npm install in vscode terminal maxes out cpu

[step21]

Does this issue occur when all extensions are disabled?: Yes

• VS Code Version: 1.99.3
• OS Version: 14.x

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Load a project like open-webui
2. Run npm install in a vscode terminal
3. Watch a huge number of rg processes get started, maxin out cpu, presumably to look at all those new files.

More info: Yes, there have been similar issues, but not exactly like this. f.e. one suggested disabling to follow symlinks, I don't think that is applicable here.

[step21]

(oh and reporting through vscode just launched the issue page, but didn't autofill anything)

[meganrogge]

Please see https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wiki/Performance-Issues for creating actionable performance problem issues.
/label info-needed terminal

[step21]

Thanks. I confirmed that it still happens with all extensions disabled. They rg/ripgrep processes do not show up in vscode process explorer somehow, but they do show up in activity monitor. I attach the code --status output when this happens.

Version:          Code 1.99.3 (17baf841131aa23349f217ca7c570c76ee87b957, 2025-04-15T23:18:46.076Z)
OS Version:       Darwin arm64 23.6.0
CPUs:             Apple M3 Max (16 x 2400)
Memory (System):  128.00GB (2.86GB free)
Load (avg):       19, 847, 331
VM:               0%
Screen Reader:    no
Process Argv:
GPU Status:       2d_canvas:                              enabled
                  canvas_oop_rasterization:               enabled_on
                  direct_rendering_display_compositor:    disabled_off_ok
                  gpu_compositing:                        enabled
                  multiple_raster_threads:                enabled_on
                  opengl:                                 enabled_on
                  rasterization:                          enabled
                  raw_draw:                               disabled_off_ok
                  skia_graphite:                          disabled_off
                  video_decode:                           enabled
                  video_encode:                           enabled
                  webgl:                                  enabled
                  webgl2:                                 enabled
                  webgpu:                                 enabled
                  webnn:                                  disabled_off

CPU %	Mem MB	   PID	Process
    2	   393	 82488	code main
    4	   131	 82491	   gpu-process
    0	   131	 82492	   utility-network-service
    1	   393	 82493	window [1] (Untitled-1 — pyJoules)
  234	  1835	 82494	window [2] (package.json — open-webui)
    0	   393	 82495	window [3] (gpiola.py — m1n1-fork)
    1	   393	 82496	window [4] (sth.py — automaton)
    1	   393	 82497	window [5] (summarizer.py — horizon-parser)
    1	   393	 82498	window [6] (claude_desktop_config.json — website-writings)
    1	   393	 82499	window [7] (docker-compose(1).yml — cla-chooser)
    0	   262	 82847	shared-process
   54	   131	 82848	fileWatcher [6]
    0	   131	 82849	fileWatcher [1]
    0	   131	 82850	fileWatcher [4]
   49	   131	 82851	fileWatcher [2]
    0	   131	 82859	fileWatcher [3]
   53	   131	 82860	fileWatcher [7]
   53	   131	 82863	fileWatcher [5]
  111	  1049	 83185	extensionHost [2]
    0	   262	 83334	     electron-nodejs (server.js )
    0	   131	 83337	     /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/json-language-features/server/dist/node/jsonServerMain --node-ipc --clientProcessId=83185
    0	   131	 84416	     electron-nodejs (index.js )
    0	   262	 85919	     electron-nodejs (bundle.js )
    0	   393	 86920	     /Users/user.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   393	 83189	extensionHost [1]
    0	   262	 86075	     electron-nodejs (bundle.js )
    0	   393	 86609	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   393	 83190	extensionHost [4]
    0	     0	 83640	     /opt/homebrew/Cellar/python@3.12/3.12.9/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.12/Resources/Python.app/Contents/MacOS/Python /Users/user/.vscode/extensions/ms-python.isort-2025.0.0/bundled/tool/lsp_server.py
    0	   262	 85329	     electron-nodejs (bundle.js )
    0	     0	 85466	     /Users/user.vscode/extensions/charliermarsh.ruff-2025.22.0-darwin-arm64/bundled/libs/bin/ruff server
    0	   393	 86960	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   524	 83191	extensionHost [6]
    0	   131	 83308	     /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/json-language-features/server/dist/node/jsonServerMain --node-ipc --clientProcessId=83191
    0	   131	 84277	     /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Resources/bin/exec/R --silent --no-echo --no-save --no-restore -e base::source(base::commandArgs(TRUE)) --args /Users/user/.vscode/extensions/reditorsupport.r-2.8.5/R/help/helpServer.R
    0	   131	 84344	     electron-nodejs (index.js )
    0	   262	 86573	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   524	 83192	extensionHost [5]
    0	   131	 83465	     /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/markdown-language-features/dist/serverWorkerMain --node-ipc --clientProcessId=83192
    0	   262	 85657	     electron-nodejs (bundle.js )
    0	   262	 86074	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   786	 83193	extensionHost [7]
    0	     0	 83330	     electron-nodejs (server.js )
    0	   131	 83331	     electron-nodejs (server.js )
    0	     0	 83332	     /Users/user/.vscode/extensions/docker.docker-0.6.0-darwin-arm64/bin/docker-language-server-darwin-arm64 start --stdio
    0	   131	 84194	     electron-nodejs (index.js )
    0	   131	 86326	     /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Frameworks/Code Helper (Plugin).app/Contents/MacOS/Code Helper (Plugin) /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/extensions/json-language-features/server/dist/node/jsonServerMain --node-ipc --clientProcessId=83193
    0	   393	 86958	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    0	   524	 83194	extensionHost [3]
    0	   655	 84300	     /Users/user/.vscode/extensions/rust-lang.rust-analyzer-0.3.2441-darwin-arm64/server/rust-analyzer
    0	     0	 85734	       /Users/user/.rustup/toolchains/nightly-x86_64-apple-darwin/libexec/rust-analyzer-proc-macro-srv
    0	   131	 85217	     /Users/user/.vscode/extensions/ms-vscode.cpptools-1.25.3-darwin-arm64/bin/cpptools
    0	   262	 86055	     electron-nodejs (bundle.js )
    0	   393	 86922	     /Users/user/.appmap/bin/appmap rpc --port 0 --navie-provider local
    1	   131	 83236	ptyHost
    0	     0	 83333	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh
    0	     0	 83344	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh
    0	     0	 83345	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh
    0	     0	 83484	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh
    0	     0	 83594	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh
    0	     0	 84444	     /opt/homebrew/bin/bash --init-file /Applications/Visual Studio Code.app/Contents/Resources/app/out/vs/workbench/contrib/terminal/common/scripts/shellIntegration-bash.sh

