependency graph, so that it is unusable for incremental builds. The next build |
| will discard that data, but it is preserved until then, for internal debugging, |
| unless `--nokeep_state_after_build` is specified. |
| * `--nokeep_state_after_build` will discard all data after the build, so that |
| incremental builds have to build from scratch (except for the on-disk action |
| cache). Alone, it does not affect the high-water mark of the current build. |
