Claude processes remain running after exit on macOS (orphaned processes)

Environment

• OS: macOS (Darwin 25.2.0)
• Claude Code versions: 2.1.9, 2.1.11
• Terminal: Zellij (but may not be related)

Description

Claude CLI processes persist after exiting sessions, becoming orphaned processes that consume memory indefinitely.

Observed behavior

• Multiple claude processes visible in Activity Monitor after sessions end
• Parent Process shows (null) indicating orphaned state
• Each process consumes ~1.15 GB RAM
• Processes accumulate over days, never self-terminate
• Occurs even when exiting via /quit command

Evidence from Activity Monitor

• Executable: /Users/user/.local/bin/claude
• Parent Process: (null) (orphaned)
• Memory per process: ~1.15 GB real, ~311 MB private
• Some processes running 3+ hours

Expected behavior

Claude should fully terminate when:

• User exits via /quit or /exit
• User presses Ctrl+D
• Parent shell/terminal closes

Impact

Memory leak - multiple GB consumed by zombie sessions over time.

Workaround

pkill -f "claude"