The line_profiler test cases (found on GitHub) have an example of how to generate profile data from within a Python script. You have to wrap the function that you want to profile and then call the wrapper passing any desired function arguments.
from line_profiler import LineProfiler
import random
def do_stuff(numbers):
    s = sum(numbers)
    l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
    m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
numbers = [random.randint(1,100) for i in range(1000)]
lp = LineProfiler()
lp_wrapper = lp(do_stuff)
lp_wrapper(numbers)
lp.print_stats()
Output:
Timer unit: 1e-06 s
Total time: 0.000649 s
File: <ipython-input-2-2e060b054fea>
Function: do_stuff at line 4
Line #      Hits         Time  Per Hit   % Time  Line Contents
==============================================================
     4                                           def do_stuff(numbers):
     5         1           10     10.0      1.5      s = sum(numbers)
     6         1          186    186.0     28.7      l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
     7         1          453    453.0     69.8      m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
Adding Additional Functions to Profile
Also, you can add additional functions to be profiled as well. For example, if you had a second called function and you only wrap the calling function, you'll only see the profile results from the calling function.
from line_profiler import LineProfiler
import random
def do_other_stuff(numbers):
    s = sum(numbers)
def do_stuff(numbers):
    do_other_stuff(numbers)
    l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
    m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
numbers = [random.randint(1,100) for i in range(1000)]
lp = LineProfiler()
lp_wrapper = lp(do_stuff)
lp_wrapper(numbers)
lp.print_stats()
The above would only produce the following profile output for the calling function:
Timer unit: 1e-06 s
Total time: 0.000773 s
File: <ipython-input-3-ec0394d0a501>
Function: do_stuff at line 7
Line #      Hits         Time  Per Hit   % Time  Line Contents
==============================================================
     7                                           def do_stuff(numbers):
     8         1           11     11.0      1.4      do_other_stuff(numbers)
     9         1          236    236.0     30.5      l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
    10         1          526    526.0     68.0      m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
In this case, you can add the additional called function to profile like this:
from line_profiler import LineProfiler
import random
def do_other_stuff(numbers):
    s = sum(numbers)
def do_stuff(numbers):
    do_other_stuff(numbers)
    l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
    m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
numbers = [random.randint(1,100) for i in range(1000)]
lp = LineProfiler()
lp.add_function(do_other_stuff)   # add additional function to profile
lp_wrapper = lp(do_stuff)
lp_wrapper(numbers)
lp.print_stats()
Output:
Timer unit: 1e-06 s
Total time: 9e-06 s
File: <ipython-input-4-dae73707787c>
Function: do_other_stuff at line 4
Line #      Hits         Time  Per Hit   % Time  Line Contents
==============================================================
     4                                           def do_other_stuff(numbers):
     5         1            9      9.0    100.0      s = sum(numbers)
Total time: 0.000694 s
File: <ipython-input-4-dae73707787c>
Function: do_stuff at line 7
Line #      Hits         Time  Per Hit   % Time  Line Contents
==============================================================
     7                                           def do_stuff(numbers):
     8         1           12     12.0      1.7      do_other_stuff(numbers)
     9         1          208    208.0     30.0      l = [numbers[i]/43 for i in range(len(numbers))]
    10         1          474    474.0     68.3      m = ['hello'+str(numbers[i]) for i in range(len(numbers))]
NOTE: Adding functions to profile in this way does not require changes to the profiled code (i.e., no need to add @profile decorators).