diff --git a/quarkchain/cluster/master.py b/quarkchain/cluster/master.py
index a98675219..73af7497e 100644
--- a/quarkchain/cluster/master.py
+++ b/quarkchain/cluster/master.py
@@ -1493,6 +1493,33 @@ def parse_args():
 
     return env
 
+async def tracemalloc_snapshot(env):
+    import tracemalloc
+    tracemalloc.start(25)
+    snapshot_old = None
+
+    # vmprof ***
+    import vmprof
+    import os
+    f=os.open("./vmprofout",  os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREAT)
+    vmprof.enable(f, period=0.5, memory=True) # 2 Hz, see https://github.com/blue-yonder/vmprof-viewer-client
+
+    while True:
+        # tracemalloc ***
+        ts = int(time.time())
+        snapshot_new = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        fn = "./mem/{}".format(ts)
+        snapshot_new.dump(fn)
+        Logger.warning("dumped mem snapshot to {}".format(fn))
+
+        if snapshot_old:
+            diff = snapshot_new.compare_to(snapshot_old, 'lineno')
+            Logger.warning("[ Top 10 differences ]")
+            for stat in diff[:10]:
+                Logger.warning(stat)
+        snapshot_old = snapshot_new
+        await asyncio.sleep(60)
+
 
 def main():
     from quarkchain.cluster.jsonrpc import JSONRPCServer
@@ -1522,6 +1549,8 @@ def main():
     public_json_rpc_server = JSONRPCServer.start_public_server(env, master)
     private_json_rpc_server = JSONRPCServer.start_private_server(env, master)
 
+    asyncio.ensure_future(tracemalloc_snapshot(env))
+
     try:
         loop.run_until_complete(master.shutdown_future)
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index ab249def0..d3ff96377 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ eth-bloom==1.0.0
 pyethash>=0.1.27,<1.0.0
 py_ecc==1.4.3
 eth-hash[pycryptodome]==0.1.4
+vmprof==0.4.12
 
 # p2p
 pytest>=3.6,<3.7