Workspace Stats:
|  Window (docker-compose(1).yml — cla-chooser)
|  Window (claude_desktop_config.json — website-writings)
|  Window (summarizer.py — horizon-parser)
|  Window (sth.py — automation)
|  Window (gpiola.py — m1n1-fork)
|  Window (package.json — open-webui)
|  Window (Untitled-1 — pyJoules)
|    Folder (horizon-parser): 6 files
|      File types: py(3) md(1) txt(1)
|      Conf files:
|    Folder (owa-automation): 146 files
|      File types: json(127) gitignore(1) TAG(1) lock(1) py(1)
|      Conf files:
|    Folder (m1n1-fork): 741 files
|      File types: py(211) o(112) d(107) c(101) h(90) S(7) bin(6) sh(6) rs(6)
|                  md(4)
|      Conf files: github-actions(2) dockerfile(2) makefile(1)
|    Folder (cla-chooser): 687 files
|      File types: html(64) md(51) txt(49) js(39) json(38) sqlite(29)
|                  sbstore(26) vlpset(26) css(17) sqlite-wal(17)
|      Conf files: github-actions(3) settings.json(1) package.json(1)
|    Folder (website-writings): 790 files
|      File types: html(125) md(106) css(54) toml(35) scss(33) jpg(31) png(29)
|                  xml(24) json(20) js(14)
|      Conf files: github-actions(1) dockerfile(1) devcontainer.json(1)
|                  package.json(1)
|    Folder (open-webui): 4922 files
|      File types: svg(3839) svelte(327) py(143) ts(87) json(69) js(52)
|                  yaml(20) ttf(15) png(14) md(13)
|      Conf files: github-actions(6) tsconfig.json(3) dockerfile(2)
|                  makefile(1) package.json(1)
|    Folder (pyJoules): 4480 files
|      File types: o(1119) json(380) timestamp(379) d(326) rlib(224)
|                  rmeta(224) py(95) dylib(46) rst(17) txt(13)
|      Conf files: makefile(1)

[meganrogge]

thanks for that info. does this also occur if you use an external terminal to run that script?

[vs-code-engineering]

This issue has been closed automatically because it needs more information and has not had recent activity. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!

[step21]

thanks for that info. does this also occur if you use an external terminal to run that script?

Sorry for the delay. It does not happen when I run it in an external terminal.

[soobinbhan]

Happening to me as well. In the process explore I see a bunch of the following process fork:

/Applications/Cursor.app/Contents/Resources/app/node_modules/@vscode/ripgrep/bin/rg --files --hidden --case-sensitive --no-require-git -g / -g !/.git -g !/.svn -g !/.hg -g !/CVS -g !/.DS_Store -g !/Thumbs.db -g !/{/.foam/,/.vscode//*,/_layouts//*,/_site//*,/node_modules//*,/.git,/.svn,/.hg,/CVS,/.DS_Store,*/Thumbs.db} --no-ignore --follow --no-config --no-ignore-global

Yes - I'm using Cursor, but it seems like it might be the same issue so I thought to add some info here.

I'm unable to see the results of the --status command with the following output:

cursor --status
/opt/homebrew/bin/cursor: fork: Resource temporarily unavailable