[Memory Leak] Claude Code 2.1.19 consuming ~12GB RAM on macOS 15.5

[anylayer]

Description

Claude Code CLI exhibits excessive memory consumption (~12GB) during normal usage.

Environment

-+ OS: macOS 15.5 (24F74)
-+ Claude Code: 2.1.19
-+ Node.js: v24.2.0

Steps to Reproduce

1. Launch Claude Code CLI
2. Perform normal coding tasks
3. Observe memory growth over extended session
4. Memory never decreases

Expected Behavior

-Memory usage should stabilize under 500MB-1GB
-Memory should be released when closing files/sessions

Actual Behavior

-Memory grows to ~12GB
-Only resolved by restarting CLI
-Suggests possible memory leak

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] Critical Memory Leak in 2.1.8+: 8-12GB RAM vs 324MB in 2.1.7 (macOS) #21220
2. [BUG] Memory leak: API clients created repeatedly instead of reused (8-9 GB memory usage) #22162
3. High CPU usage and memory leak in long-running sessions #22968

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[anylayer]

This issue occurs after long-running sessions, even during idle periods.

Timeline:

• Total runtime: ~10 hours
• Active usage: ~2 hours
• Idle (no operations): ~8 hours
• Memory still at ~12GB after 8 hours of inactivity

Key Observation: Memory consumption does not decrease even when the CLI is completely idle. This indicates:

1. Session history/data is never garbage collected
2. No automatic cleanup mechanism exists
3. Possible retention of closed file buffers or conversation contexts
4. Memory leak that is not activity-dependent

Expected: During idle periods, unused memory should be released by GC.
Actual: Memory remains high even after 8 hours of no activity.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.