[BUG] Claude Code 2.1.17 causes system freeze on low RAM machines (<2GB)

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Code 2.1.17 causes complete system freeze on machines with limited RAM (<2GB). The application attempts to allocate 70+ GB of virtual memory on a system with only 960 MB RAM, causing:

• CPU usage: 100% (kswapd0 at 45%)
• Swap usage: 100% (512 MB completely filled)
• System becomes completely unresponsive
• Terminal frozen, Ctrl-C non-responsive
• Requires kill -9 to terminate processes
• Multiple claude processes consuming 20-27% RAM each

Version 2.1.15 works perfectly on the same hardware with no issues.

What Should Happen?

Claude Code should either:

1. Work efficiently on systems with <2GB RAM (as version 2.1.15 does), OR
2. Check system resources before installation and display a clear error message if insufficient RAM is available, OR
3. Gracefully degrade performance instead of freezing the entire system

Additionally, the installer should warn users about increased resource requirements before upgrading from working versions.

Error Messages/Logs

System metrics during freeze (from top command):

%Cpu(s):  0.9 us, 99.1 sy,  0.0 ni,  0.0 id,  0.0 wa,  0.0 hi,  0.0 si,  0.0 st 
MiB Mem :    960.7 total,     67.7 free,    946.7 used,     55.5 buff/cache     
MiB Swap:    512.0 total,      0.0 free,    512.0 used.     14.0 avail Mem 

PID   USER   VIRT    RES    SHR  %CPU  %MEM  COMMAND
38    root   0       0      0    45.7  0.0   kswapd0
XXXX  xxx    70.9g   214644 0    16.3  21.8  claude
XXXX  xxx    70.6g   266892 0    10.1  27.1  2.1.17
XXXX  xxx    70.6g   264688 0    6.2   26.9  2.1.17

No error messages displayed - system freezes immediately upon launch.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use a Linux system with 960 MB RAM and 512 MB swap
2. Install Claude Code 2.1.17 using: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@2.1.17
3. Run: claude install
4. Execute: claude --version or claude (any command)
5. System immediately freezes with 100% CPU and swap usage

Note: This issue does NOT occur with version 2.1.15 on the same hardware.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.15

Claude Code Version

2.1.17 (Claude Code) - causes the issue Currently using 2.1.15 as workaround

Platform

Other

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Impact:

• Affects multiple production instances with limited RAM
• Prevents automatic updates across infrastructure
• Breaking change with no warning or documentation

Workaround applied:
rm ~/.local/bin/claude
rm -rf ~/.nvm/versions/node/v22.16.0/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm cache clean --force
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code@2.1.15

The issue appears specific to the native installer method (claude install) in 2.1.17.

Suggested fixes:

1. Add minimum RAM requirements to documentation
2. Display resource check before upgrade
3. Investigate why 2.1.17 allocates 70GB+ virtual memory vs 2.1.15
4. Add graceful error handling for low-memory scenarios